There's Something About Rooney (and Messi)

England celebrate the equaliser on Saturday 

In the aftermath of England’s narrow 2-1 defeat to Italy, there has been much debate and discussion over Wayne Rooney. Throughout his career the Manchester United forward has faced considerable criticism from both the press and fans over his performances at International tournaments, and he faced a similar bout of ridicule following Saturday’s game in Manaus. With Hodgson springing the surprise of deploying Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling in the number ten role, Rooney was forced to play on the left of the attacking three, behind centre forward Daniel Sturridge. He played on the left in the 2-2 friendly draw with Ecuador, and despite scoring the equaliser he was somewhat ineffectual. It’s a role that throughout his Manchester United career Sir Alex has used him in, usually in vital Premier League or Champions League ties when United would revert from their typical 4-4-2 formation to a 4-5-1. However with the emergence of Danny Welbeck over the last few seasons, Rooney has either played as the main striker or in the hole behind the striker, it would be fair to say he very much favours playing as the central striker. His true feelings on his preferred position (For Manchester United) were made clear in an interview with the Mail’s Neil Ashton in October 2013 in which he said, ‘Everyone at the club knew that’s where I wanted to play (up front) and that’s why I was disappointed because I got told to play in midfield and I didn’t want to. In the past I’ve had no problem playing out of position, but I felt I deserved to play in my position, which wasn’t happening’. His all-round performance was deemed below par by the majority of the country, with a specific concern being his lack of cover for Leighton Baines, leaving the full back exposed and preventing the Everton man from showing his attacking qualities. I am of the opinion that this ‘below-par’ performance was down to a positional limitation and not a lack of ability or form on the part of Rooney.

Messi celebrates following his strike against Bosnia

Last night in Argentina’s 2-1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, a player had a similar problem with his position, I speak of Lionel Messi. Now before people slam me for comparing Messi and Rooney, hear me out. In the first half Alejandro Sabella set up La Albiceleste in an unfamiliar 5-3-2 system with Messi and Aguero as the front two, despite going into half time with a 1-0 lead the Bosnians were on top and Messi was struggling to affect the game, with many on Twitter (including myself) questioning when the real Messi would turn up. Being proactive Sabella changed to a 4-3-1-2 formation at half time, introducing Fernando Gago and Gonzalo Higuain into a system that saw Messi move into his preferred position behind the front two. Finally Messi was involved in the game, receiving the ball from deep he was floating in-between the Bosnian midfield and defence causing them all sorts of problems. In one mesmeric move, Messi picked up the ball just inside the Bosnian half, played a fabulous one-two with Higuain and glided past two Bosnians to slot the ball past the despairing dive of Begovic. Messi is in my opinion the greatest player to ever play the game, yet his performance was being restricted by the position he was playing in, when his position changed so did the nature of the game. If Roy Hodgson needed any more indication as to why he should play Rooney central, he need not look further than Argentina’s performance last night.

Future strike partners?

Even though we performed admirably against the Italians, especially in terms of possession and ball retention, I would advise Roy to alter his system to suit Rooney. The system Sabella used in the second half last night isn’t too dissimilar to the one used by Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool this year, a system that saw them play some of the most effective and entertaining football seen anywhere last season. The frontmen used in this system (Higuain, Aguero, Suarez and Sturridge) are regularly used as the lone striker, yet when paired with a strike partner their performances are arguably enhanced. The man that plays in the hole (Messi, Sterling) causes no end of problems for the opposition with the freedom they are allowed. For England, I would stick with the same back four and goalkeeper, and then Gerrard sitting in front of the defence, with two of Henderson, Lallana, Milner and Wilshere just advanced either side of Gerrard. In the hole I would obviously select the exciting Raheem Sterling, with Rooney and Sturridge paired up top. For me this allows Rooney to play in his natural position as well as adding a new dimension of a Sturridge-Rooney partnership, their link-up play would be something special. Raheem Sterling would also flourish in the number ten role, having made this his own at Liverpool. Let’s see if Roy can follow up the surprise of selecting Sterling, with an even more advantageous change of system.  

 Argentina's unbelievable second from last night