There are good reasons for hope with the England football team

Last Saturday and this Wednesday have confirmed there are good reasons to hope that morning has broken for the England football team.

What do I mean by that?

I would say that the team described as the 'golden generation' will be judged by history as one of the worst English sides ever. Okay, they tended to qualify for the major tournaments, but beyond that it was awful. I think the term 'golden generation' really came about because of a number of exceptionally talented players, many of whom lead the way for the clubs in a period when Premiership clubs reached really high standards. In particular those special players were:

David Beckham
Michael Owen
Steven Gerrard
Frank Lampard
Rio Ferdinand

Wayne Rooney came late into that group when the myth was already beginning to fade. Personally, I think the generation I am referring to is the team that played in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea through to the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

If there's reasons for optimism now, I'll call 2007 - 2010 a 'hangover period'.

In the end, the so-called golden generation turned out to be made of no more than copper. It was ultimately defined by three players: David Beckham, Michael Owen and Emile Heskey. They worked really hard, they're all very likeable for their own reasons - but you never really believed they could win. What is worse than that though is that they were just so boring.

Why were they boring?

I've got a list, but lets stick to the empirically provable - the goals. There weren't many and when they came they were usually moments of individual inspiration, or a bit fortunate really, or just plain ugly.

But if you want even harder evidence than that then look no further than the national anthems before the start of each game. The reason that this England team was so painful to watch was that they were tepid, luke-warm, dull. People used to associate that with Sven Goran Eriksson, but I'm not so sure. Have a look at the difference between the Euro 96 English team sing the national anthem...



They might start a bit slow, but the key players in the team absolutely belt it out! I love that the silent Gary Neville is next to Stuart Pearce - a man who runs RAF flags up in his back garden.

Now here's the copper generation...

A bit embarassing really, especially when you consider our noble tradition of preparing for battle against the French.

And the copper-generation took that tepidity on to the pitch and promptly hung on by the skin of their teeth to lose on penalties, in the quarter finals, against average opposition. In fact, that was the best of it. It was much worse than that in 2002.

It goes without saying that the subsequent hangover has been disastrous: failing to qualify under Steve McClaren and enduring a dismal World Cup with Fabio Capello.

It was to be expected that we got worse during the hangover period. David Beckham and Michael Owen were our two star performers and during this time they either had diminished roles or were left out altogether. Nobody else filled their boots.

But now, I'm hopeful...

Why?

We've got a good goalkeeper - we haven't had one of these since David Seaman started growing a ponytail.

We've got a serious defence. Johnson and Micah Richards competing for right back is impressive. Dawson, Cahill, Ferdinand and Terry are a tough and worthy four if they stay fit. Ashley Cole is still superb and there are several left-backs coming through.

Hope in the midfield? Jack Wilshere. We haven't had anybody like this since I've been an England fan. You might think Paul Gascoigne, but I'd disagree. Jack Wilshere could achieve the most remarkable of feats - he might actually manage to get England passing the ball to each other. Gascoigne, to memory, was more of an individual genius and would often play on the edges of games. I think Wilshere is the main reason behind Capello's switch to 4-3-3 and his relationship with Scott Parker looks promising. We might actually have a genuine team emerging. There's also experienced competition in the midfield. Lampard, Barry and Gerrard might not have worked as a three, but you've got to be more than happy to have each of them fighting with the new boys to get in the side.

Up front there is a really healthy looking competition for places. We might not have a Messi or Ronaldo but Rooney, Walcott, Lennon, Adam Johnson, Darren Bent, Andy Carroll and Ashley Young are all proven match winners. The competition to start should improve and focus all of them, and in the case of Rooney that could still mean we have a world-class attacking player. I'm also a big fan of Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott and they're not even necessarily at the current top of the pecking order.

This optimism doesn't mean I think we'll win Euro 2012, but it means I think we could. It means we might actually play like we believe we can. It means it might actually be fun to watch England again. I just hope they'll sing up...

Now all we need is a bit more of this and a bit more of this and we'll be sweet...