Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes England's youth can inspire success at the European Championship in France.
The retired defender says he can "sense a little bit that there is something coming'' from a squad in which the largely inexperienced Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane are expected to be central figures.
An argument against that and those more recent additions is that Roy Hodgson's team is not as settled as many would like going into a major tournament.
Ferdinand, however, has been reminded of the squad he joined at Leeds in 2000 which unexpectedly reached the semifinals of that season's Champions League.
The final four would similarly represent a significant achievement for Hodgson, and Ferdinand said: "When you have a group of young guys -- it happened when I went to Leeds, I went into a dressing room full of young guys -- [there were the] same interests and the same ways about you and that is a strong bond.
"The environment has to be created, a winning mentality has to be created by the manager -- that is his job -- the tactics are standard but the environment he creates really does set the tone and the platform for if you can be successful.
"A tournament can help create that as well, when you are confined to a space the bonding can really start. You travel and it starts snowballing into a momentum you can't stop, I hope that can happen with England.''
Much has been made of Hodgson's attacking options where, amid competition for selection between Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Kane, Jamie Vardy and Marcus Rashford, England have their strongest competition for 20 years and the build-up to Euro 96.
It is a far cry from the 2010 World Cup where Fabio Capello struggled to find a partner for Rooney between Emile Heskey, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch, but even with that strength in depth, Ferdinand is wary of the absence of the injured Danny Welbeck.
"He is not underrated in the squad,'' said 37-year-old Ferdinand, a BBC pundit who played alongside the forward for Manchester United. "He is one of those players who his teammates appreciate.
"People say he doesn't have the flashy moments and fans don't automatically think of him but in a team you appreciate Danny Welbeck because there is more to him than any other striker with the work-rate.
"I think that is detrimental to his goalscoring attributes -- sometimes he does too much outside the 18-yard box.
"That is one element of his game that if he changes it you will see a better output of goals, but he adds so much elsewhere.
"As a specimen he is frightening, but as a striker you get rated on your goals and assists and if he alters a few things he can become a top, top goalscorer.
"He will be missed.''