Is All That Glitters Gold?

Several years have passed since the heralding of England's 'Golden Generation'; that fabulous collection of players such as David Beckham; Michael Owen & Rio Ferdinand that seemed to dawn a new era of World Cup success. After several diabolical failures; many change of managers (including an umbrella-carrying Steve McClaren); and burdened by the on-going debate whether Frank Lampard & Steven Gerrard could play together; that team generally constituted a big disaster.

Well fast forward to 2021; and it seems a new Golden Generation is in town. Fuelled by promising young players such as Manchester City's Raheem Sterling & Manchester United's Marcus Rashford; England can also call on new hotshots such as Borussia Dortmund's precocious Jadon Sancho; Arsenal's left-wing Bukayo Saka; Aston Villa's roaming talisman Jack Grealish; Leicester City's playmaker James Maddison; City's impressive youngster Phil Foden; Chelsea's roving midfielder Mason Mount; and Everton's free-scoring force Dominic Calvert-Lewin; amongst others. We can even include the fading force Dele Alli; Liverpool's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the older-but-revitalised Jesse Lingard in the mix.

It remains to be seen if this breathtaking array of talent can indeed lead the way for England to World Cup glory. But in manager Gareth Southgate; they seem to have found the astute manager that can take them to success. Just witness their glorious journey to the World Cup semi-final they had in 2018. Let's see what happens here in Euro 2021...