It’s taken a while, but the England hype train is in now in full flow. Following England’s 6 – 1 win over Panama, Frank Lampard said that they can go all the way.
After England’s biggest ever World Cup victory Frank Lampard spoke to BBC’s Five Live World Cup Daily Podcast. He said that there is no reason why England can’t win the World Cup.
“I think they can go all the way, I genuinely do. I don’t see why we should start being negative and say we can only get to the quarter finals.
You look at the talent in our squad and you think why should we write ourselves off? So yes, the players will focus game by game. But ourselves from the outside, we can look in and say the team has a real chance.
“I thought the team performance was great, and we’re sitting in a really good position.
“And it’s great the we can be so positive. We should embrace the fact that we’ve had two good results.”
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Frank Lampard thinks this England team has a much better chance than previous generations. He puts it down to an improved team collective.
“I think we should applaud the team and Gareth Southgate on what they’ve done so far.
“Southgate has been so fluid with the system. We’re not playing a basic 4-4-2 anymore. Gareth has made all these moves which has made us more of a team, rather than being about this position or that position.
“The movement and passing of the ball is something that England have been lacking in recent years, including my generation.
“Sometimes we found it hard to dominate the play. This team is doing that. Not only did they move the ball quickly but they did it with an idea to go and score
“There’s a real energy about this team and it’s great to watch.”
England’s current World Cup campaign has been characterized by a lack of unrealistic media expectations. However, this is England we’re talking about. The media and the fans always get ahead of themselves, resulting in inevitable disappointment.
Now, Southgate’s squad will be dealing with the same pressure that was on those who came before them. Their final group game against Belgium on Thursday will be a good indicator of whether or not they can stand up to it.
England will top the group with a win over Belgium, who are many people’s dark horses for the tournament.
