We have suffered our way through the World Cup and the European Championships without getting the redemptive title. Norway has enough to manage to qualify for the championships, we are talking about England. Call us nostalgic, but the story needs the Three Lions to lift the trophy and fly it home to the ball island. The last European Championships have been so close, so close, the worst has been the years of the golden generation. Steven Gerrard explains why England sniffed, time and time again.
It’s been a long time since England ruled the football world. Around nine months before the 2026 World Cup, Steven Gerrard reminisces about missed opportunities. England had the players, the culture destroyed.
The Liverpool icon wore the England national team shirt for 114 games, but never made it past the quarter-finals of the major championships. If you look at the players Gerrard had in the team, it’s almost an achievement not to go further. We list: Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole, John Terry and Frank Lampard. Giants in the Premier League and Champions League, but with the Three Lions logo on the chest, it was internal combat that characterized the championships.
On Rio Ferdinand’s podcast, Gerrard talks about why the ex-players are now good buddies, but not on the national team.
“We were all selfish losers. So why didn’t we get the same contact when we were 20, 21, 22, 23? Was it selfishness? Was it a rivalry?”, Gerrard begins. Before he even answers.
“It was due to the culture in England. We were not friendly to each other or close-knit. We were not a team. At no time did we become a really good, strong team. The way I see it, the skills were there in my time. The players were there. We had a little bit of bad luck with penalties or whatever. But we have to take responsibility, and I’m very frustrated when I look back on the fact that we never did better,” the Liverpool icon said.
Who believes the job Gareth Southgate did to weld the players together despite “football animosity” at club level is greatly underestimated. Then we will see if Thomas Tuchel lifts this last notch in the World Cup.
We remember with horror how our great heroes in the Premier League as national teams in championship after championship disappeared so far too soon. Call us nostalgic, but history “needs” a close-knit England to bring the World Cup trophy home to the ball island.
