England‘s failures on the international arena now go beyond just being well-documented – it’s at a stage where they’re second nature.

Despite the level of individual talent in several England squads that have shown up for tournaments over the last two decades, it’s been almost a given that they would end up falling short – or, more to the point, not even be genuine contenders for top honours.

Former England midfielder and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard puts this underachievement down to the difficulties faced in building a team spirit.

Lampard recalls hearing from Chelsea teammate Hernan Crespo about how tight-knit the Argentina squads were. Meanwhile, England’s players were never fully unified due to their fierce rivalries in the Premier League.

The former midfielder however thinks the national team is about to benefit from the success at youth level, where the U17 team recently won the World Cup and the U19 team won the European Championships this summer.

With players now coming through the ranks together, Lampard hopes England’s current crop of youngsters go on to achieve much more than his famous Golden Generation.

Do you agree with Lampard’s take on England?

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