Comments on: Is Wayne Rooney Still a £30 Million Player? http://absolutelyunited.com/redcan/916/2007/10/10/is-wayne-rooney-still-a-30-million-player/ Manchester United Football Intelligence Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:28:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1 By: Auba http://absolutelyunited.com/redcan/916/2007/10/10/is-wayne-rooney-still-a-30-million-player/#comment-325 Auba Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:20:05 +0000 http://absolutelyunited.com/redcan/916/2007/10/10/is-wayne-rooney-still-a-30-million-player/#comment-325 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. 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.

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