Don’t write off Rooney just yet…
He is 31 this month and will be at his peak mentally as a player, so...
WAYNE ROONEY still has a big role to play for both Manchester United and England and the sceptics who think otherwise are forgetting that, at 31 later this month, he is at his peak mentally, if not physically.
The game becomes so much easier to read at that age with all the experience of so many top-flight games. And I doubt whether either Jose Mourinho or Gareth Southgate would want to lose a player of Rooney’s experience right now.
Of course, there does come a point in every iconic player’s career when you have to make a judgment on whether their status justifies a place in the team or whether their fitness means they have to be dropped.
In 1998 I left Paul Gascoigne, a wonderful player when in his prime, out of England’s World Cup squad. But I don’t feel Wayne is at that stage. For one thing, I was making a decision over the l ength of a tournament rather than a couple of games. And Paul really wasn’t physically right and was carrying injuries. But just as Gareth has to cope with every Press conference being focused on Wayne, so every time I selected an England team or squad it became a story about Paul Gascoigne.
That is an integral part of being England manager. And to be honest, you would put yourself in an early grave if you worried too much about it or what other people are saying.
In the end you have to make the decision with your staff which you believe is honest and right for the team. You cannot listen to other voices. Put simply, you only have to decide what will work for this team or squad in the next game. That might mean Wayne starting at times or being on the bench. But that is the only question you need to ask yourself. I still believe his best position is closer to the penalty area
than where he played against Malta, when he was deeper in midfield. He can still play as No9 or a No10. But where I would like to see him is in a midfield three. Not in a deep role as the holding player but playing higher up, alongside Dele Alli or Adam Lallana.
Then they can alternate their runs: when one gets in the box, the other hangs back and vice versa. And rather than having a solitary No10 behind the striker, you would have a No8 and a No10 alternating in the role: one has freedom to hit the box and the other stays on the edge of the D. Because wherever Wayne plays, you need to get him in and around that penalty area. It is almost akin to the role in which I played Teddy Sheringham. There, he can link the play but he is also high enough up to hit the box.
But Wayne is not in a situation which is where he needs to be discarded by club or country. He may have a problem starting for England next month against Scotland if he isn’t starting for Manchester United, though there are even Europa League games in which he will probably play. And situations change very quickly in football.
People are writing him off but my belief is that, even though he will probably be on the bench at Anfield tomorrow, eventually he will be playing well enough to get himself back in this United team and stay in the team. And at that point he will be back in the England team as well.