Life after Lampard and Gerrard for England

Steven Gerrard's retirement creates a hole for England

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have moved on but who is coming through to replace these two giants and mainstays of the England midfield?

There is no doubt that a midfield of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes should have propelled England into a new era.

Scholes left the England party early, whilst Lampard and Gerrard have only just announced their retirements from the national squads following this year's World Cup.

Scholes, as we know, retired from international football following the European Championships in 2004. Subsequently, he was approached by just about every England manager following that tournament to return to the fold. Scholes won 66 caps but would, and should, have earned many more.

The same cannot be said about Lampard and Gerrard, as these two players won over 200 caps collectively for the national side. It is argued that both were never the same players at international level than at club level. It's scandalous that no England manager was able to get the best out of them. At times it was just one of them that performed well, a majority of times it was neither, as England drifted through tournaments with no clear plan.

Gerrard retired first, shortly after the World Cup, whilst Lampard's decision was a more recent one. The legacy of these two leaving the international fold is the emergence of a new England midfield, a new formation perhaps, or will it be a case of the same old, same old?

That new midfield should include Jack Wilshere, the Arsenal midfielder who is now expected to pick up the mantle of the retirees. The problem is, because of injuries, Wilshere is still in the inexperienced bracket, and he should have played a lot more by now.

Roy Hodgson has a huge task with this new midfield, they need game time together, and Wilshere now has to be the focal point of it. His new partner in the centre of midfield will probably be Liverpool's Jordan Henderson and these two are predicted to be the backbone of the England midfield for years to come.

Out of the squad at present through injury is Adam Lallana, but the new Liverpool signing will feature in Hodgson's preferred formation of 4-2-3-1, Lallana then can glide between the three positions in attacking midfield. Theo Walcott will be expected to feature in this forward three also. Walcott was missed during the World Cup, but how long the Arsenal player takes to recover from his serious knee injury is still up for debate.

Everton's Ross Barkley, who made sporadic appearances in the World Cup, is also expected to feature in this new England midfield. Some pundits are predicting that Barkley could be England's new Paul Gascoigne. The youngster certainly has the attributes, the change of pace and the ball skills. However, Barkley injured his knee in training with the Merseyside club and early thoughts were that the 20-year-old would miss at least five months of the season, which would seriously impact on Hodgson's plans. Barkley could eventually be key to the future of England.

The problem that Hodgson has is a lack of experience. He has just lost two capped centurions and will expect the midfield engine room to be run by two players with only 33 caps between them. England have James Milner in their squad who has 49 caps, but to date they are yet to find a regular starting position for the Manchester City man.

This should be a key period for Hodgson as he looks to build from the disappointing World Cup, something which I'm sure he knew would be one of transition. England's European Championship qualification process starts away at Switzerland, England's only real challengers for the number one spot in their group. As ever, only time will tell what the future holds for the Three Lions.