(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
In just under 11 months, Fabio Capello will be tasked with selecting the nation's best 23 players to represent the country at the biggest tournament in world football. And on June 11 in South Africa 32 teams will begin to contest the trophy that has eluded England for over half a century, which is exactly why the upcoming season will be the biggest in the careers of many of England's aging stars, promising hopefuls and emerging talents.
It’s a safe bet that fans across the country anticipating the beginning of the season this weekend will temporarily lose sight of the bigger more imperative issue of the World Cup at the end of the footballing calendar.
And when season 2009/2010 draws to close pundits will begin to talk up the nations chances, and will most likely be reminding everyone that this will be England’s last shot with a squad of players that have been considered as collectively at their peak for a while now. But what does the future hold for the England squad after a tournament which might be the last for many of its key players?
The article title poses a relevant debate simply because by the 2014 World Cup which is to be hosted in Brazil, the top players that have appeared in England’s major tournament squad’s since 1998 in theory may no longer be in contention.
By then the nation could have already witnessed the end of a generation of players that have promised so much and delivered nothing internationally as a yardstick of their potential and capabilities.
Michael Owen, Gary Neville, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, David James, Joe Cole, Peter Crouch, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Wayne Bridge, Sean Wright Phillips, Gareth Barry and even John Terry will be well into their 30s by Brazil 2014.
Even if some of the current first team players compete in Brazil, this would be under the formula of opting for age and experience over youth which is still a tried and tested possibility by Capello whilst he was manager at the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus and Milan.
But the central issue resonating is that to be relying on those players in 2014 would only be extenuating what has been wrong with England squads for years. A reliance on the same old names regardless of how well they suit the system required to beat different teams.
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