'Wayne Rooney should start alongside Manchester United team-mate Marcus Rashford' - assessing captain's England future

Standard Sport5 October 2016

Standard Sport writers Tony Evans, James Olley and Simon Johnson assess what the future holds for Wayne Rooney after he hit back at his critics, insisting he can still return to his best form for Manchester United and England.

Can Rooney change his game to thrive for England?

Tony Evans: Rooney is clearly far from the player he once was. He’s lost his explosiveness and he seems less confident in front of goal than he was and his position is up for debate. It’s hardly a great starting point.

James Olley: True, but he is an intelligent player with a great football brain. Surely he is capable of adjusting his game in the same way as Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes did? And I’m not just talking about playing in midfield — his new team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic is 35, for example, and is still playing as a No9.

TE: I don’t think he can adjust. Zlatan plays a very particular role and has the physical power to make that work. We may find for United his lack of mobility becomes a problem as the season goes on and Rooney’s lack of mobility, especially in midfield, causes him huge problems. In an England squad that’s packed with pace, he slows the game down and that worries me a little bit.

Simon Johnson: But there are few players in this England squad who can pass the ball as well as him. He showed intermittently in Slovakia and at Euro 2016 that he still has a great eye for a pass and he can supply the faster guys further forward. We lack experience in the squad and I think he has a major role to play there.

Does his experience not make him invaluable?

TE: People argue England lack leadership but look at the Iceland game. They needed a leader there to help them recover but Rooney looked as lost and directionless as the rest of them. I wonder with all that he has been through with England, whether he still has an ability to rouse his team-mates.

SJ: I detect from his press conference that the criticism has given him a fire in his belly. When Rooney’s in that frame of mind, he can be a totally different personality on the pitch.

What is his best position now?

JO: When Harry Kane is out, surely if Rooney has any future as an England striker, he has to be playing at least one of the games against Malta and away against Slovenia. I can’t think of a player who plays one position for his club and then another for his country so markedly. Centre-back or left-back maybe but how can Rooney be a midfielder for his country and a No10 for United?

TE: He needs to play as a striker. If he isn’t, he needs to be on the bench.

SJ: I think back to the first couple of games at the Euros where he bossed the midfield against Russia and Wales. Even his fiercest critics were singing his praises. When he played behind Dele Alli against Slovakia in the first World Cup qualifier, I thought they combined well together. That could be a way forward, with Rooney alongside Eric Dier behind Alli.

New option: Dele Alli combined well with Wayne Rooney in the win against Slovakia
Dan Mullan/Getty Images

JO: Rooney yesterday claimed that tactical change against Slovakia won them the game.

TE: It made the difference because Alli gave England an injection of pace and thrust. But I’d be extremely concerned against better teams with superior movement and speed to see Dier and Rooney playing that deep. They’d get swamped.

JO: Part of the problem here is that England lack convincing options in central midfield. Dier has been adjusted in that position, Jordan Henderson is a specialist but who else is there in this squad? If we had the midfield riches of past generations, would Rooney get in the team there on merit?

SJ: Jack Wilshere has had his injury problems and is trying to revive his career at Bournemouth while Ross Barkley is still flattering to deceive with Everton so this is the reason why Rooney’s midfield role has become more important. The two younger guys who many hoped would now be ready have just not stepped up.

JO: I’d say the same about the centre-forward situation. Daniel Sturridge is not playing regularly for Liverpool and Jamie Vardy is not quite hitting the heights of last season. Rooney could arguably be our best No9 option while Harry Kane is unavailable but Marcus Rashford is an intriguing alternative for me.

So should Rooney start against Malta and Slovenia?

TE: I’d use blinding pace in these two games coming up rather than Rooney slowing the match down. He doesn’t get in my team for Malta or Slovenia because there is room for experimentation against sides like that.

SJ: I’d have him starting in a midfield role. Gareth Southgate made a big point this week about stability being key with all the turmoil of recent weeks. Now is the time when the England captain is needed more than ever on the pitch to oversee what will hopefully be two big wins to keep us top of the group.

JO: England have pace in wide areas so I’d like to see Southgate be brave and pick Rashford as a No9 with Rooney as a No10. The fact they have an understanding at club level will help Rashford settle into the senior set-up. He is quick, too, and if you have pace out wide, you have three runners ahead of Rooney and he can use his passing range higher up the pitch to a more devastating effect. If not, then Alli is on hand off the substitutes’ bench to impact the game as he did against Slovakia.

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