Is Wayne Rooney World class?

[bluenitsuj]

Never. he has never done anything on a national stage to prove it.

 

[ifuhatepalacestandup]

the only thing Rooney is world class at is sweating , he was the only player last night who looked like he was playing in the rain

 

[Gritt23]

Or is he massively over rated?

It all depends on the definition of "World Class." For me, that is a player who still looks a class act when playing on a truly World stage. Not once, nota couple of flashes in big games, but REGULARLY looks like a man to affect a game of the highest quality.

Rooney doesn't fall into that definition for me.

 

[Simster]

Oh please. He had one decent season for England - 2002 qualifying. Other than that, another bog standard England player made out to be the greatest player ever.

As someone else mentioned in a thread a while ago, you have to go back to Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton to find three truly world class English players. The only one who came close since then is Gazza and he lasted 5 minutes.

Bog standard is a little harsh. I agree that Beckham was ordinary in open play, but England haven't had anyone as good at set piece delivery for years. Although, bizarrely, Beckham was truly SHITHOUSE at penalty taking.

 

[Common as Mook]

Paul Scholes was a better player than Beckham. If he didn't look like he'd run into a flaming brick wall he would have got much more kudos on the world stage.

 

[Acker79]

If he was playing for Spain, Germany or Italy he would have torn us to shreds tonight.

The simple fact is we dont create chances for him, and have to rely on him to create magic on his own.

Put Messi in Englands side tonight and he would not have got a kick either.

For me, if you require the rest of the team to perform for you to be able to do your job to a decent standard, then you're not world class. If Rooney is only good when the team around him is, then he is not world class.

Look at Ronaldo, he lifts up Portugal and carries them on his shoulders. Messi may not play as well for Argentina as he does for Barcelona, but it is still always clear that he has skills. Like Vicente playing for Brighton. Even though our record with him is worse than without him, when Vicente plays it is abundantlyclear he is a great player, better than anyone else in the team.

Rooney does not look like he is better than the rest of the team. A team that includes milner, and scott parker and andy carroll and jordan henderson.


For me, the truth is half way. He is overrated, not massively so, and mostly for England. But he is not world class either.

 

[u'vebeenamexed]

Rooney is a good player but not world class.

A world class player would have pulled off a world class goal and bicycle kicked that last minute chance home.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Taking the Man Utd goggles off, can you hand on heart argue that there are any other WORLD CLASS players in the last 12 years who have played for England? Or are you arguing that the man who has had some of the best palyers in the world firmly in his back pocket for the past decade, isnt world class?

Hand on heart I don't think any of the England squad are world class. I think some are very very good club players, Gerrard, Rooney, Cole, but none of them to me are truly world class.

There were only 2 world class players on view last night in my opinion, that was Buffon and Pirlo.

 

[sydney]

missed two sitters last night ...he's f***ing average...next...?

 

[Common as Mook]

Hand on heart I don't think any of the England squad are world class. I think some are very very good club players, Gerrard, Rooney, Cole, but none of them to me are truly world class.

There were only 2 world class players on view last night in my opinion, that was Buffon and Pirlo.

Fair viewpoint. I just think Ashley Cole falls into that bracket. Consistently our best performer at major tournaments and has won everything at club level. There was a good article in the paper at the weekend where the point was made that no-one has ever truly got the better of him during a big game. Included in that list were Ronaldo and Messi

 

[Pavilionaire]

I buy Ashley Cole as world class. I also rate Leighton Baines, and it'd be interesting to see in a friendly how he'd play at LB with Cole ahead of him. They could take it in turns to bomb forward and give the opposition something to think about.

England rarely think outside the box but Spain have played with 6 midfielders, France with 2 right-backs so I'd like to see Woy get a bit more creative.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Fair viewpoint. I just think Ashley Cole falls into that bracket. Consistently our best performer at major tournaments and has won everything at club level. There was a good article in the paper at the weekend where the point was made that no-one has ever truly got the better of him during a big game. Included in that list were Ronaldo and Messi

Okay, we can probably agree that defensively as a left back Cole is world class. It is the primary function of his role. Where I think he lacks true world class status is his ability on the ball. I think he panics in tight positions, his passing is not actually that great (stats bare this out), and he doesn't show as much for the ball as he could.

I look at Lahm as a comparison and he has every attribute. His contribution to Germany's ball retention is as important as any of the players on the team, and he is always showing for the ball and has a range of passing, plus he gets himself out of tight spots without resorting to a hoof out of play. Defensively he is solid, and can play left or right back. He probably passes it twice as much as Cole does in a game, but will have half the number of uncompleted passes.

 

[Superseagull69]

Nope. Good for his club but never brings it to the international stage.

A very good palyer but not World Class.

 

[Pixelated Penguin]

NO!! but are any of them?...i think not.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Gerrard is a world class player who was sacrificed by previous England managers to accommodate lesser players like Lampard.

not sure about that.........he's a BIG part of englands "giving the ball away" problem as he tries the hollywood pass far too often. As one of englands most creative players (in theory) you really need a better pass completion rate from him. Yes, he'll get some of them right (his assists in this tournament have been good, for example) but you're really going to struggle against the better teams if your central midfielders are constantly attempting 50-yard passes. One thing that Gerrard has over Rooney though is that he HAS performed against the better teams at Champions League level

So who plays Center half better that John Terry in the world? Even an aging Terry was was the outstanding defender of the Euros.

there's plenty of better centre backs in the world than john terry........plenty

 

[Aadam]

Two games, one goal. Looked isolated and hounded when ever he picked up the ball. England lacked imagination, were too defensive (natural with Roy in charge), which doesn't help. World Class? A few years ago when he was smashing in 40 goals a season he was well on his way to being so. However, a couple of bad international tournaments (where lets face it, all the players were bad) and people will naturally question his ability.

A very good player he is, I don't think people can deny that, but he has lost a yard of pace, and needs players around him that are on his level. Young and Milner were no where to be seen to offer that support. Had Roy been a little more adventurous, it could have been different.

Unfortunately, I don't think the world cup will be any different. Even if he goes on to score 40 goals each in the next couple of seasons, unless he turns it on at the next World Cup, people will question his ability. He will be 28 at the World Cup, he has to shine.

World class means having the ability to influence games at World level. This means the world cup followed by the euros in order of importance.
Wayne Rooney is not world class.

Messi, by your definition, is not world class.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

look no further than Pirlo, made the game look easy, the day England get someone of his calibre we might have a shout .

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

the way i, personally, define world class is by asking myself the question "would that player get into the first eleven of most of the top international sides?" along with their performances at international level, and the latter stages of the champions league

as for englands players, not many of them would get near the top teams......cole would get into most as there aren't many better left backs around (for me, lahm is the only one better), he's also won the champions league and has always done well against the top, top players, plus he's played well at tournaments (for me, the only england player to come out of 2010 with any credit). Hart is class but most of the top teams also have top goalkeepers, plus he's only had 1 tournament and with man city hasn't done anything in the champions league, so possibly "not yet" but almost definitely in the future. Gerrard would get into some of them........definitely not spain or germany though, he's done ok for england in tournaments but he HAS performed at champions league level for liverpool. Rooney is the other possibility, I think his club form would get him near the first eleven of a lot of top international teams, BUT he hasn't performed at tournaments for england, and he hasn't really done it against the top teams at champions league level...so i don't think so to be honest

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Messi, by your definition, is not world class.

messi has performed FAR better than rooney at champions league level though

 

[Shooting Star]

It all depends on the definition of "World Class." For me, that is a player who still looks a class act when playing on a truly World stage. Not once, nota couple of flashes in big games, but REGULARLY looks like a man to affect a game of the highest quality.

Rooney doesn't fall into that definition for me.

This. He looked absolutely lost in the England shirt in a way that none of the others did. No presence whatsoever.