The Truth About England's So-Called 'Golden Generation'

[@saadkhatib3456]

If Germany had a “golden generation “ for each time they reached an international final of semifinals they’d have like 20 golden generations by now

[@rajaryan5036]

That Germany golden generation lift 2014 World Cup

[@rajaryan5036]

@ArjenRobben Mr.Wembley history only remember winners not runner up, Messi is criticized not wining title in International level but Messi was runner up both World Cup and Copa as well as U20 World Champion plus Olympic Gold medal winner

[@rajaryan5036]

@ArjenRobben Mr.Wembley Germany Golden generation lifting 2014 world cup was the big achievement, 2002,2006,2008,2012 failed to cross final hurdle.

[@rajaryan5036]

@ArjenRobben Mr.Wembley Netherland won Euros, but they deserve to win 1974 world cup if Cruff played 1978 then could have won that tournament too. In 2010 Netherland reach the final but Spain 2008-12 was unbeatable

[@rajaryan5036]

@ArjenRobben Mr.Wembley By that logic if Higuain scored then Argentina could have won 2014 world cup, IF and Buts not work in football. In 2010 Spain was far superior where 2014 was Germany. If Netherland that generation played in 2018 then easily won 2018 world cup, France was just above average team if Argentina was defensively organized France could have eliminated in Round of 16. Netherland in 2010 and 2014 was stronger but Spain and Germany were ahead of Netherland, in 2014 defensively organized Argentina eliminated Netherland but lost against Germany. 2010 & 2014 World Cup Spain and Germany ahead of the rest. 2018 World Cup was equal for 4-5 teams unfortunately Netherland golden generation won't able to play in the tournament otherwise Roben, RVP, Snider create riot in 2018

[@heliumtrophy]

I think Rio Ferdinand made a crucial point in that he never bonded with the other players because he was still in club mode and he didn't want to reveal anything that could be used against him in the Premiership a few months later and to me that proved the most telling of all. When you're so focussed on your club that you still see your team-mates for the World Cup as enemies, it's pretty bloody hard to make a good team that will win something. Some fine individual performances but never a cohesive, solid team play. That's crucial and that was England's downfall. At least to my eyes. And anyway, if Sven was so bad, what does that make Schteve McLaren?

[@Bullwine]

> When you're so focussed on your club that you still see your team-mates for the World Cup as enemies, it's pretty bloody hard to make a good team that will win something. IIRC that's also part of the reason Spain constantly underachieved for so long until they won three straight major titles, including a World Cup.

[@wesleymcglone6937]

Just another excuse, there's more divide in Spain and more rivalry. They dominated for 8 years. England will always be shit. Hyped up too early, and their head goes. Then out come the excuses after another shit tournament.

[@LordBranniganThe]

English players only look good when there is a foreigner next to them that has some skill & creativity. The exception being the center backs.

[@justablokepostingfunvids7137]

heliumtrophy didn’t seem to hamper Italy, Spain or France though so I don’t get what the issue is tbh but hey Rio was there amd I wasn’t. I’d just argue there were more talented squads than England’s

[@matthew4780]

@@wesleymcglone6937 That Spain was 70% Barcelona players and even the style of play was the same, with some other players filling the gaps in the positions Barca had foreigners but they had to fit the group's ideas.

[@areebsiddiqui758]

Ferdinand, Gerrard and Lampard had this conversation on sky explaining how there was no chemistry or unity and the players were divided by the clubs they played for. They said that the current England side doesn't have their individual talents but the on and off field chemistry between the players means that they gel together really well and work as a unit.

[@myroslav6873]

bullshit. they were all wankers and they couldn't genuinely hate each other. he was right in saying there was no chemistry and that they were divided. but it was not because of the club situation. it was because they were weak mentally. in 2002 Ronaldo was Brasil's best player and he was glorious. Beckham was England's best player and he was just a wanker. he could kick a ball well, but he was a wanker, just like everybody else in that team.

[@areebsiddiqui758]

@@myroslav6873 You have some issues man, go watch that video on sky. They clearly said that they felt divided by club. And if you think that some of the best footballers in the world are wankers then I don't know what to say.

[@DjDolHaus86]

@@areebsiddiqui758 Tactical analysis of other teams is so much more accessible and scientific these days that you don't have to worry about players giving away club secrets because they almost certainly know them already. As such they can communicate much more freely and cohesively as a group of professionals and work together better.

[@cakefordinner1762]

@ Areeb Siddiqui I am sure club divides was a factor if they say so, but surely also just one of many factors. Firstly, 'The golden generation' had it's best players in the same position i.e. central midfield and lacked grossly in others i.e. wide midfielders/forwards. Stewart Downing.. Also lacked a top class striker/target man like Kane. Secondly, Lampard and Gerrard really weren't actually as good as regarded in the UK. No where near the likes of Xavi Hernandez, Iniesta, Pirlo. Mourinho and Rafa turned them into goal scoring midfielders at the sacrifice of developing their passing game. It went downhill when Scholes retired. Thirdly, the choices of managers were appalling. Aged, over-the-hill serie a managers that wanted England to play Italian football of the early 90s. A style outdated and completely unnatural to English players.

[@areebsiddiqui758]

@@cakefordinner1762 Mate, not having you talking trash about Lampard. Man was a generational talent. Gerrard was always a bit overrated by Liverpool fans tho. I do agree however that there was an overload of players in midfield. As well as the fact that England never had a truly great goalkeeper.

[@nurrr897]

It's really good to hear this from an Englishman. You are a most reasonable and thoughtful person. I wish the world was full of more people like you.

[@ltra42]

England: WE HAVE A GOLDEN GENERATION R9: I had a hair cut

[@ssr.1206]

That Brazilian team had very great Team atmosphere around them that's why they were in 3 consecutive finals.

[@baudrex]

r9 was the one back then the real one

[@Emper0rH0rde]

Ronaldinho: I had an overbite

[@DM-rp9ik]

England: we have a golden generation Spain 2008 to 2012: sure you do 🙂

[@michaellamancusa4637]

????

[@doomerang3133]

This is practically a documentary well done Alfie

[@MrJagger112]

Had this been produced in the U.S where they repeat everything 5 times before moving on this would have been atleast 60 mins long. I much prefer this and yes, he did great work with this 🙂

[@kkrmzn]

@@MrJagger112 rent free

[@danielmurphy8262]

14:42 - 15:45 I think is the key point here, often people list the name of those England teams in isolation, failing to mention the quality of the other teams and the cirumstances of the players as well

[@BardockFLIT]

Maybe, but as a brazilian I can assure you that we never understood how Scolari - a champion, yes, but an average coach - manage to best you in three competitions in a row. And de Brazilian Squad in 2002 wasn't a golden squad: It had Ronaldo and Rivaldo, as two world class players (and Cafu/RC, ok), but the rest was common players: Gilberto, Kleberson, Edmilson, Lucio...I mean, the odds were even, at least. And Portugal...man, they had heart, but their squad was worse than yours, for sure. Ricardo Carvalho, Maniche, Deco and Figo...ok, but look at this: Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham, Scholes, Rooney, Owen...all the players - ALL OF THEM- are LEGENDS. It's the thing that only World Champion Squads have - and only sometimes. It's really a pity that the history didn't get England as a World/Euro champion during the 2000s. You really deserved it more than Germany/Turkey/Korea in 2002, Greece/Portugal in 2004 and Portugal/Germany in 2006.

[@danielmurphy8262]

Anthonio Jorge Would like to point out Im Irish and not English 😂, but I see what you are saying, England overall probably had better individuals but they were poor as a team unlike Brazil and Portugal

[@BardockFLIT]

@@danielmurphy8262 Sorry! Hehe

[@justablokepostingfunvids7137]

100% plus seemed a team of individuals who could be matched by say a compact talented together Sweden team time and time again.

[@thealchemist6355]

@@justablokepostingfunvids7137 That's why Greece won in 2004. The team wasn't really talented but with teamwork and workrate, they won the Euros.

[@JakePetrolhead]

If you listen to the players, such as Peter Crouch in his podcast, he's got nothing but praise for Sven. For me, the players take a part as they were unable to work as a team due to the mentality they had of "we're Manchester United, we're Chelsea, ect" as opposed to the current squad that seem to have a "we are England" mentality. I'm not sure why Sven gets all of the flack - a bigger disgrace was Steve McLaren's tenure, and the shitshow that was Fabio Capello's time in charge, where he just didn't relate to the players and as a result they just ignored him. The one black mark about Sven will always be that we lost the ability to call up Paul Scholes because of him, but on the whole he's by far one of the better managers we've had. I think there's no shame in that golden generation winning nothing - but there's more shame in the wilderness years of 2008-2014 where we were genuinely hopeless.

[@ziudra91]

4-4-2 is still a pretty old school formation though. Hard to dominate the likes of Portugal and Spain when you are overrun in midfield

[@Ese96Agboaye]

Up to 2016 🙈

[@doomerang3133]

English football in the 2000s was extremely competitive with Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea becoming extremely dominant

[@sugamgautam4318]

That club mentality thing is bullshit. Italy team had players playing for Milan, Inter, Juve, Roma and still managed to win the World Cup. Same with Spain who had players from Real and Barca. Everyone needs to admit that this team was overrated and current England team is better.

[@godzamoongus]

@@sugamgautam4318 the point he made was that the Italians were able to put the club rivalries aside and become one as a nation. Early 2000s England just could never do that

[@johntreherne4611]

at the same time of this generation of players brazil has ronaldo, rivaldo, ronaldinho, kaka, cafu, carlos. italy totti, del piero, nesta, cannavarro, buffon, pirlo. france henry, zidane, thuram, trez, ribery, vieira, makelle. argentina tevez, crespo, veron, riquelme, zanetti, samuel, cambiasso and some youngster called messi. have some perspective perhaps a semi final but there was always a better team in during this period.

[@michaelpower4372]

Its the media that gave them the title golden generation.🤣 What did they win to be called golden generation. Terrible in South Africa's world cup worse in Brazil world cup.

[@peezebeuponyou3774]

Did you watch the video?

[@jamesduffy7549]

For years I've been saying there was no shame losing to that brazil side.

[@Emper0rH0rde]

Still, if only David Seaman had jumped

[@dostovan5142]

@@Emper0rH0rde but we both know,white man can't jump

[@akiranatsume3501]

As much as I criticize the so-called golden generation of England for constantly putting club rivalries above national unity, there was no winning against that Brazil side, even if that England side played as a team with amazing chemistry.

[@lukebennett7149]

@@akiranatsume3501 2002 wasn't in the "Golden Generation" era

[@KaitainCPS]

@@lukebennett7149 It was the very start of it.

[@denty95298]

Tactically poor for me, shoe horning players in that didnt work in a system, same thing happened to real madrid when they sold makalele, had tonnes of star quality but no balance in the team

[@chrismascarenhas1059]

Brad Denton yeah shoehorning players is always a risk especially with that much pressure

[@pkanereallyrandom]

As an outsider this was something I always thought was England's Achilles heel. The pressure from the media to play their best 11 players rather than their best team, think Scholes on the wing. It's crazy how much the British press targeted their best players like Beckham and Rooney then blamed the player / team when they inevitably failed. Plus their squad was very thin, outside the first 11 the squad players were a big step down. Think heskey and vassell. Don't even mention the wags.

[@ActiveArron]

4-4 god dam 2 . Shoehorning players into a limited formation is always going to put severe limitations on the players. If Glen Hoddle stayed on past 96 till 2006/08 I have no doubt we would of done a lot better.

[@Sirlankeylot]

Scholes LM was just crazy

[@ofs82]

@@ActiveArron 98. Venables was in charge at Euro '96, Hoddle took over afterwards. He was already a laughing stock when he went due to things like hiring the faith healer.

[@chrisprevatt676]

Ronaldinho's goal against England in the 2002 WC was not an over hit cross. That's not the only time he scored a goal like that. Teams watch videos of their next opponents looking for weaknesses and it was noted that Seaman always came way off his line at free kicks and corners to catch the ball. I saw an interview with Cafu on Brazilian TV where he said just before the free kick he went up to Ronaldinho and reminded him, and Ronnie did what he does best.

[@bigwave7207]

Great analysis. The “golden generation” was hype. They were a solid team but really only just on par with the top 4-6 international teams of that era, and still not on the same page as Italy, Brazil and France at their peaks during that time.

[@rajaryan5036]

2004 Euro was the best chance at least Greece wasn't deserving

[@JM-cf8zy]

France had a lethal team, zidane and Co, how they didn't win more I'll never know.

[@ike9854]

@@rajaryan5036 They beat portugal twicwe, in portugal, then it means you have won!!! Greece eliminated spai in the group phase!!!! Greece beat France, and the Czechs, who had elimiunated denmark 3--0 in the quarter! They deserved it, they took it, and will keep it forever! That´s how it works, no matter what you may think!!! The ONLY time a foreign manager won the euros, OTTO REHAGEL!!!!

[@Socman-fu1gs]

they played brazil off the park 02 but just couldn't get the goals needed, brazil haven't really ever got back to that level since that world cup imo.. france after that world cup declined for a few seasons also. The italians may have peaked around 06 but still feel england had a better side than them they weren't expecting a wc final that year n have been way off the mark over the past decade themselves .. around 04 england had the best side in the world on paper just never played to their potential

[@ike9854]

@@Socman-fu1gs You do not win on paper, you win on the pitch!!! Football is about scoring, if you do not score, the other side might , and it is over. England is not good enough, midfielders not good enough!! Ronaldinho, Zidane, Hazard, they have all punished England! Beckham was a hype, never was the leader to lead England to victory!!!!

[@johannesborchgrevink9629]

There is one very simple explanation for this: The players, although good, were overrated. England's history of massively overhyping English players is well known. We see it also in the current European Cup. Jack Grealish is good, but he is not football's equivilant of the holy spirit as some seem to believe.

[@ohhiitsjustme3445]

Well he most def. wouldn’t have taken a shitty pk like Rashford

[@AzizDoufikar2280]

@@ohhiitsjustme3445 Still don't understand why Southgate didn't pick Grealish for the penalty kick.

[@georgej851]

I personally think that's a nonsense explanation. We've produced some poor teams and some very good teams. The latter have come very close on many occasions but seem to always find themselves on the wrong end of bad luck and fine margins. You can't say that's down to class because by the next time, it's a totally different set of players. I don't think anyone has claimed Grealish is a potential Balon d'Or winner but he gets into probably the best club side in the world at the moment.

[@ryanjohnston7844]

Playing paul scholes on the left was the worst mistake. Any other nation in the world would've built the team around him. Fucking Mr burns 😂😂

[@skar5541]

Scholes wasn't overated. They should have put Gerrard or butt behind him and utilised him as much as possible.

[@Potatoshaneko]

A lot of people outside of England and Brazil were saying that the winner of the England vs Brazil match in the 2002 World Cup would go onto win it. They weren't wrong. Also, I think 1996 to 2012 was a golden generation for football in general, the amount of talent that each national team could field was incredible.

[@ROL4NDpkmnguide]

In my opinion England was never the best team to enter any of these tournaments

[@omeekcampbell9249]

So true

[@ollie072]

You don’t need the best team in the tournament to win it

[@ROL4NDpkmnguide]

MortalPhoenix 12 yeah, but the hate the team gets for “not performing” isn’t justified

[@JudeMarchisio]

@@ollie072 You actually do. Spain had far and away the best team at the 2010 World Cup, 2008 Euro, 2012 Euro, so did France in 2018 or Brazil in 2002. Good players win you games.

[@wesleymcleish1776]

Not best team but maybe best group of individual talent

[@Urlocallordandsavior]

I honestly hate the hype that England always have in international tournaments, yet I still admire them in a strange way, of their history and tradition prior to this modern era of the game.

[@MayorOfBigDaddysPizza]

The problem was that Gerrard and Lampard could never play together. For ten years they was two of the best players in the world, and yet put together they didn't know their arse from their elbow.

[@lgx22]

Both Gerrard Lampard need is a seating midfielder. Not a left winger right winger. A seating holding midfielder. If Becks doesn't want play seating, put in a Nicky Butt, Barry or Carrick, then put Scholes above the trio. There you have it. Best number 10, a B2B in Gerrard, a free scoring Lampard allowed to roam. A system that could finally tick.

[@rolandtomassi3486]

They are shit defenders abs shoot every 4 seconds, good club players but efficiency is key in international

[@rividizd]

No. They were not the best players in the world.

[@footballbabybaby]

They are not great midfielders. A great midfielder controls the tempo of a game like keane or xavi or pirlo niether lamps or gerrard can control the tempo of a game because neither have the technical ability

[@joebloggs8292]

Morons commenting here. Gerrard was the most complete midfielder of the last 30 years, could do everything. Lampard was a fantastic attacking midfielder for Chelsea.

[@fraserposford144]

Losing to Portugal in 2004 was painful, was so upset having Sol Campbell's goal wrongly disallowed, definitely the best England side of the golden generation era.

[@Stormy177]

One thing that people often overlook about the qualifier against Greece: Beckham had numerous free kicks that were completely wasted. Instead of whipping one or two into the penalty area, he was going for goal every single time, and all bar the famous one failed to trouble the goalkeeper. We had a pretty decent team at Italia '90 - a pity for you that you were too young to have enjoyed watching them! We were pretty exciting to watch in Euro '96 as well - Terry Venables setting the team up in his 'Christmas tree' formation, Gazza with a sublime goal against Scotland, an agonizing defeat to Germany in the semi-final...

[@johnaustin9808]

As a Lazio fan I have good memoirs of the time when Sven was their manager.

[@anfg7376]

maybe he wrote a memoir about it...

[@henrywalter4750]

Worth remembering that Beckham was in the form of his life in 2001-02 before he had his foot broken just weeks before 2002 world cup. I often think about how we would have done had he been fully fit. He was one of the very best players in the world at that point.

[@chazza__1413]

7 players who made it out of La Masia but didn’t make it at Barcelona or football?

[@ManVith2000]

He already made video... Take a min to search

[@acehighjohn1759]

As a Scot this seemed weird. I've never heard an English football teams analysis by an Englishman be so sensible and logical. I'm far more used to the 'But, we ARE the best...so why didnt we win' attitude. I think sometimes coaches, pundits, fans etc start to believe football is like chess where the best player (or in football, team) should always win because there is no luck involved and all information is known. Imo its more like poker where there is unknown info and lots of luck involved. A team can be close to perfect and not win because of X-Y or Z but this is a huge part of why we all love football. If the best team always won why would we even bother watching? Superb vid! wp

[@toiletcomputer]

Nice poker analogy

[@acehighjohn1759]

@@toiletcomputer cheers, i play quite a bit so see a lot of similarities with poker strat/situations and situations that occur irl.

[@JudeMarchisio]

@@henriquedaumas9934 I completely agree. And the fact that they try to diminish the significance of Pele's importance is ridiculous.

[@sirperybLakeney]

@@henriquedaumas9934 Can't say that I agree with you. I am English and I can assure you that most fans generally view England as terrible and expect the worst. There's always a noisy minority of nationalist idiots who think they are the best in spite of all evidence but I'm pretty sure all countries have those. Don't get me wrong I've heard some stupid things from pundits. I can remember with acute embarrassment one of our broadcasters interviewing the Brazil coach back in the early-mid 2000s when Rooney was a hot prospect and being hyped to the skies. He asked the coach (can't remember who it was at the time) what was the difference between Pele and Rooney -and it was clear from his tone that he thought Rooney deserved to be regarded as comparable. Obviously the Brazil coach was dumbfounded and just answered 'One is white, one is black' (a difference rather than THE difference...) and looked at the guy as if he was a complete idiot (accurately). I can assure you that English and indeed British fans do not 'diminish' Pele. Obviously if you're dealing with young people they always assume that the football of the past, especially when you're talking about a distant era like the 50s and 60s, is inferior. But most grow out of it eventually.

[@herewardthewake5433]

@@henriquedaumas9934 > As (someone who has likely never seen an Englishman in his life) > Let me tell you about them...

[@tinysteelorchestra]

Nice to get an alternative take on the Sven era. As you say, we had some fine players but they didn't all fit into the same team, and certainly in 2006 we were further crippled by a lack of fit, top-class forwards. I couldn't help but see the parallel between 2002 and the just concluded WC in Qatar - we were in some ways unfortunate to draw a very big team as early as the quarters.

[@joshforde698]

2002 - limp performance when Brazil were down to ten. 2004 - played too deep when 1-0 up and invited too much pressure. 2006 - awful. The Portugal exit wasn't that bad (given circumstances) but they hadn't put in any sort of performance before then.

[@artursfilipovs4923]

Still if not for the stupid penaltys, englands golden generation would been remembered as much more sucesfull

[@CaesarCassius]

The "freescoring Frank Lampard" did not score once in 2006, not even from penalty spot

[@Emper0rH0rde]

2002: Brazil were *lightyears* better than England, though. Brazil's *bench-warmers* were better than the best players on the England team. There was *no* shame in that loss. 2010 & 2014: Don't even bear mentioning

[@joshforde698]

@@Emper0rH0rde You're right, it's just that England didn't even put Brazil under any pressure when they were down to 10 which was disappointing. If they'd had Brazil hanging on, or even just looked like they could score it wouldn't have been so bad.

[@giuliom3564]

@@Emper0rH0rde Brazil was stronger but England had many possibilities to achieve final if did not meet Brazil in quarter finals

[@AdamMiligan]

Great video Alfie! Here in Brazil we had a similar situation, everyone believed that the 2006 generation was the best we ever had and that was impossible to loose the 2006 world cup, but people forget that football is unpredictable.

[@ezeee595]

what about the great Brazilian team of 1982???

[@redpandagency]

@@ezeee595 same thing. Brasil 1982 and 2006 was the strongest teams Brazil had but they lost so we never know in football

[@finding_aether]

I don't understand why so many people defend Scholes. In International football, unlike club football, you cannot expect to have have a balanced squad as you have to make do with the players you have. Players like Iniesta, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Kroos, Ozil etc are all world class trophy winning midfielders and supremely talented players who played out of position for the NT when the team requires it. Seasoned pros like Gatusso was at right back, Matuidi was shifted to the flanks in their WC winning run. Even youngsters like Pavard knows you have to play out of position at RB for the NT. These are true team players. You have players Giroud ridiculed for sacrificing his game to feed other players. But he doesn't care because the team won. Maybe thats why the above mentioned players all have Euros and World Cup trophies but not Scholes. Edit: those who argue Scholes never played wide left for Man Utd or cannot play well: he grabbed a hat-trick in this game playing LM. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fHKzmHd_YrGoibc

[@desfefe]

You must be an absolute idiot. None of the worthwhile players you mentioned actually played out of position. Also, Gatusso is a defensive midfielder and it is natural for him to cover for fullbacks. Now, Scholes by the time was getting put in a deeper midfield role for man utd. Would you, for example, play Carrick on the wings? Scholes never got a proper chance in the England squad because Erickson persisted with a 4-4-2, Lampard and Gerrard in the middle. It does not work, as where is the defensive link up? Don't you dare compare Matuidi and Pavard to Scholes, as that argument makes no sense. Pavard also played a lot as Rb? Scholes never in his career played as a winger. If anything, maybe Ericksen could have tried Scholes as an attacking midfielder, as Fergie did with him in 2002. But even then, that was all his fault. We got the midfield overrun every single time. Nothing better with Mclaren either. This is all down to the manager.

[@desfefe]

@Sevian Medina Yeah it seems like you never followed any of those players at all. I did, and I know Pavard played as Rb for Stuttgard quite a bit, and even as a winger. Matuidi has been moved around as well similarly.

[@desfefe]

@Sevian Medina You don't seem to follow anything I just said at all....... Let me reiterate: Scholes never played as a winger, but Pavard played as a Rb, and Matuidi played as a left wing back and left sided player, right sided player. Does that make sense at all?

[@ollie072]

Man U fans defend Scholes coz he was the best player in the league and admittedly he didn’t play well in the international stage but can you blame him , he didn’t suit the system and idk what your going on about not playing out of position coz he was constantly pushed out wide

[@finding_aether]

@@desfefe if there needs to be someone on the wings and Carrick was the best choice out of the bunch I would. Playing an attacker, especially a technically gifted attacking midfielder, who has a knack for goals out wide is not really out if the ordinary. It would be worst if you are a slow rightfooted centre back asked to play a rampaging wingback role because the winger infront of you wants to drift... Oh... Wait that was what exactly Germany asked Howedes to do! Never played there but he did his role manfully if not awkward at times. Did he win a WC? Sure did! Also if we don't compare Scholes with Matuidi.... how about you look at Santi Carzola or Riquelme? Two of the slowest players who ever played football. but they play wide when their teams need them to.

[@Alessandro-B]

As an Italian who has lived in London for the past 36 years, I find your analysis pretty spot on. In 2002 England was unlucky to meet a fantastic Brazil team but gave them a good scare. 2004 Campbell golden goal was unfairly disallowed. That would have meant semis, at least. 2006 was an injury catastrophe, and I would add that had Lampard goal against Germany been given in 2010, England would have won that match. Football indeed is a game, especially at the top level, where fine margins, referees mistakes and a blade of grass cut the other way can change the outcome for the worse.

[@superflick100]

Had Lampards goal been allowed England would have gone to win really???? Did you even watch the game Germany totally outplayed England that day and there was no had England scored that Germany would stop been relentless.Stop peddling lies.

[@Alessandro-B]

@@superflick100 Hahaha, "Stop peddling lies" gosh, you're a bit triggered. The only reason why Germany "outplayed" England, was because England had to expose itself and Germany scored 2 goals on the counter, which is typical in a game where one is behind and has to leave open space behind. Plus, had Lampard goal stood, England would have felt invigorated, while Germany would have been deflated. That's how the psychology of games goes. Clearly, you've never played at any level in a proper team, only kicked about with mates. PS One lies when saying something they know to be untrue, what I wrote was my honest opinion. So, you either behave, or you'll be blocked for being unworthy of talking to.

[@pacco9532]

Very well said

[@papacinoooo]

@@Alessandro-B his highest level of football tournament is, at a recreational park mate..... hahaah

[@ruudboltz6677]

If the Lampard goal was given England would've been trashed 4-2

Hitc sevens is getting better and better each week Class vid

[@martinglaursen9584]

God damn, this video is a fine analysis of a subject so often debated in living rooms and pubs alike.....!!

[@payetsquaddd164]

The Truth: The players hated each other so they never played like a team, hence why we underperformed at every tournament.

[@LeirkAnoras]

💡

[@ajanthony1356]

too much club rivalry

[@ljd6711]

Spain had Club rivalry in their squads and still managed to win three major tournaments

[@BigPurp9]

James Hetfield how it should be, who pays their wages at the end of the day. Club > country

[@J8M64]

Ramos and Pique hated each other but still managed to win 2 euros and a world cup together

[@goonerdaz769]

Man you brought back a hell of a lot of painful memories it's been tough being a England fan but as you point out we have had some serious bad luck my top 3 painful moments as an England fan were My 1st tournament I watched was Euro 96 I was 11 and I thought we were amazing that tournament we all over Germany in that semi where I'm sure we hit the woodwork twice and Gazza just couldn't stretch enough for the tap in if we had won that game we had Czech Republic in the final at Wembley Euro 2004 I can't stress how good Rooney was at that time I fully believe had he not got injured against Portugal he would have pissed all over that tournament and gone on to win multiple Ballon D'ors that's coming from an Arsenal fan he was just as promising as Messi and better than CR7 at that time And 2006 Owen and Rooney are injured that squad was so loaded but upfront we could not afford to lose those 2 and it seemed just so unfair special mention for 2002 when at the peak of his powers Becks breaks his metatarsal just before that World Cup were just unlucky man Now it's 2020 and I support Arsenal and England and as a fan I'm a broken man 😂😂

[@Zakoid1]

As a Scotsman I'm always envious of the young talent in England. The media always build them up and that never helps but they're always a threat to the very best 👏

[@donalowens7060]

Best 7 premier league squads to be relegated:Newcastle 15-16 West Ham 02-03

[@desfefe]

Newcastle 2010 were better than 15-16, lol. What are you smoking?

[@scott9294]

Agreed, that Newcastle side was honking.

[@no.fourteen9316]

Fulham 18/19 would have to be up there

[@Jackaljkljkl]

QPR 2013 might be the best squad to finish rock-bottom...: Julio Cesar, Traore, Samba, Onuoha, Bosingwa, Fabio, Park Ji-sung, Taarabt, Wright-Phillips, Granero, Jenas, Hoilett, Andros Townsend, Remy, Zamora. 25 points.

[@ClubSoda98]

@@no.fourteen9316 after they spent all that money, yeah. Yikes...

[@diegoforlan7827]

I remember I did a presentation on this subject for my english speaking gcse, don't think I've ever seen a teacher look so uninterested

[@thewolverine1913]

I remember waking up early for the England vs Brazil game in 2002. I was that bored with Englands play that I had tears in my eyes, so disappointing especially having taken the lead.

[@neilefc877]

Absolutely great watch. Well researched and downright entertaining. Re: Sven. He said his greatest regret in regard to the England national team was not to have hired a psychologist for pens. Considering the current England manager did just that and saw positive results in Russia, maybe SGE has a point.

[@joaolourencomvf]

8:30 that is definitely a foul, especially in 2004 when contact with keepers in the 6 yard box was most of the times considered a foul

[@nickcockayne7880]

Amazes me that the guy thinks stopping the keeper jumping by planting your arm over his shoulder like John Terry did isn’t a clear foul. Terry immediately looks round at the ref as soon as the ball hits the net, clear indication of guilt right there. It was a foul, end of story and I’m an England fan.

[@RC-pj1pr]

One stupid decision Sven made was to take Walcott in 06, given the fact he hadn’t even played a full game for Arsenal, and never even use him. He should’ve took Defoe, who had had a good season, and he could’ve slotted in for Rooney after he got injured. Walcott was just a wasted seat on the coach in 06.

[@oman9492]

Alot of politics in football. Walcott was the mixed raced golden child. Good for the agenda back then.

[@mitch1862]

I remember everyone buzzing saying he'll be the secret weapon. Agree about Defoe though he didn't get anywhere near the amount of time in the shirt that he should have

[@yossiallen3316]

Was Walcott not Part of the 2002 squad? That's when Eriksson was in charge.

[@mitch1862]

@@yossiallen3316 no.

[@yossiallen3316]

@@mitch1862 You're right. South Korea and Japan co hosted the tournament then. Walcott was still in his diapers back then. 2006 was in Germany where the players concentrated more on their shagpieces than on what they're paid for.......hence the outcome.

[@rooneye]

When you look back at old teams they often look like dream teams lol

[@YesOkayButWhy]

When you look back at old teams they often look like dream teams because you consider the players as they were in their peak, not where they were at that moment in time.

[@BlueBattle123]

Great video Alfie, they just get better and better! Love the short documentary-style videos!

[@maximilianomoreno287]

Problem is that the rest of the world call "golden generation" to a group of players after they actually win anything...

[@kaihiggins725]

no they don't

[@DeadlyV1RU5]

Belgium?

[@augustlongpre64]

The Ronaldinho free kick was 100% intentional

[@domwarner6508]

Fantastically written mate 👍 Love these style of videos

[@jonpaget]

Very thoughtful and reflective take on the golden generation!

[@NaijaLFCTV]

This is an excellent video, but please do not dismiss Ronaldinho’s genius as a mishit free kick. Right before he takes it Cafu tells him David Seaman is off his line. If anyone can intentionally chip a goalkeeper from 35 yards out, it’s Dinho.

[@vampireducks1622]

Exactly.

[@markpw2613]

Problem with the "Golden Gen" was the first XI was really good but England had poor squad depth. They had a lack of left sided wide players, defensive midfielders or strikers (beside Rooney/Owen, tho injury prone). Club rivalries weren't good within the camp and crucially the press expectations were insane. The England job was hard for any manager. The team England have now under Southgate, despite boring football, is unified, no egos and has good strength in depth in most areas except for goalkeeper and the team spirit is best they have had in years and success in tournaments has proved that. Loads of young players coming through too. The Golden Gen had world class individuals but were not a team

[@japphan]

The fact that Gerrard and Lampard didn't work together was so obvious to everyone, but I think any sane coach would try to make it work.

[@simindala2331]

Not with a 4-4-2 formation though

[@gm2407]

Yeah play them in a formation where someome is a holding midfielder you have an decent midfield. 433 formation Hargreaves or Carrick, or Parker. But it wasnt going to happen as you had to drop David Beckham.

[@andrewoliver8930]

Drop one of them and put scholes in. Tell them how to play and drop them when they don't do it.

[@pogimodo]

Should have started one and then substituted for the other later

[@heliumtrophy]

"The Tony Blair of....." while looking more like a fresh faced Peter Mandelson.

[@thomaskendell8146]

They're all the same any way

[@oj4574]

Didn’t realise that mandleson had an illegal war

[@plipogamez3173]

@@oj4574 ...well, we will never know who was pulling the strings during those times of bizarre claims by so called civilised western European, and North American nations. I genuinely thought it was merely an orchestrated PR exercise to mildly frighten leaders in the Middle East. I did not see the point of a war considering Iraq was already militarily compromised by a no-fly zone. After the start of that war, I realised how powerless we are to influence our supposedly democratic governments.

[@JM-cf8zy]

Funny coz you can tell what noel Gallagher is thinking 💭 lol 😂 😂 🍷

[@MarkHewitt]

@@plipogamez3173 The no fly zone and the UN Sanctions Regime was breaking down. It was only a matter of time...

[@willpatrickguitar11]

Fantastic video, one of your best and that’s saying a lot.

[@HITCSevens]

Thanks Will.

[@brianwalsh9958]

Fantastic video, as an Irish person I’ve always heard the discussions but never looked into much about the golden generation before, as a united fan I’ve always been angry that scholes consistently got overlooked for an inferior player in Gerrard. That’s just me though.

[@bbcmotd]

My fondest memory of England's Golden Generation was seeing them beaten 2-1 at Luzhniki packed with 80 thousand Russian fans in 2007 euro qualifiers.

[@simonlloyd7557]

My fondest memory was witnessing 10,000 Russian fans getting beaten up and stabbed by 150 rioting, over weight and sun burnt England fans.

[@oldsoul1930]

There's no doubt we were let down by that generation. Lampard, Rio, Gérard, Rooney, etc. The fact that they couldn't put country before club is unforgivable. They were all very good footballers and should have achieved a lot more for England.

[@JPPSrules]

That’s what happens when players care more about the name on the back of the jersey instead of the one on the front

[@adamcollins915]

Watched Lampard in the first half against Portugal in 2006. Lampard gave the ball away virtually every time he touched it. A couple of times he didn't know what to do so just booted it 40 yards in the air and forward. To no one.

[@TheDeadlyTikka]

My big thing was our inability to try another formation outside 442. Imagine we played 352 GK - David James CB - Rio Ferdinand CB - Sol Campbell CB - John Terry RM - David Beckham CM - Frank Lampard CM - Paul Scholes CM - Steven Gerrard LM - Ashley Cole ST - Wayne Rooney ST - Michael Owen

[@desfefe]

It would never work. We needed a defensive midfielder, as let's be honest, we never never going to beat Brazil's samba team, or Italy's Defensive powerhouse, and less so France's flair.

[@fuad_a7]

Honestly you could play a 3 man midfield with Scholes, Carrick and Lampard/Gerrard.

[@firstlastname4672]

@@fuad_a7 with no cover from the midfield? It's suicide for me to put gerrard, lampard, and scholes play together. They have a similar style, and it never work.

[@firstlastname4672]

@@desfefe I agree with you. Their problem during that time is the role of player in midfield area. They have lampard, scholes, gerrard, becks, but their style is pretty similar (good at passing, and scoring but the vision is not good like pirlo, xavi, or zidane, only scholes have that criteria but we know sven fjuck him out) . They need protection from midfield, like makalele or gilberto silva.

[@fuad_a7]

@@firstlastname4672 no, that's not what I said. Read my comment again, it's Carrick who's the defensive midfielder.

[@maxfracture2185]

In an interview Sven said that England took an extra day off from training, during the tournament. England players on a shopping jolly with the WAGS other teams training to win. Capello also indicated that England players were more inclined to party, remember Beckham vomiting at the side of the pitch, hangover maybe? Capello came under fire from the press for being strict but isn't that how winners win. Then party afterwards.

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

It's insane that the FA even thought of appointing Capello. He was always known to be a disciplinarian, not something which would sit well with English footballers. Italy was always ahead of others in controlling the diets and habits of players so his approach would work there but never in England.

[@noobgun12]

@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia well that tells you enough why they cant win anything

[@opsimathics]

Thank for mentioning the opposition they faced, people often talk of this team in particular as if they had to play reserves or low tier players.

[@sportsjefe]

It's weird, does a truly crap team ever even get in the positions to be nipped at the line against the teams England would lose to? If they actually were as bad as everybody says they were, what does that say for France or Portugal or Brazil? Those teams should've blown them away 5-0, surely...

[@ALittleMessi]

It can also be said that England has never played the most inspiring of styles. Other nations would create styles (tiki taka most recently) whereas England was stubbornly set in their ways. In 2018 we got a little more adventurous with the wing-backs and that was seen originally as a risky move. We instead rely on our best players to just carry games(Beckham's right foot) and hope it works.

[@AzizDoufikar2280]

Particularly the 442 formation

[@porcupineinapettingzoo]

Key line "imagine the outcry in the media if..." any manager that let's the media choose their team is not doing his job.

[@JoBlakeLisbon]

Ashley Cole < Roberto Carlos, Paulo Maldini, Patrice Evra Gary Neville < Cafu, Gianluca Zambrotta, Thuram/Sagnol John Terry < Lucio, Nesta, Materazzi, Desailly Rio Ferdinand < Cannavaro Scholes > Zidane, Gilberto Silva Lampard >Pirlo, Edgar Davids Beckham > Figo, Ronaldinho Gerrard > Ballack, Gatusso Rooney < Ronaldo R9, Ronaldo CR7, Van Nistelroy Owen < Rivaldo, Del Piero, Totti, Henry There is not one outfield position in which any of that generation were anything above fourth of fifth place in the world. Even our very best players - Beckham and Owen were not the world's best. They might have got a game for some of the other top teams but it was not a given. In 2002, there were players on the bench for Brazil - Denilson and Juninho, who would have been running things for England. By far the closest we have come to winning an international tournament since 66 was Euro 96. If Gazza had managed to get that goal or we'd won the shoot-out, we'd have definitely beat Czech Republic in the final.

[@Ramadl59]

1990 WC was the best I've seen Shilton Pearce walker butcher gascoine platt waddle linker Ince Robson Hoddle

[@VasanthSesh]

If you compare Beckham with Figo, Lampard with Zidane, Scholes with Rivaldo, or Rooney with Ronaldo (either of them), you can tell that these were not truly world-class talents and not truly a Golden Generation.

[@matthewgrigg2386]

Could you please do video on the 7 Best Australians ever to play top flight football in Europe 🇦🇺 love ya channel

[@arlanthomson8938]

Matthew Grigg Lyndon Dykes💛🖤💛🖤

[@Not_Sal]

Great idea

[@gibixhegu1612]

That would be a pretty short list

[@roryslaine7896]

Mark Scwarczher, Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill, Mark Bresciano, Vincenzo Grella... Idk, Lucas Neill? Lol. Tbf, technically you could count Christian Vieri I suppose.

[@AdvocateSpirit]

Why has the English league had the least Ballon D'or winners out of the top 4 leagues? Spanish - 23 Italian - 18 German - 9 England - 6

[@henriquedaumas9934]

Coming from someone who's not european, because the English game was never that interesting for foreigners before the prem (doesn't make it worse, I think the English game is getting too monetized at times), and didn't have all this economical power that it has now. Put, historically, Serie A and Bundesliga alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona and the English first division was never that powerful (maybe on par with Bundesliga at times but not enough). Just look at the National Team's titles for instance

[@ALittleMessi]

Most of the time those leagues have one other worldly standout start, where as the English game had great but not amazing talent. The premier league is also 2 decades old, in which time Spain has accumulated a massive amount of the awards. England's only real claim for having the "best" player out of any league was a younger CR7, the rest of the time England had a fair share of 2nd and 3rd place players. I'd also argue that just looking at the Balon D'or is not a good measure of how strong a league is.

[@AdvocateSpirit]

@@ALittleMessi You're absolutely right on the ballon not being a good measure. I did feel that it adds to the idea of where the best players want to be. The top top elite for some reason haven't come to the english league.

[@max.g4644]

Because none of these classy players like the Brazilians wouldn't want to live in the UK cus of the weather they would rather stay in there home country like alot of Italians do

[@timmi2198]

Have a look at the greatest [agreed upon] 10/15 players of all time, from that list you'll find Ronaldo as the only one who has played in the PL.

[@619Slipk]

I remember looking at each country's squads for the 2006 world cup and going like "England is gonna win this thing" Well, at least they were fun to play in the video game XD

[@frozenbbfan]

Love the University of Minnesota pic at 9:16. That pretty much sums up my experience there

[@Darubah]

Only the English public believe England has a chanse to win a major tournament, the rest of the world knows that no team is ever as overhyped as whatever players happen to be wearing the 3lions att any given tournament. Germany is seldom hyped to win anything and have still managed 4World Cup and 3 European cup wins. Aswell as 7 apperances in the final giving them silver. Yet somehow England seems to believe they have a stronger squad and the next (or current) tournament will finally be the one where they can win something.

[@YesOkayButWhy]

When you look back at old teams they often look like dream teams because you consider the players as they were in their peak, not where they were at that moment in time.

[@vdotme]

I just remember a young Emile Heskey when he was a promising talent that gave defenders nightmares.

[@ezeee595]

The world of football honoured him with naming a tackle after him. A 'Heskey Tackle' is one where you go to the ground for no apparent reason and with no members of the opposition around you.

[@shanet5604]

Great video and excellent points made !!! 🇮🇪

[@oscaralhos2008]

In Sol Campbell's goal, you have two England players stopping Ricardo from jumping inside the goalie's area. If you faill to see a fowl in that situation, I would suggest a quick review of the football rules... It is a foul. According to the rules in 2004, according to the rules today. It is not even ambiguous

[@HITCSevens]

They're standing their ground. If that's a foul so is virtually every corner or crossed free-kick.

[@oscaralhos2008]

@@HITCSevens, not it isn't. Because not every corner or crossed free-kick is the stage of two defenders samshing a goalkeeper whil standing their ground. The rules are very clear about that specific rectangle. And in the phot you chose, Sol Campbell's arm is clearly in the face of the portuguese goalkeeper. That is not standing their ground. That's a foul.

[@HITCSevens]

Funny that you should say Campbell's arm is in Ricardo's face, when the goal was disallowed due to a foul by Terry according to the referee, not Campbell. It would seem you're as confused by the decision as I am.

[@aarontomaselli590]

Fantastic video Alfie

[@drewpeacock6654]

7 club badges that were changed then had to be reversed because of the fans complaints

[@shanedowney7791]

Great video, really was criminal how England didn't win Euro 2004. That ref vs Portugal has blood on his hands.

[@justhuy7960]

The Premier League became prominent and overthroned Serie of 90s was the reason why there were so many hypes about this ''golden generation''. I don't think any other big nations like France, Italy, Brazil, Argentina considered them as golden team, just bunch of star players from Premier League, it is England and some countries watch PL on weekly basis question themselves why this team won nothing, they were just not good enough.

[@Genevasplaytime]

Of course but we should have at least one other trophy by now mathematcally.

[@antoniobravetti7483]

@@Genevasplaytime The usual "We should..." the sense of entitlement is one of your problems.Nobody should or deserves anything...you need to play better,its not enough to simply believe you "should" because you are England.Ask yourself the last time you actually saw a game played by England in a finals tournament that excited you......exactly.

[@Genevasplaytime]

@@antoniobravetti7483 I would agree with you but germany winning over us in 96 and 90 on penalties is hardly superiority is it? Penalties is not open play. England have lost 90, 96, 04, 06, 12, on penalties and that shows that we are not a bad team.

[@antoniobravetti7483]

@@Genevasplaytime I like how everyone forgets about the penalty shootout England won against Spain in 96,but for which the semi loss on pens to Germany wouldn't have happened. Perhaps it was because Spain scored a legitimate golden goal winner in extra time that was incorrectly disallowed. As for the 12 loss to Italy on pens, I'm amazed that people even bring it up because then they are open to ridicule regarding the actual match where Italy made England look decidedly 3rd rate with nearly 70 percent possession and 36 shots at goal. The fact that England survived is to pens is one of footballs mysteries, in fact one of the British newspapers ran a headline saying "England thrashed 0-0", as for penalties if you had to reverse Italy and Germany pens records then Italy would be by a country mile the most successful football nation in Europe, as it stands they are 2nd,but England with final to their name are frankly punching above their weight in terms of expectations...

[@Genevasplaytime]

@@antoniobravetti7483 Italy have won 3 world cup shootouts and lost 1 so the truth is they should have more euro titles and less world cup titles as we see with the singular euro trophy. Spain deserved that goal true but England deserved a goal in 2010 against germany to level the match. Football is a dirty sport that even with VAR is mostly nonsense, you can have more territory, more passes, more shots, more corners, more shots on target and still lose which is why people love it. The offside rule is mostly bullsh!t as it makes no difference to anyone if your body is half offside, we English are stupid for caring so much about a sport that is 50% luck.

[@adrianbrett5746]

Thank you!!!! Finally someone realize how good Sven was. Before England this guy was a good coach and England baring mishaps would of carried England either further

[@ike9854]

One of Sven´s problems, apart from his women beeing headline news, was the fact, so many players,coaches and journalists were against him, for being a foreigner. They wanted an English coach!!! And in the end, they got rid of the Swede!!

[@Hitchcock10]

People miss the point. We were unlucky with some of the results and losing on shoot outs etc. However, we never flowed, could barely score from open play, rarely completed 4 or 5 passes, no pattern of play. It was abysmal

[@MisterNibba]

England never had a strong enough manager. Too worried about public perception instead of winning. Lippi dropped Del Piero. Del Bosque dropped Torres and Fabregas. Sabella dropped Agüero and Di Maria. The team, the team, the team. England never understood that.

[@BiffroHarley]

Great video as always, keep it up 👍

[@daviddaritan]

Sven wasn't clueless. McClaren was clueless though.

[@rohithraman6488]

Well to be fair Sven did make strange decisions 2004 - Played Scholes on the left when he is clearly a central midfielder, and should have played the diamond formation instead of a flat 4-4-2 2006 - Picked Walcott, who hadn't played a minute of PL football by then, in the squad instead of Defoe and then Owen got injured, Rooney got sent off, and so Crouch had to play the lone striker role for the final hour of the Portugal game, cause I doubt people wanted Walcott to come on when he had 0 minutes of top flight experience

[@LilHobgoblin]

He was also far better than Capello... Oh and the shitshow of "Big Sam" 's short lived tenure....🙄

[@rohithraman6488]

@@LilHobgoblin He had a 100 percent win record, please don't disrespect the legend Sam Allardyce

[@LilHobgoblin]

@@rohithraman6488 🤣🤣🤣

[@joaoalmeida5312]

The player nicknamed the golden boy for Portugal was not Figo, that was Joao Vieira Pinto who played for Benfica and Sporting. His style of play was like a Totti/Del Piero a supporting forward who would create space for other strikers and drop deeper to help in build up play and counter attack.

[@andrewkoikai768]

Best managers at discovering talent or giving young players opportunity eg Fergie found Beck's in London and brought him to Manchester and also he got Giggs from Man City

[@JayTechZM]

Peter Taylor obviously

[@henriquedaumas9934]

@@JayTechZM crazy what he did with Derby and Forest alongside Clough

[@thegoodgunner]

Wenger : ask monaco owner to fly a plane to Cameroun to bring a young Liberian player that was too good to stay there ... George Weah has landed After PSG refuse to sign a young player whose father is friend with Luis Fernandez the PSG coach , Wenger hear from another friend that young player from argentina was really good. he phone to his dad , send a plane to Paris and sign the youngster for monaco instead...Trezeguet has arrived and guess what he did the same with Henry a Ballon Dor and one the greatest striker coming from Africa, the greatest arsenal striker and one the greatest player in english league history, and one the greatest juventus goalscorer

[@justingurley836]

An excellent analysis. Many of your points are opinions that I’ve long held. I agree with you that the 2002 squad was the strongest and the second best team at the tournament after Brazil, who they just met too early. Beckham with his recently healed broken foot pulled out of a tackle in the opposition half of the pitch which eventually led to a Brazil goal as well. He simply couldn’t trust his newly healed foot in every 50-50 or 40-60 tackle. Very fine margins, indeed.

[@calebmufcthompson]

Last time I was this early, Emile Heskey had made over 60 England appearances

[@MrBark1969]

Go back to school you melt

[@mrkipling2201]

Club football was all that mattered to the players of United, Chelsea, Liverpool etc. It’s been said that they took club rivalries into the international setting. That’s probably the main reason.

[@jurejurak5572]

"Golden generation was" 55 years ago. 1966 the only wc win.

[@alfredoelizondo5986]

yeah, a stolen one.

[@rohithraman6488]

@@alfredoelizondo5986 Salty

[@gumdeo]

Also won a bronze medal at EURO 68.

[@alfredoelizondo5986]

@@rohithraman6488 Salty why? Just facts.

[@rohithraman6488]

@@alfredoelizondo5986 Germany shouldn't have had a free kick leading to their second goal that forced extra time. Also England were the better team on the day.

[@josearaujo8616]

You have see the replay of the disalowed goal against Portugal many times and not seen the hand of Sol over Ricardo? Just look at the still picture... ;)

[@nickcockayne7880]

It’s not Sol who fouled him it was Terry. Terry was holding him down and preventing him from jumping. That’s why he’s immediately looking round at the ref when the ball goes in.

[@josearaujo8616]

@@nickcockayne7880 we in Portugal also had the Abel Xavier hand against France, which was clearly a penalty, but many Portuguese keep claiming it wasn't, so I understand the feeling.

[@Midtable1881]

I’d like to see a video about the ill fated Steve McLaren era.

[@benjamineckford1718]

Biggest problem with the golden generation was they all cared more about their clubs than their country. Neville and Scholes cared far more about Man U than England, Lampard cared more about Chelsea, Gerrard about Liverpool etc. They were good players but they prima donas and didn’t care about their country

[@michaelbooth2890]

I always thought the issue was the lack of quality on the bench. How many times did kieron Dyer come on and do absolutely nothing.

[@rgqwerty63]

Very well researched video. Especially give you were in 1996 or 95 and were very young during the Golden generation

[@sergeanthowiefromthemainland]

Basically agreed with all the points you made. England were robbed a couple of times by poor refereeing. Svens record of only three 90 minute defeats is also very impressive.

[@bigerichunt9413]

Ultimately, giving "a good account of ourselves" when we had one of the best teams in three consecutive tournaments isn't good enough, and we also benefitted from "fine margins" ourselves under Erikson (most notably Beckham's last minute equaliser against Greece). Had Erikson prioritised formation above appeasing his star players we may have seen England win one of these tournaments.

[@gavinoneill5846]

They were very good direct attacking players and simply our best technical player Paul Scholes was on the left. Technically England have never been to the level of its European rivals simple as that

[@alastairbrewster4274]

Yeah as someone who is a massive England fan I can admit to this and it infuriates me , we never seem to have a team which can genuinely “boss” a game through possession. I’m actually Scottish but have liver in England since I was four, so I support England. But it’s hard work supporting them

[@arandall3912]

England’s goal vs Portugal was ruled out because John Terry’s arms was over the keepers shoulder preventing him from jumping to catch the ball, it’s pretty clear in the picture at 8:36, terry was in effect stopping the keeper from jumping, clear foul! No goal. If you can’t see it, then that’s because you don’t want to see it.

[@themapl3791]

Can you do Overachieving but Small Countries and/or Underachieving but Large Countries as a follow up to the videos about overachieving and underachieving cities

[@aishikpanja3931]

Iceland, Croatia, Uruguay India, Indonesia, China

[@errorcode1815]

People still think, with the genius of Ronaldinho, that was just an over hit free kick? Watch it again, he takes the kick the moment Seamen steps further off his line

[@Reorganiser]

Unfortunately, Italy and Brazil had another Golden Generation at that time as well

[@giuliom3564]

Not really about Italy. The 2006 team was strong but in the past many times was stronger. The problem for England is that their "golden generation" for Italy and Brazil would be the "normality" 😅

[@Reorganiser]

@@giuliom3564 then for example Brazil has currently a horrendously bad team. I think they had a magnificent team back then. Even for their messure

[@Ese96Agboaye]

I’ve only just realised the winner A v runner up B/runner up A v winner B thing wasn’t in effect in 2002! Why did they change it? Also, who’s the guy next to Wayne Bridge? #2