Rooney Takes It All In His Stride

Rooney Takes It All In His Stride

So Gareth Southgate has done what Jose Mourinho did and dropped Wayne Rooney from his starting line-up. The record England goalscorer has been dropped to the bench for the World Cup qualifying match away against Slovenia and Southgate has mantained that the change is purely a tactical one. You have to admire the interim England boss for having the courage to follow his convictions by dropping Rooney because as he has said any decision regarding Wayne Rooney is guaranteed to be a headline maker not only in England but in many countries around the world that follow football closely.

The manager has selected Tottenham’s Eric Dier to replace the United captain in his national team, citing the need to beef up his midfield for the away game against Slovenia where last year the three Lions were trailing at half-time before then manager Roy Hodgson made some bold changes to overturn the deficit and direct England to a win in the Euro 2016 qualifier. The selection of Dier does make some sense as he is a more combative, defensive midfielder who is more inclined to protect his back four and will allow the captain of the day Jordan Henderson to have more of an impact in the attack for England.

Rooney may well get to play a part off the bench and the player has admitted he is going through a transitional phase in his England career where he is not necessarily the “first name on the team sheet” as he has been in the past. There is no question that Rooney has handled this situation with dignity and class and he should be recognised for that and applauded.


In other United player news, the impressive Jesse Lingard retains his place in Southgate’s side while Marcus Rashford remains an option off the bench alongside his England and United team-mates.