In his podcast with BBC Sport, Wayne Rooney offered a nuanced perspective on the era that saw him play alongside players like David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, and Steven Gerrard for England.
Even with such an arsenal the team failed to advance beyond the quarter-finals in major tournaments. Recently on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Steven Gerrard, who played 114 times for the Three Lions from 2000 to 2014, said, “I didn’t feel part of a team. I didn’t feel connected with my team-mates, with England,” underscoring that England football team’s lack of unity and egotism among key players hindered their success.
Rooney, who earned 120 caps and 53 goals for England between 2003 and 2018, speaking on his podcast, The Wayne Rooney Show, addressed Gerrard’s claim. “I wouldn’t say (England squads now have a) better attitude. That’s disrespectful to us as players because we worked hard, we tried,” Rooney said. He added, “We didn’t quite manage to do it.” It is said that he acknowledged the presence of “big characters” in the dressing room but rejected the idea that this undermined the team’s performance. “Obviously, we didn’t win anything,” he admitted before saying “but I wouldn’t quite put it that way. Even when you look back with the players we had, could we have done better? We could have, but it wasn’t to be.”
Under Gareth Southgate, England reached two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final since 2018
The “Golden Generation”, a term coined to describe the talented England squads of the 2000s, was expected to end the nation’s decades-long trophy drought. With players like Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, and Beckham at their peak, expectations were sky-high for tournaments such as the 2002, 2006, and 2010 World Cups and the 2004 and 2008 European Championships. However, the team’s best performances were quarter-final appearances, falling short of the semi-finals and finals achieved by more recent England squads under Gareth Southgate, who led the team to two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final since 2018.
Steven Gerrard’s comments reportedly highlighted tensions between players from rival clubs, particularly Manchester United and Liverpool, during their England tenure. He noted that some players, now working as pundits, have developed better relationships in retirement than they had as teammates.
Moreover, Wayne Rooney also agreed that club rivalries posed challenges but maintained that they did not prevent the team from working hard together. “It (was) difficult to have that relationship with Liverpool and Man United players. It’s easier now. I speak to Steven all the time (now). You can have better relationships now because you can have a beer together and relax more,” he remarked. Both Rooney and Gerrard played in six major tournaments for England, yet neither reached a semi-final, a stark contrast to the achievements of the current generation.
