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Ex-Chelsea boss Gullit: England youngsters not good enough to carry them

Former Chelsea and Newcastle United boss Ruud Gullit says England need their old players to step up to stand any chance in the Euros.

Gullit says England's young players aren't ready to form the spine of the team.

The former Holland star saw the Dutch win 3-2 at Wembley last Wednesday and said: "You can easily analyse what is wrong. It's the spine of the team. There the positions must be taken up by players who ­England can rely on.

"If you look at the big five countries in world football, they all have their best players in the spine of the side. Look at the England side which played against Holland and at the back there was a lack of leadership.

"They need players like John Terry and Rio Ferdinand in the centre of defence. And in ­midfield they need a player with forward thinking rather than just the tacklers like Scott Parker and Gareth Barry. Holland have Wesley Sneijder or Rafael van der Vaart in that role. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have been used as a pair and it's not worked."

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