THE rebuilding started on Monday night against Switzerland and the first layer of foundation seemed strong enough.

What better way to put England’s misery of the recent World Cup finals to bed than to start the European Championship campaign with a solid 2-0 victory over a team ranked in the top ten.

Our national team is entering a new era and right now English football is going to have to work very hard if it’s ever going to be back in the upper echelon of the world game.

The ‘Golden Generation’ has gone, with the last of those players in Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard recently retiring from international football.

That talented crop of players promised so much, but unfortunately never hit the heights of world domination we all hoped they would reach.

It was a team full of genuine world-class players such David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen.

I'm not sure we have many world class players in our current team, with Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart and Gary Cahill being my exceptions.

We have good Premier League players and steady internationals in our squad but it is not enough to compete with the big guns.

There is light at the end of this tunnel, in the form of players like Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who have shown that they can develop into world class players.

They all they seem to play for their country with a sense of freedom and, more importantly, they play with no fear.

What I mean by that is they will try things on the pitch that they might try on the training ground or in the park with mates – flicks around the corner, step- overs, dummies and backheels.

They have brought their good club form with them to international duties, which is something the ‘Golden Generation’ didn’t always do.

They don’t seem to be scared of the repercussions or backlash if something they try doesn’t come off.

In short, they seem to play with no fear of failure.

The punishment for failure in a three lions shirt is second only to the death penalty it seems, players can get crucified by the nation and take that fear on to the pitch.

It's good to see players confident in their ability and brave enough to express themselves.

I hope it’s something that runs throughout this new-look England squad.

With the new squad being young and the average age being about 24 years old, I hope that as well as improving on their own personal game they have a new attitude when playing for England.

I would like to see England reinvent themselves and as well as finding a system that brings out the best in everyone, I would like to see the players being brave and playing with no fear.

We have a new era for our national team and in time to come I hope these will be remembered as being The ‘Lionhearts’ generation.

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