‘This is the real golden generation now’ – Steve McManaman on current crop of England stars ahead of Euro 2024 final
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Updated 14/07/2024 at 11:36 GMT
In an exclusive interview with TNT Sports, Steve McManaman described the current crop of England players as “the real golden generation” as they bid for glory in the Euro 2024 final. The Three Lions meet Spain on Sunday in what is their second straight European Championship final and McManaman says now is the time to get over the line and fulfil the potential in the squad.
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Steve McManaman believes the current crop of England players, which includes the likes of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Declan Rice and Harry Kane, should be regarded as “the real golden generation” after their recent exploits.
The team of the early 2000s that featured Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard to name but a few was given that lofty tag, but rather than spur them on to glory, it seemed to act as an anchor weighing them down.
Major tournaments came and went and the disappointments stacked on top of each other, coming to a head when they failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
The end of an era that promised so much but delivered so little.
Fast forward 16 years and the England squad is, once again, the envy of most nations. Into a second European Championship final in a row under the leadership of manager Gareth Southgate, it is a group that has already achieved more than most that came before.
So what, if anything, makes this England team different from the original ‘golden generation’ of 20 years ago?
“I think the way England play now, we’re a lot more pragmatic, maybe a lot more safe, but we’ve certainly got the talented players individually like the golden generation to a certain extent,” McManaman told TNT Sports.
“And I think if I’m being honest England have had a real favourable run to the [Euro 2024] final, which has helped, of course it has. They’ve avoided the Germanys, the Frances, the Spain side of the draw.
“They were on a side that you would fully expect them to go far in this competition with the talent we have, so I think that differs from the golden generation.
“And I think in all honesty the powerhouses of European football, as in the countries, have not been as strong as probably the powerhouses that the golden generation met.
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“The only standout team has been Spain. Germany were good actually but the last year or so has been hard for them but maybe because they were at home and they brought Toni Kroos back, they started to play well.
“But France were disappointing, Holland were disappointing, Italy were very disappointing. If anything it was the minnows of European football that have risen: the Albanias, the Georgias, the Romanias, the Turkeys, they’ve all come back to the fore. Austria and Switzerland [as well].
“Whereas I think that was very different when the so-called golden generation were around. So I think if anything, this generation should be the real golden generation now.
“On the back of Harry Kane having a year, Jude having a year, Phil Foden having a year, Kyle Walker, John Stones; in reality this should be the one because I think the opposition is not as strong this time around.”
On Sunday in Berlin, England have a chance to reset the clock after the 1966 World Cup triumph and claim a first major trophy in 58 years. However, to do so they must find a way to beat Spain.
Luis de la Fuente’s side have been imperious in Germany, imposing their attacking style on all who have attempted to block their path.
They have won six from six ahead of the one that matters and have navigated the far tougher side of the draw to book their own date with destiny. It could hardly be better poised.
“There’s only one team that’s playing well and they’re in the final and we’ve got to beat them,” McManaman added. “It’s amazing getting to the final, it really is, and everybody will have a ball, but if you fail you might as well have lost in the quarter-finals, the semi-finals.
“We have to get over the line now and try and put the Spanish away, and unfortunately they’re the best team by a country mile at the moment.”
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Kylian Mbappe branded himself as a “failure” at this tournament after France were eliminated by Spain in the semi-finals and McManaman thinks Bellingham could be left with similar feelings should England fail to lift the trophy.
The French talisman found the net just once as Les Bleus failed to pose the threat expected, scoring just four goals in six games before being dumped out by the Spanish.
England’s attacking potency has also been called into question in Germany, with Southgate seemingly struggling to find a way to get the best out of Bellingham and Foden, both of whom like to operate in the No. 10 role.
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Bellingham, 21, on the back of a first UEFA Champions League victory with Real Madrid, has been the poster boy of this England campaign but has, it could be argued, failed to hit the heights expected.
Despite that, England would not be where they are without his moment of magic in the last 16. Sixty seconds away from an underwhelming exit at the hands of Slovakia, his overhead kick will go down in the annals of great England goals, especially if they find a way to beat the Spanish.
Asked to assess his tournament, McManaman said: “I think it’s been OK to be honest. I think he’s been one of the better players. Of course the goals he’s scored have been incredibly important and as a midfielder, that’s what we need.
“But I think like most of the team, it’s been a pragmatic type of performance. Very dogged, very resilient, hard to beat, shown great character, but we’ve only played in snippets really like we know England can do.
“They were excellent I thought against the Dutch in the first half but then tailed off for whatever reason in the second half, whether it was just a lack of confidence or they started to get tired.
“So he’s been OK. If they win it he’ll have been magnificent, but if they lose it, personally he’ll probably look back and say, ‘I could have done better’ like Kylian Mbappe did.
“They got knocked out and Kylian said, ‘I was a failure’. And I think as a big player in your respective leagues, all you can do is look in the mirror and ask, ‘Was I at my best?’
“And that’s what they’ll all do. If they win, they’ll all feel incredible and what went on before won’t matter. But if they lose, another postmortem will begin.”
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