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England's 'golden generation'


IANdrewDiceClay

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Just reading through the twat list and got think about the modern footballer. Remember years ago when we had this amazing group of players? I was thinking, most of them are shitheads aren't they? Makes me wonder how this lot will be remember in 20 years time when they are all a long memory. People seem to have fond memories of the 66 World Cup squad (obviously), the 70s and years later we had the likes of Robson, Shearer, Keegan and Lineker who people look at as awesome players in their day and are generally considered (shit punditry and bad managerial careers aside) as alright people who had belting careers. There's Gazza, but its hard to judge him considering his kept in the public eye fucking about long after his career was over, so he's on a constant mission to make you remember the Paul Gascoigne of today.

 

How do you think the following will be looked at when their careers are finished.

 

Rio Ferdinand

John Terry

Ashley Cole

Paul Scholes

David Beckham

Frank Lampard

Steven Gerrard

Wayne Rooney

Michael Owen

 

Some players there are as good as we've ever had. How do you think this bunch will be remembered in years to come? Do you think a lot of them have tainted what they did in their careers? Do you think by bottling every tournament we ever played in they didn't do as much as they should have? Or it is "only football" and it doesn't and you'll just remember the good stuff (like Giggsy).

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There is a time and a place for the phrase 'golden generation' and I will never, ever understand why it gets bandied about for the England team of the 2000s. They won nothing, they didn't play in a particularly attractive way, and they didn't overachieve in a plucky, underdog-y sort of way. To be classed as a golden generation you have to at least match one of that criteria, if not two or three.

 

I look at the bunch of cretins in that list and it's no wonder I have no affinity for our national football team anymore, and haven't since at least 2006. That being said, my dislike for the team doesn't just come from that group of dickheads, but the novelty of the media hype surrounding major tournaments and the nationalistic pride that envelops a collective boorish fanbase every two summers wears off once you hit your teenage years. But maybe I'm just a grumpy git.

 

On paper they are a good team, but having achieved a similar level of success (i.e. none) to the teams of the 80s and 90s they won't be remembered particularly fondly or as a 'golden generation' because they just aren't as likeable or plucky, and the fans can't identify with them as much.

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I think the fact that the national side has under-performed so much is what will ultimately hurt the legacy of this generation the most. Of course England haven't won anything since '66, but the England squads of '86, '90, '96 and '98 are all remembered fondly due to the fact that we did actually play well in those tournaments and were horribly unfortunate to go out when we did in each one. Since '98 England have been largely shite in major tournaments and that's what people will remember years from now.

 

That group of players are all extremely talented and they have shitloads of medals between them, both Premier League and Champions League, and they have racked up loads of International caps. That's going to be par for the course for most of the England squad from now until forever though. Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard will both smash 100 caps for England, putting them easily among the all-time greats on paper, but I very much doubt that in twenty years time many fans will look back with any great memories of their International careers.

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I'd imagine most of them will be remembered more for their achievements with their respective clubs rather than anything to do with the national team. Which is a bit of a difference in itself, as we remember most of the past names for heroic England displays when we were actually prgressing quite well in major tournements.

 

The only three that I think will be highly commended for their national achievements are Rooney, Beckham and Owen. Rooney will surely break the goalscoring record set by Sir Bobby, Beckham always gave his all for the shirt and Owen at least had his bright spells in between the injuries that wrecked his form for the rest of his career.

 

As for club level, most of them will eventually be remembered as really good players but with the exception of Scholes and Owen, and possibly Lampard, none of them are angels. Gazza was a sweetheart in many respects, but some of that lot are plain rotten. I wonder if they'll wind up getting similar jobs to the likes of Robbie Savage with the BBC as a pundit who drums up a bit of controversy?

 

It'll also be interesting to see who out of these names goes on to management. That might give the likes of Terry a chance to redeem himself by being succesful in that area of the game and actually showing a bit of self restraint and control.

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I hate the said generation of England footballers. In my opinion, on paper this was the best group of players I've ever seen assembled wearing the Three Lions. Quality throughout. Unfortunately two big problems- firstly they couldn't play as well together and secondly they're all massive cunts. Egotistical, flash, overpaid, unmotivated, terrible role models who hang their dirty laundry out for all too see. Also didn't help that during their generation the media were even bigger shits than usual.

 

This team really made me stop carrying about the England team. I hate almost every player part of this 'golden generation'. Terry, Rio, Gerrard, Cole, Rooney, Lampard, Joe Cole...ugh. Fuck off, the lot of them. I'll always look back at this lot with a snarl on my face. They could've been world beaters, or at least had a damn good go, if they gave a shit. 2006 should've been the peak for this side. I'm so glad to see these players being passed out now.

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The remarkable thing for me is that todays England players you can rattle off their indiscretions quite easily, but you look back on previous teams and mostly at the time other than Gazza and Tony Adams liking a drink and Sheringham and Sir Les liking a shag, they were very rarely in the paper for anything other than football. I'm not sure whether it's because footballers are bigger twats these days or the media is better unearthing scandal.

 

In footballing terms, little the alleged Golden Generation has ever done, apart from one fleeting night in Munich and five minutes against the Argies in Geneva has imprinted on my brain the same as Shilton-Parker-Wright-Walker-Pearce-Waddle-Gascoigne-Platt-Barnes-Beardsley-Lineker did.

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Nothing to do with anything really, but if you put that World Cup 1990 team against the "Golden Generation" team, they'd hammer them every time. 1990 was the "Golden Generation". I still think if they had beaten Germany, they'd have won against the Argies (who were imploding) and won the World Cup. They really had some team then.

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I still think if they had beaten Germany, they'd have won against the Argies (who were imploding) and won the World Cup. They really had some team then.

Yeah, but if you want to take the "if they had" approach then you ought to acknowledge that the woeful Argies should've been hammered by the Italians in Naples, in which case the English would've got a sore arse off the Azzurri in the final.

 

Edit: And I don't know about the 1990 team hammering anybody, Baz. They were rotten against the Irish, rotten against the Dutch, rotten against the Egyptians, passable against the Belgians, lucky to beat the Cameroonians (two penalties), played reasonably well against the Germans (hence their passing into folklore as a great team) but were still the second-best team on the field, and looked inept against the Italians. The bulk of that squad was no different to that which lost all three games in the 1988 Euros.

 

I think if I had to pick an England squad which was full of talent and drive, then maybe that of the 1996 Euros would be top of my list. I say that, mind, not having paid any attention for the last decade, so I'm basing it on limited knowledge of the more recent teams.

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You have to remember that the 'golden generation' is the first real national group of players to fall foul of the internet boom, and the ridiculous amounts of money that gets thrown at them now. Players are villafied these days as much as praised, i think makes it s pretty unique group in terms of how these guys will be remembered compared to players of old.

 

In pure footballing terms though they've gotta be seen as a disappointment...they never got a sniff of a trophy.

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I think 1990 was the first year I got into football, so I loved Gazza as a kid (I even found an old vinyl copy that I'd bought from Our Price of his singles 'Fog on the Tyne' and 'Geordie Boys' when I was moving house recently). Watching One Night in Turin and The Impossible Job recently, though, it strikes me what a monumental cock-end the bloke was. Obviously stuff like burping and telling foreign press to fuck off is the funniest thing in the world to a ten year-old, but as an adult he seems like he was always the sort of loud, obnoxious charver who'd make you go 'right, drink up lads' when you saw him walk into a bar.

 

As for the 'golden generation', I think their legacy will be how many people have completely lost interest in the national side since the hype around them started. International breaks these days feel like the equivalent of a health and safety training day at work.

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