England's New Golden Generation

[kun]

Following on from an encouraging 4th place at the World Cup, and an incredible summer for the youth squads; u17 World Cup winners, u19 European Championship winners, u20 World Cup winners, u17 European Championship runners up. I think England are due a resurgence.

I strongly believe, and have for a while now, that England are on the verge of a new "golden generation" with quality in every area, with City and Chelsea in particular at the forefront. Therefore I firmly believe England are one of the big favourites for a major trophy around 2024-2030. In particular I've marked down the 2026 World Cup in U.S.A/Canada/Mexico as the potential peak of this generation.

Starting with the players who are currently the best in the England squad who will still be playing at a high level in 6-10 years like Kane, Sterling, Stones, Pickford, Alli and Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Players like Loftus-Cheek, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Rashford, Winks, Abraham and Cook have been in and around the England squad in recent times with Chalobah, Maddison, Mount, Sancho and Chilwell have all making the most recent squad.

This is the talent pool (with the ages going in to the '26 World Cup + Current Club):

Bolded player = World Class potential (imho)

GK
Jack Butland, 33, Stoke City
Jordan Pickford, 32, Everton
Angus Gunn, 30, Southampton
Chris Walton, 30, Brighton & Hove Albion
Freddie Woodman, 29, Newcastle United
Dean Henderson, 29, Manchester United
Aaron Ramsdale, 28, Bournemouth
Billy Crellin, 26, Fleetwood Town
Ryan Schofield, 26, Huddersfield Town
Joseph Anang, 26, West Ham United
Curtis Anderson, 25, Manchester City
Arthur Okonkwo, 25, Arsenal

RB
Kyle Walker-Peters, 29, Tottenham Hotspur
Jamie Sterry, 29, Newcastle United
Jonjoe Kenny, 29, Everton
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 28, Crystal Palace
James Bree, 28, Aston Villa
Trent Alexander-Arnold, 27, Liverpool
Demeaco Duhaney, 27, Huddersfield Town
Dujon Sterling, 26, Chelsea
Steven Sessegnon, 26, Fulham
Tariq Lamptey, 25, Chelsea
Jeremie Frimpong, 25, Manchester City

LB
Luke Shaw, 31, Manchester United
Brendon Galloway, 30, Everton
Ben Chilwell, 29, Leicester City
Rico Henry, 29, Brentford
Jay Dasilva, 28, Chelsea
Tom Pearce, 28, Leeds United
Josh Tymon, 27, Stoke City
(Ryan Sessegnon, 26, Fulham)
Tyrick Mitchell, 26, Crystal Palace

CB
Harry Maguire, 33, Leicester City
John Stones, 32, Manchester City
Jamal Lascelles, 32, Newcastle United
Alfie Mawson, 32, Fulham
Joe Gomez, 29, Liverpool
Mason Holgate, 29, Everton
Tosin Adarabioyo, 29, Manchester City
Ezri Konsa, 28, Brentford
Axel Tuanzebe, 28, Manchester United
Jake Clarke-Salter, 28, Chelsea
Dael Fry, 28, Middlesbrough
Fikayo Tomori, 28, Chelsea
Declan Rice, 27, West Ham United
Reece Oxford, 27, West Ham United
Trevoh Chalobah, 27, Chelsea
Joel Latibeadiere, 26, Manchester City
Ed Francis, 26, Manchester City
Jonathan Panzo, 25, AS Monaco
Nathaniel Ogbeta, 25, Manchester City

DM/CM
Nathaniel Chalobah, 31, Watford
Lewis Baker, 31, Chelsea
Harry Winks, 30, Tottenham Hotspur
Lewis Cook, 29, Bournemouth
Hamza Chowdhury, 28, Leicester City
Liam Walsh, 28, Bristol City
Ronaldo Vieira, 28, Sampdoria
Sam Field, 28, West Bromwich Albion
Ainsley Maitland-Niles, 28, Arsenal
Callum Connolly, 28, Everton
Marcus McGuane, 27, Barcelona
Josh Dasilva, 27, Arsenal
Jacob Davenport, 27, Blackburn Rovers
Tom Bayliss, 27, Coventry City
Tashan Oakley-Boothe, 26, Tottenham Hotspur
Oliver Skipp, 25, Tottenham Hotspur

AM
Dele Alli, 30, Tottenham Hotspur
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 30, Chelsea
James Maddison, 29, Leicester City
Josh Onomah, 29, Tottenham Hotspur
Kasey Palmer, 29, Chelsea
Ovie Ejaria, 28, Liverpool
Tom Davies, 28, Everton
Sheyi Ojo, 28, Liverpool
Harvey Barnes, 28, Leicester City
Mason Mount, 27, Chelsea
Joe Willock, 27, Arsenal
Phil Foden, 26, Manchester City
Morgan Gibbs-White, 26, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rekeem Harper, 26, West Bromwich Albion
Emile Smith-Rowe, 26, Arsenal
Tom Dele-Bashiru, 26, Manchester City
George McEachran, 25, Chelsea
Angel Gomes, 25, Manchester United
Taylor Richards, 25, Manchester City
Faustino Anjorin, 24, Chelsea
Tommy Doyle, 24, Manchester City
Ben Knight, 24, Manchester City

LW/RW
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 33, Liverpool
Raheem Sterling, 31, Manchester City
Demarai Gray, 30, Leicester City
Ollie Watkins, 30, Brentford
Jack Grealish, 30, Aston Villa
Jack Harrison, 29, Manchester City
Patrick Roberts, 29, Manchester City
Izzy Brown, 29, Chelsea
Brandon Barker, 29, Manchester City
Ademola Lookman, 28, Everton
André Green, 28, Aston Villa
Chris Willock, 28, Benfica
Grady Diangana, 28, West Ham United
Marcus Edwards, 27, Tottenham Hotspur
Ryan Sessegnon, 26, Fulham
Jadon Sancho, 26, Borussia Dortmund
Reiss Nelson, 26, Arsenal
Luke Bolton, 26, Manchester City
Ian Carlo Poveda, 26, Manchester City
Callum Hudson-Odoi, 25, Chelsea
Bukayo Saka, 24, Arsenal

ST
Harry Kane, 33, Tottenham Hotspur
Jack Marriott, 31, Derby County
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, 29, Everton
Marcus Rashford, 28, Manchester United
Tammy Abraham, 28, Chelsea
Dominic Solanke, 28, Liverpool
Kaylen Hinds, 28, Wolfsburg
Ben Brereton, 27, Nottingham Forest
Lukas Nmecha, 27, Manchester City
Eddie Nketiah, 27, Arsenal
Ike Ugbo, 27, Chelsea
Benny Ashley-Seal, 27, Wolverhampton Wanderers
George Hirst, 27, OH Leuven
Kazaiah Sterling, 27, Tottenham Hotspur
Josh Maja, 27, Sunderland
Rhian Brewster, 26, Liverpool
Tyrese Campbell, 26, Stoke City
Danny Loader, 25, Reading
Bobby Duncan, 25, Liverpool
Rayhaan Tulloch, 25, West Bromwich Albion
George Nunn, 24, Chelsea
Mason Greenwood, 24, Manchester United

Of course, not every player on this list will reach their potential, but this is a HIGH talent pool. Similar level to the pools Germany and Spain had circa 2012 and 2008 respectively.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Forgive me if i dont get too excited.

 

[blue b4 the moon]

We've been here before, while the FA are the establishment run by idiots who employ the likes of BFS, Boothroyd, Pearce etc it'll all be wasted in a sea of 1950's tactical masterclasses.

 

[Henkeman]

We've been here before, while the FA are the establishment run by idiots who employ the likes of BFS, Boothroyd, Pearce etc it'll all be wasted in a sea of 1950's tactical masterclasses.

We haven't really. Not in terms of the youth success England have had - this is unprecedented.

 

[Vienna_70]

@kun

That’s a lot of research you’ve done.

Very impressive and you make a very Interesting point.

With the revolution in coaching and playing style that seem to be coursing through the game in England, following Pep's arrival, and the available talent that you listed, there is the possibility that England could achieve some success.

 

[purplenose]

We've been here before, while the FA are the establishment run by idiots who employ the likes of BFS, Boothroyd, Pearce etc it'll all be wasted in a sea of 1950's tactical masterclasses.

By and large I or anyone half sane can argue the idiocy within the FA, however on the coaching and football side I think there are some good ones looking after the youngsters. At club level too. I like Gareth Southgate as well his record with the kids in tournaments has been good. He did a pretty outstanding job in the world cup despite knowing that amongst some promising young players we had areas lacking the quality to progress far but managed anyway.

I also think that unlike the previous golden generation who have since admitted that there was not much unity within the squad and club factions and cliques there was little hope of them doing much as a team, there is a desire and love of playing for England in the current squad which seems set to continue as the youngsters come through. As a naturally pessimistic bugger regarding England I do find myself thinking everything is in place to make progress and perhaps ultimately winning a competition a realistic hope now...god help me.

Much like City in the Champions league I cannot help thinking we will continue to get done over by the officials on and off the pitch and that will always make life harder. Even Var seems not to save us from abominations so we will have to be good, but yes there does seem to be some potentially world class lads coming through who are learning from some fantastic foreign mentors at their clubs such as young Mr Foden to name one who on a daily basis trains and plays with and against some of the best players in the world.

We live in hope and I for one will always be an England fan as well as a City fan and after all it wasnt all that long ago that I thought our best hope of glory might be the paint pot cup!

 

[Mancity1980]

I think the days of youth progressing to club first team and establishing themselves before then progressing to England caps are over. The Epl and the England team are two separate entities and should be treated as such. The fa should concentrate on England youth development through their ranks and the epl should concentrate on first team development with and without English players as they see fit. The loan and transfer system should be free to move young players all around Europe where they can find their own level and develop from there. That way the epl and the England team can both be strong without hindrance from each other.

 

[ancoats]

talent and on form at the right times, now that is the question nobody can guarantee at international level, when the premier league season burns you out and then your asked to be ready for euro finals and world cups, its just about never going to happen unless we get a change at club level and stop asked our best young talent to preform every week

the FA need to look at the time table in the premier league and ask to bring in something new, maybe a winter break or a 2 part premier league season why not break it down over the full calendar year and start early like in february and have a mid summer break then come back in late summer and finish in december that way you would have a better chance at international football, also build a couple of new super dome stadiums for finals at the end of the year that way weather free you can play

 

[blueinsa]

Is this thread title a wum or what?

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

We've been here before, while the FA are the establishment run by idiots who employ the likes of BFS, Boothroyd, Pearce etc it'll all be wasted in a sea of 1950's tactical masterclasses.

Too many clowns at the FArce for Southgate and his present and future squads to deliver what France, Spain and Germany have recently delivered!