Gareth Southgate said the club rivalries that tainted England’s chances in the era of Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard will not be an issue for his players as they aim to “make their own history”.
Ferdinand, Gerrard and former team-mate Frank Lampard spoke publicly in 2017 about how communication was strained between England players plying their trade at rival Premier League clubs, suggesting the Three Lions’ ‘Golden Generation’ lacked cohesion.
Those comments have been used by Southgate to help his players understand the importance of creating camaraderie in the England set-up.
“We have listened to compelling interviews from Rio and Frank and Steven and we’ve used those to say we’ve got to make sure we put those club situations to one side, but I don’t think there is that intense rivalry at the moment between our top clubs that there was then,” said Southgate.
“The past can help us and inform us but it shouldn’t shape us and we’ve got to be our own team. We’ve spoken at length this week about how we’re really proud to represent everybody but really the guy next to you is the most important one going into this tournament.