This England squad is better than mine

The England squad that I took to Germany for the 2006 World Cup is called the ‘Golden Generation’. We had some great players, but I think that today’s England squad is better. We had a brilliant starting XI in 2006 – Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Michael Owen, David Beckham, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand – but the group has more options now. Gareth Southgate can play Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling or Jack Grealish. He has no major injuries to deal with: in 2002, I lost Beckham; in 2004 I had no Owen; and in 2006, Rooney wasn’t 100 per cent fit.

If I could choose one player from the current England team to have had in 2006, though, it would be Harry Kane. He’s a fighter. Against Iran, he didn’t score, but he created for his teammates. He is an astonishing player. I’ve never seen England start a World Cup better than they did on Monday. Iran were not the best opponents, but it was a complete performance. Every single player was fantastic. I was most surprised by Jude Bellingham. We knew that he was a good player and had been doing well for Borussia Dortmund, but his performance was perfect. If England can keep this up for five or six more games, they will be difficult to beat.

In 2006, we should have got to the final. We could have won it. I couldn’t see any team better than us. That’s not to say that we were outstanding, but we were as good as anyone else. It was a huge disappointment, and still is. There is too much negativity around the Golden Generation. A couple of years after I left the England job, I heard reports that players were taking their club rivalries into the camp at the World Cup.