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Topics: England, Paul Scholes, Sven-Goran Eriksson, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard
Chris Byfield
Topics: England, Paul Scholes, Sven-Goran Eriksson, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard
Sven-Goran Eriksson has named the most talented player of England’s ‘Golden Generation’.
In 2001 former FA chief executive Adam Crozier branded an England side that included the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes as the 'Golden Generation', adding that they would go on to win the World Cup in 2006.
Despite England’s wealth of talent, the ‘Golden Generation’ tag placed unnecessary pressure on a team that would fail to get past the quarter finals of the following three tournaments.
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Nevertheless. Eriksson, England’s manager at the time, opened up on who was the best player in that squad.
"I think Paul Scholes was the most talented player I ever coached – he had everything," the Swede told Betway in 2022.
"You can pick so many immense players from my time. [Wayne] Rooney, [David] Beckham, Rio [Ferdinand], [John] Terry, [Michael] Owen when he was at his peak.
"But Scholes was a playmaker, finisher, defending he wasn’t the best in the world but he could do it. He was a brilliant football player."
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In January, Gary Neville, a member of that ‘Golden Generation’, discussed why England's struggled to flourish despite having so much talent in the squad.
“I look back and think as players that we disappointed him [Sven-Goran Eriksson],” he said. “We fell below our standards and other countries had great players.
“When I look at how we played under Terry [Venables] in Euro 96 or under Glenn Hoddle, we were rigid for about eight years and compact in defence.
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“It's difficult to get out from that – the ball was being kept off us by teams that were inferior to us. You wonder whether it would've been different if we'd have gone for a more progressive system.”
On the same Stick to Football episode, Frank Lampard rubbished the 'Golden Generation' tag as “nonsense”.
He said: “The Golden Generation tag was nonsense anyway – no one proclaimed us as a Golden Generation, there's some good players in that squad but so did Italy and France, who had Andrea Pirlo and Zinedine Zidane.
“International football is always a challenge to win, and that's an old story now.
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“Of course, it's always nice to rehash the story – I don't want to cry too much here, because every manager has a tough run.
“Every manager will be top of the tree after a few wins and then a threat of getting the sack, whether you are part of the Golden Generation, just an English manager or a foreign manager.”