Steven Gerrard reveals key difference between him and Frank Lampard while explaining why England's 'Golden Generation' failed
Steven Gerrard revealed the key difference between himself and Frank Lampard as he explained why England's 'Golden Generation' failed.
Gerrard was a part of England's 'Golden Generation' that included the likes of Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and David Beckham.
Not to mention Chelsea midfielder Lampard, who played alongside Gerrard and Scholes during his international career.
Despite the star-name players England boasted, they failed to achieve anything of note on the international stage.
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They fell short at European Championships and World Cups.
Speaking to Gary Lineker and Jermaine Jenas on BBC Sounds, Gerrard opened up about his England career and explained what stopped the 'Golden Generation' from winning trophies.
Jenas touched on a friendly match against Argentina, which the Three Lions won 3-2.
Both Gerrard and Lampard played in the game, with the Liverpool legend deployed at right-back during the clash in Geneva.
Jenas, who was in the squad for the match, compared Gerrard to Lampard, claiming the Scouse midfielder was more 'dynamic' than his counterpart, which saw him get moved around a lot.
Gerrard agreed with Jenas' sentiment and referenced his 'versatility' before suggesting England needed a 'manager who was bigger than all the individuals' to succeed.
He explained: "Looking back, we needed a manager who was bigger than all of those individual players.
"There was managers available at the time, for example Rafa Benitez, but he might not have wanted to have been an international manager at that time.
"I look at managers now that are bigger than the team; Klopp, Mourinho and Guardiola. I think someone like that who was above the golden generation who was prepared to make the tough decisions would have got more out of that group of players, in my opinion."
Gerrard, who earned 114 caps during his international career, added: "I look back on England with a lot of regrets. I see the picture of that team and we had some fantastic groups of players over the years.
"We came close at times but there’s no getting away from it, we under-performed."
Topics: Steven Gerrard, England, Football, Frank Lampard
Nasir Jabbar