Paul Ince has accused England of 'throwing caps around like confetti' and claimed that players used to have to work harder to get in the national team.
England start their qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup on Thursday, when they face San Marino, whilst Gareth Southgate will also have one eye on the Euros this summer.
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The Three Lions' boss has come in for criticism for his squad for the three games in the next week, mainly for his decision to drop Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Ollie Watkins and Sam Johnstone are the newest players in the squad, and either could win their first cap against San Marino, Albania or Poland.
Ince though thinks that caps are too easy to come by, not like when he was playing for the national team from 1992 until 2000.
"If you look at my generation of players and the selection of squads, it was always more or less the same group of players," the former Liverpool midfielder told Ladbrokes.
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"t was harder to get into that team. But nowadays, we tend to throw England caps around like confetti and anyone that shows a touch of form gets in the squad."
It's tough to work out exactly who Ince is referring to considering the current squad are generally players who have consistently been in Southgate's squads or have shown decent form.
Watkins is in his debut season in the Premier League but he has impressed and Patrick Bamford would have been the most obvious alternative and would also be making his first appearance in the squad.
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Ince, who just missed out on the infamous Golden Generation but did make the semi finals of the Euros in 1996 with Southgate in the side, believes his old teammate's performance at the World Cup in 2018 was a failure.
"I believe the team we had in 1996 and 1998 would've won the World Cup in 2018," he added.
"The way that tournament went for England, I don't think they'll have a better chance to win a World Cup.
"The group stage was a breeze and the draw favoured them - they only had to play Croatia in the semi-finals.
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"With that kind of fixture list, the team that we had in 1996 and 1998, we'd have won the World Cup.
"It was so disappointing in 2018, for me. Everyone looks back and says 'oh well, it was a great summer and we reached a World Cup semi-final', but that's not enough.
"The group stage was easy and they actually made hard work of the knockout stage.
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"So, as much as it was great for fans and great for the nation, there's also a sense of disappointment, because that team won't get a better chance to win the World Cup."
The side in 96 were lucky to get through to their semi final, somehow beating Spain on penalties in the quarter final after being out played, whilst at the 98 World Cup Ince and his teammates crashed out to Argentina.
Glenn Hoddle's side did lose to Romania in the group stages, meaning they qualified second, and would have faced Croatia, in their first international tournament, in the second round, instead of the side who knocked them out.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Football, Euro 2020, Gareth Southgate, World Cup