‘No disrespect’: Kyle Walker claims current England squad have ‘more talent’ than Golden Generation with David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard – but Dean Ashton disagrees

Kyle Walker believes the current England squad have more talent at their disposal than the ‘Golden Generation’.

The Three Lions boasted a glorious team on paper during the 2000s with the likes of Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney performing regularly.

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Despite the talent available, England never really looked likely to win a major competition despite the big names on the team sheet.

Today Gareth Southgate’s side have reached the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, the Euro 2020 final and will be looking to go all the way in this month’s competition in Qatar, this that Manchester City star Walker believes is possible. .

Speaking to the media, he said: “We’ve earned the right to have higher expectations and that’s not a bad thing. When you have expectations, it means you are a good team.

“There is a very fine line between confidence and arrogance. We have to be confident and we have to bring a bit of arrogance into the game.

“You walk out with your chest bulging and your head held high and you walk out thinking ‘we’re going to win today’.

“If you doubt yourself, you already lose the game. So the expectation is good. But we have to be calm, we have to be together.

“For 90 minutes, it will never go well. There will be times when you have to weather the storm and you have to do it collectively as a team.

Bullish Walker also believes the current generation of youngsters are more talented than the previous ‘Golden Generation’ who failed to live up to their potential in international football during.

Walker then compared the current England squad with the ‘Golden Generation’, saying: “You see people like Phil Foden, Mason Mount, Jack Grealish, Declan Rice.

“These players are not like what we saw growing up in the England team, where it’s about ‘you wear your heart on your sleeve and you go out and your hard work gets you through’.

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“It’s no disrespect to any of the players – Wayne Rooney, Joe Cole, David Beckham – those players had a range of talent but probably not as much talent as these have.

“It’s a joy that the English game is actually developing in this way.”

But while Walker has praised the current Three Lions squad, former England striker Dean Ashton remains unconvinced.

When asked if they were the most talented England team ever, Ashton told talkSPORT Breakfast: “No. It’s the most together in terms of how they get along and how they play.

“In terms of talent, I would have to disagree in quite a few positions.

“This golden generation, I had the chance to play with a lot of these players and they were just unreal.”

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