Mirror
Ruud Gullit has pinned the blame for England’s World Cup failure on the fact the current crop of Three Lions stars don’t have any winning role models.
The Dutch legend also reckons Gareth Southgate ’s stars are hindered by the number of overseas players playing in key positions within Premier League teams.
He said: “What is fascinating at the top level in a World Cup is that every generation must have an example.
“England has been prematurely eliminated at this tournament despite a wonderful performance against France. They really played well but again they could not survive. I talked about this with other former players here in Qatar, like Peter Schmeichel, John Terry and Marcel Desailly.
“Desailly states that the French players have an example of a team that could win prizes and he is right. Today’s generation at England never experienced 1966 and at all previous tournaments saw only penalty shootouts that failed.
“Also, with the Premier League, England has the most beautiful and biggest league in the world, but the five biggest clubs do not have English internationals playing in the most crucial positions.
“That is killing the national team — there should be England players there, as they then get used to winning big trophies all the time. You win more with the bigger clubs.”
“Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford plays at Everton, not a top-five club. Of the two central defenders, Harry Maguire is on the bench at Manchester United.
“ John Stones does play at Manchester City but not always. Declan Rice, the controlling midfielder, plays at West Ham United and Harry Kane is a striker at Tottenham, where he has a team that has not won a trophy for years. That is England’s biggest problem. The team always plays well, but cannot make the final step.”
