Wayne Rooney named the best midfielder out of Gerrard, Scholes and Lampard

Whilst England are lucky to have the likes of Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Phil Foden to choose from at the heart of their midfield these days, it wasn’t so long ago that Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes were all available in the engine room.

The current generation is special, but England’s last ‘golden generation’ still arguably had the most talent at their disposal in pursuit of a first honour since the 1966 World Cup.

It wasn’t just in midfield that the Three Lions were spoilt for talent. It’s a squad which also featured Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry. And the list could go on.

Many have had their say as to why England were dumped out of the 2002 World Cup and then on penalties against Portugal at Euro 2004, including Lampard. The former England and Chelsea midfielder told reporters: “I think at times, we [the Golden Generation] were too rigid. I talk from my own personal experience of playing at World Cups against teams that were not at our level.

“I’m not talking about France and Italy, more teams like Ecuador, who were keeping the ball in midfield because they were outnumbering us in the centre of the park. The things that maybe me and Stevie [Steven Gerrard] were used to doing where we had numbers, now we are just trying to cover space and you get a bit mentally done with it in the game wondering why this is happening.”

Outnumbered or not, there’s no denying the quality that England particularly had in the middle of the park. But finding the right balance between Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes often proved to be The Three Lions’ biggest problem, and that sparked a midfield debate which has rumbled on for decades since.

Rooney named Gerrard as his greatest ever England teammate

Having played with all three at international level and Scholes with Manchester United too, Rooney should be an expert in the age-old England midfield debate, and he delivered his official verdict to The Overlap in 2024.

“Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are all different. As an all-rounder, Stevie is the best; he can defend, pass the ball, run, tackle, score goals, set pieces. As an all-rounder he’s the best from that point of view.”

Whilst praising all three, Rooney went on to reiterate that Scholes could not achieve what Gerrard did in a Liverpool side which often struggled to compete with the very top honours: “All were world-class players. Stevie could come to Manchester United and be a top player and do what Scholes could do. But I don’t think Scholes could do what Stevie did at Liverpool.”

The numbers certainly don’t help to end the debate after Rooney’s verdict, but what they do highlight is England’s clear failure with all three at their disposal in a golden generation.