The Chelsea midfielder believes a talented group of Englishmen should have achieved more.
In a season that has seen the international retirement of former England stalwarts David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen, current midfielder Frank Lampard believes the so-called ‘Golden Generation’ of English football should have won trophies.
Lampard was part of a group that also included Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole and Paul Scholes, which was tipped to bring silverware to the Three Lions national team for the first time since 1966.
Yet over a decade of failure on the international stage – which included not even qualifying for the 2008 European Championship – has seen England do no better than the quarter-final stage at a major tournament.
The 34-year-old Lampard believes that this showing has not been good enough from a group of players of which so much more was expected.
“We’ve all performed in the Premier League, Champions League. As a group and individually, I’ll hold my hands up and say at World Cups I haven’t performed, certain England games I haven’t performed,” the Chelsea midfielder told talkSPORT.
“It certainly isn’t for the want of trying. But when you look at the end and you go ‘yes, I’ve ticked all those boxes’, the international one, none of us have ticked.”
Since Manchester United’s 1999 Champions League win, no less than 22 English players have won the top European prize and yet internationally the nation has far from impressed.
Lampard is now one of the most senior England players following a succession of retirement from those that previously so much was expected.
The Blues star, who recently signed a one-year contract at Stamford Bridge, looks set to lead out the national side in a friendly against Ireland on May 29.
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