Paul Ince has slammed “totally ridiculous” suggestions that England have their best squad of all-time heading into the Euros.
Gareth Southgate has named an extremely talented squad heading into this summer’s tournament. The Three Lions’ record goalscorer Harry Kane will lead the line once again.
He will be backed up by world class talents such as Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Declan Rice and more. It has led to some claiming that the current group is the best squad that England have ever had.
But former Three Lions star, Ince, does not believe that is the case. Speaking to Bet365, he said: “England having their best ever squad? It's nowhere near the case. It's totally ridiculous. If you actually go back to the squads of the past, 1990 for example, look at the players that were in that squad, especially in midfield,
“No disrespect intended, but in this squad are the likes of Adam Wharton who has very little experience, Kobbie Mainoo and Declan Rice, in 1990 there was Bryan Robson and Paul Gascoigne. In more recent eras you had midfielders like Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, these are great, great players.”
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While Ince is not convinced that the current squad is the best ever, he has also claimed that public perception has been altered due to the decreasing standard of international football.
He added: “I think there's people looking at recent tournaments at the squad that got beaten by Italy and got to the semi-finals in 2018, we feel that this is probably a very good squad.
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“But you've got to understand the level of players that we were playing against in 96 to the level that players are now. It's changed a lot. The level's not as high as it was back in our time.
“Even if you look at someone like Gheorghe Hagi, who played for Romania, there were so many world-class players and I don't think you get that level with international teams now. Look at Italy with Nicolo Barella, then look back to Paulo Rossi and Marco Tardelli, these are the types of players we were playing against in international football.
“The level of international football for me has dropped which means that England have got a very good chance. They've got a very good squad, but to say it's the best squad of all time is totally ridiculous.”
England get their Euro 2024 campaign underway on Sunday against Serbia ahead of further group games against Denmark and Slovenia.
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