Wayne Rooney has been scrutinised by both fans and the media after a somewhat disappointing England performance against Italy. He did deliver a peach of a cross for Daniel Sturridge to crash home, but this was overshadowed by his lack of defensive work in the game and several quality opportunities to level late that were not close.
Rooney wasn’t good enough against Italy, clearly. Playing on the left wing against a team such as Italy, he simply must help out his left back. Leighton Baines tried to do his best against both the Italian winger and overlapping right back, but in two-on-one situations, the two should always win. This lead to the winner for Italy, when a cross was swung in from that wing by Antonio Candreva to set-up Mario Balotelli perfectly for a headed goal.
Should Rooney be blamed for this? Perhaps, because as a national team player he must be held accountable no matter what position he is played in. Or should Roy Hodgson be blamed for mismanagement, as he had arguably the team’s greatest asset not playing in his most dominant position on the pitch. Perhaps Hodgson should have had Raheem Sterling or Danny Welbeck play left wing, with Rooney either up front or playing in the hole. Don’t make a player play in an unnatural position, especially when he is your best player.
There have been many rumours about Rooney being benched for today’s match against Uruguay. This is a key game for both England and their opposition, and may just decide who is condemned to leaving the World Cup early. By benching Rooney, what would it achieve? Essentially it would be removing England’s best player and replacing him with Sturridge. Sturridge has England’s only goal of the tournament so far, though the real class on the goal was Rooney’s fantastic cross.
It would be a great idea to have both players on the pitch again, but in different positions. Keep Sturridge up front, but put Rooney in the hole or as a number 10 with a free licence to roam. This way, Rooney can get forward if he wants to but can also support Sturridge and the wingers.
It’s important that England win their remaining two matches, and to have the best chance of doing that, Roy Hodgson must select his best players and play them in their most effective positions. If he doesn’t, it would be like deploying Lionel Messi as a target man against two 7-foot centre backs who are going to win every ball in the air. No matter a player’s ability, they will only be effective in certain positions, with certain roles.
So if the reports are true, then Rooney will start in the number 10 role where he is so effective. The only time fans should judge a player, is when he is played in his proper position.
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