One of the more memorable images of England’s Euro 2012 campaign will surely be an unfit Rooney, charging forward, completely running out of steam and giving the ball away. After chasing the Italians across the pitch for 120 minutes, the Manchester United forward had nothing left to give and was never really placed in a position to showcase his best assets. It’s a damn shame, but if England were ambitious enough, they’d have entered the game with more attacking designs and looked to unlock Rooney’s ability.
The fact that they didn’t, shouldn’t weigh too heavily on Rooney’s shoulders. A lot of undue criticism has been directed his way, but most people aren’t taking into account the extenuating circumstances. Not only was he unfit, but England didn’t play to his strengths in the first place.
Even more bizarre is Emirate 24/7’s claim that Roy Hodgson’s criticisms of the England forward suggests that it’s time for Sir Alex to consider letting go of the Manchester United mainstay. So what exactly are these trenchant criticisms?
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“I think we put a lot of expectations on Wayne. When he missed the first two games, we were all believing that what we needed to do was to get to the third game and Wayne Rooney will win us the championships. That maybe was too much to ask of him. Wayne certainly tried very hard, but he didn’t have his best game. I think he would admit that.”
Pretty scathing stuff I’m sure you’ll agree. How it signals to United that they should consider selling him is unclear. Whatever way you look at it and however hard you try to read between the lines, the implication just isn’t there. It’s just another sensible quote from the King of common sense, ol’ Roy Hodgson.
Who in their right mind would look to sell Wayne Rooney, one of the best strikers in world football and the most naturally gifted English footballer for who knows how long, because of two games? Two games where he wasn’t fit and didn’t exert the influence he wanted to (but still managed to score a goal). It’s incredibly reactionary and we all know that it’s just not how Sir Alex operates.
The time when Fergie may have been willing to let Rooney go (when he held the club to ransom over a new contract) has come and gone. He’s there for the long run and that’s a very good thing for United fans. So let’s not get carried away.
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Unfit? Don’t get it – one minute our players are being run int the ground and overplayed – give them a week off and they become unfit?
It’s nothing to do with fitness it’s about tactics and posession – if we keep the ball anf get the opposition to run around chasing us then they would look unfit too.
It’s a combination of technical ability and tactics – 2 vs 3 in midfield will always have our players running more!
I also dont get why Hodgson is saying too much expectation was placed on Rooney’s shoulders – not surprising when you announce he is Englands Pele before he’s even kicked a ball in the tournament!
No – don’t sell Rooney!
No they shouldn’t leave him alone..
Oh please. When are people going to stop making excuses for Rooney? He was unfit. He didn’t receive midfield support. Too much is asked of him elsewhere on the pitch. His erratic goal scoring form is fine, because sooner or later ‘he’ll come good’.
The guy is a waste of space, the team antichrist where possession football is concerned, lacking in basic skills that a 10 year kid in France or Holland would have already mastered, bereft of even decent passing skills, and chronically incapable of beating anyone one-on-one to save his life, which means he either gets caught with the ball constantly by the defense or hurriedly passes the ball away laterally or backwards to save being embarrassed again – for this he gets praised as a team ‘orchestrator’. The worst part is that he’s so chronically limited as a footballer that he requires all the team focus to be directed at him to cover for his deficiencies, meaning that he drags the team down. Great players make those around them better. Rooney diminishes them, which is one of the reasons why he’s notorious for being a lousy strike partner.
As a United supporter, I’d love nothing better than to see the team ditch the guy and cash in by selling him on to some team gullible enough to buy into all the hype and pay big money for him.