Decline of Wayne Rooney and the England Squad

[Biscuit]

Wenger to SWOOP?

 

[Cecil]

I have always maintained on here that he is not world class and is just average like England, often to cries of derision ( are you there Sheebo and Mellotron? ). OK he had a couple of good games when he was very young but he has looked plain average against good International teams for a few years now. Good Premier League player, nothing more.

[MENTION=457]sheebo[/MENTION] will have you believe that James Milner is a world beater and the best thing since sliced bread !

 

[yxee]

The key fact re England:

Wayne Rooney: 79 apps, 33 goals.

England win% with Rooney: 60%, without: 66%
England goals per game with Rooney: 1.89, without: 2.15

he might score goals, but a lot of those 33 are from the last decade and most of the rest are against San Marino.

 

[Icy Gull]

Wellbeck good player. Hasnt whinged all season and has been shoved out wide most the time

International class I'd say

From watching whilst listening to Albion defend for 90 mins on Tuesday I was struck with how good Welbeck lloked on the night, does he always look that good?

 

[1901]

There is so much nonsense in this thread.

Spot on.

We have beaten Spain and Brazil in the last year and look solid.
Looking forward to us beating Ireland, Scotland, Argentina and Germany this year and then on to the World Cup.

 

[pork pie]

Come on Gus, have a word with Old Strawberry Nose about getting him on loan.

 

[Jim Van Winkle]

Whilst I don't believe the tabloids saying Wayne Rooney is sold I certainly think Ferguson has started to respect him less and less due to his fitness issues and his eating and drinking habits outside of football. He's now 28 and it certainly looks as if his best days are done, should he be cast out from United which wouldn't be that surprising I'm imagining he'll fall further down the rabbit hole of drinking pints and eating fried chicken and will end up fat faster than Robinho or any other Brazillian whose star has faded. I certainly can't see Rooney being in top condition for the Brazilian WC.

Where does that leave England? Welbeck IMO is average, Sturridge slightly better, who else do we have coming through? Harry Kane?

14-15 months till the WC how will he get fit in time? Harry Kane you truly are a WUM.

RVP is a phenomenal athelete poles apart from Rooney. I listened to the guardian podcast lat night and they were talking about the fact that Rooney must have walked off the pitch looking at Ronaldo and thinking what if. They were at a similar level when Ronaldo left Unite, now Ronaldo is at the top of his game fitter then ever and considered one of the best players in the world, Rooney although still having a shot on him was left benched unfit and getting fatter by the season.

I hope your right though because I can't see much past Rooney for England, Defoe and Bent?

Bent!?!?! Now you really are taking the piss. Bent or Rooney at the next WC? I can see Woy tossing a coin to decide that one. Tough call.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Charlie Austin will be in the England squad.

I KNOW it.

So will Rickie Lambert. (he will be PLAN B)

You heard it here first.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

We have beaten Spain and Brazil in the last year and look solid.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Rooney has never been a player to shape or change the big games; the self-styled "big man" chokes on the big stage. I do not see this changing and it looks like Fergie is of the same opinion.

 

[Icy Gull]

Spot on.

We have beaten Spain and Brazil in the last year and look solid.

/QUOTE]

Friendlies mean Jack **** though, when it matters we don't beat the big boys and both of those teams would spank us in a meaningful game

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Friendlies mean Jack **** though, when it matters we don't beat the big boys and both of those teams would spank us in a meaningful game

This. England beat Germany in Berlin a short while before they spanked England in SA. I remember David James babbling on about this before the said game.

 

[Ernest]

When was the last time Rooney turned it on against world class teams ? I thought he was invisible for most of the Real Madrid game

 

[NickBHAFC18]

Harry Kane! Hilarious.

Rooney is still a top class striker. Fergie picks who he wants, when he wants to. I think the resting of Rooney showed arrogance, he has every right to be, but I think he was rested to get Welbeck more big game experience and he probably thought they'd win the game without needing Rooney. It backfired.

I also think he likes winding up the press and giving them stories to talk about which actually aren't stories at all.

And finally, Danny Welbeck.

Danny Welbeck was probably Manchester United's MOTM over both legs and he is 21/22?...

 

[albionalex]

Rooney is top quality. He's one of those players that is a good all-round footballer, could play in almost any position. Certainly not in decline. Fitness wise he doesn't seem to have the right somatotype for a top-level footballer but he doesn't let that stop him.

 

[Wondergull]

I met Bob Cass, the Mail journalist, out in Moldova in September and he was talking about Rooney. He said the problem with Rooney is his genes and that SAF is acutely aware of this. When he was younger he could get away with not looking after himself but its becoming more of an issue.

Don't get me wrong though, I still think the boy is class, he just won't reach the heights we all expected after Euro 2004

 

[Soulman]

Half (16) of his 31 England goals have been scored against…wait for it; Macedonia, Lichenstein, Iceland, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Slovakia, Andorras and San Marino.
Rooney has scored only the one goal in finals (World Cup/Euros) since 2004 and it was that one from a foot out against Ukraine last summer.

 

[Nigella's Cream Pie]

When was the last time Rooney turned it on against world class teams ? I thought he was invisible for most of the Real Madrid game

Yes he was invisible - the cameras were mostly on the pitch rather than on the bench, which is where he spent most of the match!

 

[aldershot village]

To much Football at a top level from a young age = burnout ,Micheal Owen's career was effectivly over by the age of 28 .

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

To much Football at a top level from a young age = burnout ,Micheal Owen's career was effectivly over by the age of 28 .

Is this really the case? A lot of top players around the world started at a young age and pushed on beyond 30.