The current England team isn't quite held in the same regard as the ones before it - in fact, it's arguably the most low-key England side ever.

It lacks stars, with Harry Kane being undoubtedly the big name in the team, but even he still has doubts hanging over him with his lack of truly elite experience.

England's previous generation, the so-called 'Golden' one that won an alarming lack of gold, was full of players who competed at the top of the game.

Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, John Terry, and Ashley Cole were the backbone of the National side for over a decade, but there simply aren't English players of their standing around anymore.

Nowadays, England rely on Kane, Dele Alli, and Raheem Sterling going forward - all players with something to prove at the top.

One player who is able to really judge how things are is Jack Wilshere.

The Arsenal man made his England debut in 2010 and was around to see the big changes happen up close.

“I remember the first time I walked into an England squad," the Independent reports him as saying. "I went for dinner and there was Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and John Terry, big players I had watched growing up."

Wilshere believes, however, that it's not a bad thing that the current side lacks the big players, saying that there are things the current squad has to its advantage over the previous group.

“It’s a different feel now,” he explained, “There are more young players, there’s more of a group, I think, and there’s more of a plan towards the future.”

If Wilshere is right, hearing that the national side finally feels like a group with a real plan should be music to the ears of England fans.

Accusations of the team being more a selection of individuals in the same coloured shirt rather than a functioning side have dogged England for a long time.

That problem being sorted out, alongside the unprecedented success of England's youth sides in 2017 mean there might actually be cause for genuine optimism around England.

Now they just need to get to Russia and prove it.