Rooney - hindrance for England, and Man U
 

It feels like Rooney is selected due to his name, reputation, past glory, shirt sales, fame, wages and captaincy rather than on merit or current form. Would the sky fall in for Man U or England if he was dropped?

Now that Rashford has stepped up, Martial looks decent, is Rooney needed by Man U?

Don't England have better attacking options? When Kane made his England debut scoring after 77 secs on pitch , the camera cut to a worried Rooney, as if he knew Kane might be the new talisman.

In 2011/12 Rooney stepped up and was brilliant, but he's past it now.

Well for England he only gets picked due to captaincy. It's frustrating that if fit he will start Euros ahead of Vardy, Deeney, Austin and yes even Rushford. Kane is essential.

The only position Rooney really is effective is just behind front 2 . Strip him of captaincy and let him at least work for it.

I still rate Rooney but I'm really worried that especially with Man U his "name" will always push out the younger talent.
He is still a key player when on form but the problem is that he is very rarely on form lately.

i would not take him to the euros

and offload him this summer

He is too fat to be a top player

The best player is always made the scapegoat by fickle fans that don't have a clue about football.

David Beckham got the same, as did John Barnes and also Kevin Keegan before him.


You don't like Rooney simply because he's a fantastic football player.

Rooney is no longer the best player. Heck, he's not even the best forward at Man U, he's not even in the top 2 forwards , @ Man U.

He's not even good enough to get into Leicester if he was offered to them. It's best if Man U give him a carriage clock and offload him to a "more money than sense" Chinese club. I feel if Roy H dropped him from the England squad and handed the captaincy on a rotating basis to Chris Smailing, Kane, Henderson and Hart.

He's just led his Country to a perfect ten out of ten wins in qualifying for the European championships, He finished top goal scorer in the group, he scored in seven of the ten games.

The guy is a World class player and any opposing teams would be boosted with confidence if he wasn't on the team sheet.

When your picking your best man for the job, it's always best to look at their CV first.

But Rooney is past it. I'd take the likes of Austin over Rooney.

All great players decline even Messi will begin to play less well and be less effective. Thanks for the memories Roo, but time to step aside

I'd have Rooney still in the squad, but I do think that Vardy and Kane have had better seasons so should be being picked over Rooney based on form.

Rooney is still a class player but he isnt a number 9 anymore. He clearly never fancies playing out wide and Barkley is as good a number 10. If Sturridge, Kane, Vardy and even Welbeck are all fit and scoring goals I think Rooney should start on the bench.

Plus Vardy/Kane played together when Kane was on loan @ Leicester a few years back.

I feel Rooney stifles teams. He gets injured, Rashford emerges. I don't wish any player and injury, but if Rooney doesn't recover in time for Euro I'd see it as a great opportunity, and excitement that we can win the whole tournament.

Talking of a hinderance, how did Walcott make the current squad? 15 games this year, 2 goals, 0 asists.

The reason is, because there's nothing better.

The thing with Walcott is, he has a great weapon in his arsenal, speed, and speed is one weapon that defenders hate to face. I'd say is final pass or shot has to improve, but his speed always creates opportunity's.

When you go to war, it's best to take your best weapons with you.

Dont agree, he's got zero footballing brain and not much more positional sense. As for nothing better, I also dont agree, Deeney, Antonio, Noble, Cresswell deserve a chance considering how many chances Walcott has been given over the years.

I think it time to call out Walcotts ability for what it is. At the age of 27 he is still little more than an impact sub. He doesnt fit into the way Arsenal play as he has far too much trouble keeping possession of the ball. You'd think after playing for a club for ten years, 60 Champions league matches, 40 caps and over 230 senior games he'd understand the need to retain possession but I see no signs of any penny dropping anytime soon.

England and Arsneal need to look elsewhere IMO.

I think Andy Carroll should be in contention to go, I think he'd be a great person to have on the bench, if plan A isn't working then the ball up-to Carroll can be plan B. He showed today what an impact he can make coming off the bench.

It's all good and well naming players who could take his place, but they're un-proven at this level, and there's no guarantee they could cut it or make any impact, but Walcott has been part of the squad that has been building for the past 3 year's, and they've just qualified for the Euro's with a 100% record, so why start breaking that up just before a major championships? obviously Hodgson is happy with what he's getting from Walcott, and he'll be more in the know-how then either of us.
It's not just about what you do on the ball, it's also what you do off it, a lot of that work goes un-noticed, because it's not celebrated as much.

The problem is, people are constantly looking for negatives, but at the moment, there's no major problems with what Hodgson has been doing, in-fact we're doing better then a lot of other countries.

I have no great expectation's for England at the Euro's, and if we do crap, then I'll get over it, it's not like I haven't seen it before. But can we win it? of course we can, football's a funny old game.

I agree regarding the Euros but for a couple of friendlies it would have been nice for the players mentioned to get a reward for their seasons.

The big question is how did any Liverpool player make the England Team?

How? Combination of fact he plays for AFC and romanticism when Sven GORAN Ericksen took him at 16 to German in 2006. Had Theo been at Stoke, Bournemouth or Watford he would never get within a sniff of England. Danny Drinkwater only got into friendly squad as it would have looked dodgy to ignore a player from current table toppers. Had Wilshire been fit.....