Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Sunderland
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
England’s European cup exit against Iceland perfectly summed up Wayne Rooney on the International stage. Rooney’s English career started brightly (at Euro 2004) but has fizzled out since just like his performance against the European championship debutants. The English captain gave his team the perfect start by taking away an early penalty, but his performance thereafter was nothing to write home about.
One disappointed Three Lion fan summed it perfectly by saying “Not only did he (Rooney) make several misplaced passes, he was the one responsible for providing creativity from the middle and most importantly leadership; He came well short on both counts”. These words were brutally honest a true representation of what happened on the pitch on Monday.
The tournaments that followed Euro 2004 have ended in disappointments both on personal and team levels for the 30-year-old. Rooney himself admitted “It’s been six tournaments we have gone out of. At the moment, I’m gutted, but I can’t separate from the other times”. The captain will have more regrets when he reflects on his personal performance in those previous tournaments.
Rooney may be the record goal-scorer for his country with 53 goals but only 7 of those have come in major international tournaments. Seven goals in six major tournaments (1572 minutes) is simply not good enough for a player who is or was considered an ‘elite’.
It would be a little controversial here to point out that Wayne Rooney has never fully convinced his fellow English colleagues and even the media that he deserves to lead his country. All fans know Rooney was earmarked and subsequently made the captain of Manchester United to persuade him to stay at the club. The United captaincy made him an overwhelming favorite to lead his country after John Terry.
The 5-time league champion may be selfless and passionate but to be a captain requires something more. That missing ingredient is consistency. To be a consistent captain means to give more than 100% in training and in matches (whether competitive or friendlies). Consistent Captains lead by actions, maintain control in pressurized scenarios and are a source of inspiration to spur their team onto victory.
Rooney has never really shown that influence consistently like Maradona and Zidane showed at Argentina and France respectively. These guys led by example when things were going tough for their teams and usually provided the spark to help their teams out of difficult situations. Does Rooney do this often?
Rooney’s scenario has been likened to that of Mario Gotze of Germany. Both are ‘pets’ of their national coaches and will be fixed into the starting lineup just because of what they did for their country in the past even when they are out of form.
Clearly, Rooney’s new position is an indication of how low his stocks have fallen. He is no longer considered good enough to lead the lines at both club and country and has been shunted into central midfield. Rooney is yet to develop into a specialist central midfielder and his performances in that position has raised doubts about his ability to play there. Not only has Rooney’s performances in that area led to questions being asked about his best position but it has further deepened the notion that he should not actually be in the starting line-up at all. We saw how well a Rooney-less England team played against Germany. Did we see something close to that performance in Euro 2016? I doubt it.
England with Rooney in central midfield play like a bunch of breakdancers with no music, just hoping that somehow they could stumble their way through.
The current English team is youthful and talented and needs a real leader who will be able to guide and harness the best out of them. Unfortunately, that leader is not Rooney.
Featured Image: All rights reserved by ninhthuan510.
Receive weekly football news and updates to your mailbox