Is Wayne Rooney Still a £30 Million Player?
Is Wayne Rooney still a £30 million footballer?
Rooney’s transfer fee alone should make him England’s most valuable forward. Throw in the fact that he is first pick for the reigning Premiership champions and the question should be consigned to the realms of absurdity.
Yet, beyond the Red galaxy, another view holds. A fit Emile Heskey would in all likelihood relegate Wazza to the substitutes’ bench for England’s next game at the weekend. Such is the fall in the value of Rooney stock outside Manchester, that it is no longer unthinkable to consider an England team without Rooney.
The Mail newspaper reported today the full extent of Rooney’s steady move towards the margins at international level over the past three years. In an article which asked ‘Can Rooney and Owen play together?’ the newspaper hinted at a negative answer and presupposed that it would be Rooney rather than Owen who should make way.
“England’s first-choice front pairing will play alongside each other for the first time since the 2-2 draw with Sweden at the 2006 World Cup. But two world-class talents have yet to forge a formidable bond.
“Owen guarantees goals, no matter who plays alongside him, but his relationship with Rooney has yet to flourish. They are not strangers but their superstar status suggests neither is prepared to play second fiddle in the England set-up.
“Rooney has not scored a competitive goal for England since their victory over Croatia at Euro 2004 and three years is a long time to wait for a player of his quality.
“Class does not guarantee a winning combination and the statistics add credence to the theory. They have started 17 times together as a partnership (Rooney has scored seven times and Owen has scored six), but the spectre of Emile Heskey puts a different slant on the situation. There was a spring in Newcastle striker Owen’s step when Heskey returned to the international set-up last month and he was rewarded with goals against Israel and Russia.
“If Heskey had been fit for this weekend’s qualifier against Estonia, it would have left McClaren with a problem. Instead, England’s head coach has been presented with a fait accompli.”
Surely it is an arrestable offence to peddle such heresy? United fans should be outraged to think that the player has declined under Sir Alex’s watch as some observers claim.
But Rooney’s critics will argue that the statistics do not lie. They will point to the player’s inability to crack the Champion’s League until last Spring after debuting in 2004 with a hatrick. Cruelly, they wonder aloud: What happened to the teenaged marauder who came to prominence in Euro 2004? Why doesn’t he strike the same fear three years on?
Allowances should be made for Rooney’s injury problems but it is worrying that England’s terror of 2004 is no more. It is equally true that Rooney has laboured at European level, a victim of Sir Alex’s conservative tactics that have seen him playing on the left wing in away matches.
Yet bald statistics tell only part of the story. Rooney played by instinct as a teenager. Now he is more knowing, stronger and more tactically aware. The young Rooney benefited from the surprise factor in 2004. He announced himself to an unsuspecting European public in thrilling fashion. The boy in a man’s frame is no longer an unknown quantity. Coaches and their defenders are looking for the 21 year old in every game these days.
Regular Rooney watchers will struggle to recognise the underwhelming impression the striker now makes in the eyes of his detractors. At club level, Rooney is flourishing. Last season seemed to be a little hit and miss by Rooney’s high standards but he still finished the year with his best ever goals tally. The forward looked well-rested and hungry for the fray during the pre-season and was buzzing at the start of the new league campaign until struck down with another metatarsal injury.
Perhaps, there is Rooney who takes the field in the red of United and a less exuberant figure who wears the three lions. Could it be that Rooney does better in more exalted company? United would trounce England and perhaps this explains why Rooney appears shrivelled by the national team experience.
Rooney’s evident class and Owen’s advancing years and fragile frame mean that sooner or later the England team will have to be constructed around the young pretender’s undoubted talents. In a rare example of generosity, Emile Heskey, the striker who has most to lose from the revived Rooney-Owen partnership, backed the pair to succeed.
“Michael and Wayne can work together up front,” Heskey said. “They are international class players who play in the Champions League, so they should be good together.”
(On Oct 10th, 2007 at 3:20 pm)
Having seen Heskey perform at Wembley Vs Russia it would be harsh to leave him out of the team and it would be Rooney’s place in the line up most at threat. At Wembley that night Heskey thrived on the long ball against a defence who were no equiped to dealing with it and who never got within 15yds of Michael Owen in the penalty area. If England want to persist with the long ball pressure game, then Heskey would be an obvious choice and Owen - who has not got the physical presence or 1st touch with his back to goal to lead a line - would undoubtedlt thrive off “The Pieces”.
There are a couple of problems with this tactic however. Firstly, what happens when big Emilie comes up against an equally physical centre back or maybe a clever one who drops off, anticipates and intercepts before it reaches Owen? England, yet again, lose possession and come under pressure.Secondly look at the list of past winners of the World Cup and European Championship, not many play the long ball, why? because International football is about ball retention, slick incisive passing and great movement off the ball, its about linking play together, searching out opportunity and taking that opportunity quickly - Long ball predictability is easy to defend against and hard to play in the 80+ degree heat normally associated with major championships.
So, if you want to batter down a Rubbish Russian defence pick Heskey, but don’t come crying when the Italians snuff out the threat and pass us into the ground in Austria. But, if you want to develop a team capable of winning the thing, pick a player with undoubted talent, build a team to play to his strengths and let it flourish - DO NOT MAKE THAT SAME MISTAKE SVEN DID WITH SCHOLES BY VIRTUALLY DISCARDING THE BEST ENGLISH PLAYER OF A GENERATION TO THE LEFT WING.