The End of Rooney as England’s Talisman

Rooney has been England's hope for a decade, yet a new generation seeks to push him out

Hodgson said Rooney played “very, very well” in last night’s game against Ecuador. High praise indeed when he remarked that Barkley had simply “good moments”. It was clear what Hodgson was doing, Rooney is the experienced professional and he can't give the media any hint of negativity towards the media's favourite object of attention. This would only cause more problems for Hodgson and England's preparations.

And of course it is easier to critique Barkley, a player who is perhaps the closest thing to Rooney's successor, because of his age and status in the team. And understandably he is seeking to dampen the hysteria about Barkley so as not to have another Messiah problem once more. Yet the last two games and the performances in them, albeit friendlies granted, highlighted a significant changing of the guard for England. It is evident England are in the midst of their most significant change for a decade, and Rooney is in danger of not having a guaranteed place in the side anymore.

Let me start by clarifying something straight off. I am not of the opinion that you solely play your ‘youngsters’ and drop anyone over 25 years old. I am a firm believer in a balance between youth and experience, and believe youngsters require the help and guidance of experienced professionals. However, it is evident that Wayne Rooney does not have a guaranteed place in this England side. And this is not a bad thing for English football.

When Rooney burst on to the scene in 2002 and scored that sublime goal against Arsenal it was evident England had a very special talent on their hands. His performances in the 2004 Euro’s showed a player who played without fear, who could run and frighten defenders and who looked unfazed by anything. That tournament was arguably the last time England looked like a genuine threat as a national side. After that came the calamity of 2006 in terms of the ‘WAGS’ and the embarrassing non-qualification in 2008. 2010 was a shambles and 2012 was some sort of damage limitation job from Hodgson who had inherited a bit of a mess.

A decade since Rooney broke on to the scene for England he has not been able to perform like he did that summer. This has to do with the poor planning and environment around the camp as well as his own injury issues which seem far too recurrent and which point at his general fitness and worrying permanence in the ‘red zone’. Ultimately a player who could have been one of England’s finest has been let down in these tournaments by himself and the coaches he works with. 

As time has gone on he has become more and more important to England. Like we love to do in England Rooney has become our ‘only hope’, the expectations on him always too high. He has never been able to match these lofty ambitions. Yet the same can be said of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo too, you see international football is not so much different to club football. The team is more important. Which is why Spain have dominated world football for so many years, they are the most compete and cohesive team in the world. They do not sacrifice the we for the me. And they succeed. Yet English football obsesses over the me, the individual.

Our culture always looks and marvels at the individual and neglects to focus on the team and the squad. Harmony and balance is neglected over individuals. This is why England have suffered trying to fit round pegs into square holes and forsaking finding balance over fitting in players.

Some may argue that individuals win games with moments of magic and this is true to an extent. Yet a cohesive team means your chances of success are heightened. Just look at what Greece achieved, Inter Milan in 2010 and Chelsea in 2012 for instance. 

At least in Hodgson we have a coach who understands the importance of balance more than most. He has developed ‘teams’, forsaking individuals over the balance required and this has brought him relative success at clubs like WBA and Fulham in recent years. The criticism pointed to him on this record could be his reliance on a compact block and use of a 4-4-1-1 yet his sides didn't play bad football and he was limited with the calibre of player at his disposal. With England he has some of the brightest talent to emerge for some time. 

The Rooney issue

So why is this important and what does this have to do with Rooney? Well, the problem is that Rooney has no place in this England playing the way Hodgson wishes to play. If he wants to play a 4-2-3-1, a formation which has been proven to be a success for many top sides then where does Rooney fit? 

In the past two games he has played in the 10 role and to the left of the three. Now this is not ‘left wing’ and the hope of the three behind a more fixed forward should be to allow movement, rotation and fluidity. Rooney knows all about this from his time under Queiroz at United particularly from 2006-2009 when Ronaldo, Tevez, Giggs and Rooney would play in the 4-2-3-1 in a rotating attacking four. It was excellent to see and no surprise that United became one of, if not the best in that period. 

In fact for me Rooney plays better coming in from wide than when he plays central as he is actually not very good at holding up the ball under pressure in tight areas. In fact he is rather useless at it for a player held in such regard. And this is what makes you wonder with him what his best role really is and where he fits in England’s system. 

If he plays out wide he can attack space centrally and find areas to score from, yet he can’t beat players in 1v1 situations anymore because he lacks explosive speed and his lack of fitness means his speed to get behind a defence is limited. 

Yet in the 10 position he is worse; he lacks smart movement, often coming too deep to collect the ball or struggling to deal with a pass in tight areas and giving away possession cheaply. When he is facing towards goal he does not make good decisions, either opting for a long shot or his famed diagonal which often don’t come off and when they do are near pointless because they take so long to get to their target that the defence aren’t under pressure. 

He is also not capable of the intricate killer pass on which we associate with 10’s such as Iniesta and Silva which means forwards ahead of him can’t make smart runs because he probably won’t find them. Yes he wears the 10 shirt, yet the older Rooney gets the more he is proving not to be a 10. 

And so therefore you have him play as a classic centre forward, the role he has always said he wishes to play anyway. And in fairness to Rooney I do believe that he has been the victim of his own versatility this past decade. He is a hard worker and will track back so you can play him wide. People have thought of him as a Gazza type player, a more attacking midfielder than a forward so he has played there, yet they are wrong. He is a centre forward, as much in the classic terms as you can say. And his lack of playing there has hampered his progression. 

He has proven he can score goals when playing centrally in the past yet the problem is at his club Van Persie is better than him in this role and now at England he has two, yes two players better than him in that role. Daniel Sturridge has proven to be a terrific forward since his move to Liverpool and removing the doubts of those who questioned his consistency and decision making ability. And compared to Rooney he has ‘upside’, as in he is younger and looks only to be getting better. He is your best centre forward. 

And what about Ricky Lambert? I tell you something, Lambert is one of the most complete centre forwards English football has produced, more complete than Shearer, Linekar or Owen. You may call me crazy and decide to stop reading but please hear me out. All these three were excellent goalscorers yet Lambert can play as a target man, can move into the channels to collect the ball and create space for others and yes has proven capable of being a prolific goalscorer. It is a shame his career path has taken such a time to reach these levels, yet perhaps he needed those experiences to mature and become the player he is. 

My point is, he offers more to England than Rooney does. Age is irrelevant as I said at the start, he offers what Miroslav Klose offers Germany, a player who at almost 36 years old still offers Germany’s ‘young and dynamic’ side a great forward option. And if Lambert plays Sturridge is more than capable of playing on the right of three and attacking the space in the same way Robben and Messi do. 

So there you have two players who should play before Rooney and on top of that you have the sublime performances of Chamberlain and Barkley, both exciting, athletic and skilful players who would frighten defenders with their directness and speed (just like Rooney in 2004). These two should start for England. So there you have your four and no place for Rooney. And this is how it should be. But it won’t. 

The Whitehouse Address' England XI to play Italy in the first game

A new generation waiting 

And why won't Rooney be dropped? Because the media and fans still believe Rooney is our saviour. We suffer from Messiah complexes too much in this country without realising that perhaps our Messiah is a fraud. Before it was Beckham, now it’s Rooney. We cannot resist. 

And Hodgson will select Rooney because not doing so will be worse. He will suffer in the media who will chastise him and blame him when (at whatever point) England go out. Yet at 28 years old Rooney is past his best days, injuries will only increase, speed will continue to be reduced and for both club and country he will offer less and less. In a world where speed will become more important, both physical and mental, Rooney will fall away. He has blown his best chances to succeed with England. Yet England can achieve more without him.

There is a new generation of players emerging, and unfortunately for Rooney all in the positions he can play and all who have the potential to get better. They are dynamic, brave and skilful (all attributes he once had, don't get me wrong, this blog has been a big supporter of Rooney in the past) and they now need experience and game time. By playing Rooney they are denying others the chance to excel further. 

The performance of Barkley and Chamberlain last night, as well as the emergence of Raheem Sterling with Adam Lallana and even Jack Wilshere (yet still doubts persist over his tactical acumen) point to a new generation of attacking talent. If Hodgson seeks to play a 3 + 1 in his attack then he has a plethora of talent to choose from, yet who all need caps and minutes to improve and enhance their knowledge of the demands at this level. Ricky Lambert and Daniel Sturridge are in the same position in terms of inexperience which they require. 

And what of Rooney's experience and ability to deal with heat in Brasil? Well if any player will suffer from the heat it will be Rooney and when our biggest asset must be fitness, speed and the ability to retain possession of the ball then Rooney falls down on all three. Therefore why should we start him?

Of course the youngsters need to improve their retention of the ball and Hodgson's warning to Barkley was not a limit to his creativity but to his decision making at this level. One only needs to watch Lionel Messi to see what decision making at the highest level is about. He does not seek to dribble and run at all times but waits, keeps possession, moves and scans to see where his space and opposition are and then when the moment is right he bursts forward. He, like his teammate Iniesta, make the best decisions more than any other players and this is why they are the best. 

Barkley and Chamberlain possess all the attributes required to be a complete player in the modern game, they now need to enhance their decision making and awareness to fulfil their potential. 

This was something which could have been said of Rooney a decade ago, all talk of his potential etc. On paper he has had a great career yet one always think he could have achieved more, especially for England. A more professional attitude to diet and fitness would have helped yet also a team in which expectations weren't solely on him alone. It has been a wasted decade for England which is a shame and Rooney has suffered most one feels. 

England are clearly weak defensively and have a lot of work to do to even get out the group, yet this blog has always felt that 2016-2018 was a much more realistic ambition to prepare this new generation of players. One does feel however that England have a much broader scope of talent in the team in the attack than they have for some time yet can we rely on Rooney in two years time, yet alone four? A man who at a mere 28 years of age, when he should still be in his prime appears to be in the twilight of his career already? We need to move on from the past decade, Rooney was once England’s shining hope, this is no longer the case.

The Whitehouse Address @The_W_Address

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