Slovakia vs England: Wayne Rooney faces a fight to take the road to Moscow he covets
England forward's announcement that he will quit after next World Cup was not welcome
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Your support makes all the difference.On the face of things, garlands line the road ahead for the England captain who will embark on his last World Cup campaign this weekend.
The leaves probably won’t even be on the ground when Wayne Rooney overtakes Sir Bobby Charlton as Manchester United’s greatest goal-scorer. He currently stands a mere three behind. And if things progress as he would wish, it may be precisely a year from now before he overtakes Peter Shilton’s record as England’s most capped player. He is 10 behind Shilton’s 125. If two friendlies are factored in next summer, the return qualifier against Slovakia at Wembley, 12 months on Sunday, could bring that particular coronation.
It’s not inconceivable that he and his people have thought that far ahead because there is a certain choreography about the way Rooney manages things these days - a far cry from the unscripted rawness of old. Someone shrewdly observed the flicker of a smile that played across Rooney’s face when he announced last week that this would be his last tournament for England. That’s always a sure sign that he is feeling self-conscious and not playing things off the cuff.
That announcement from Rooney was not welcome. Clive Woodward, who has revealed himself a wise judge of sport in his new career as a columnist, observed how that not-so-subtle declaration took the focus away from Sam Allardyce, who was at least entitled to it before his first competitive match. “One of the big problems with England is that those concerned sometimes forget it is a team sport and there is no ‘i’ in team,” Woodward observed.
Rooney’s conviction that he will be in the England firmament all the way to Moscow is strengthened by the knowledge that he is the peerless captain in Allardyce’s ranks. Roy Hodgson’s attachment to him derived in part from the eye-catching command of a room that Rooney had when it came to addressing the players. He was impressive in that way at the modest celebration event for England’s Euro 2016 qualification. Rooney’s understated way with words then revealed themselves again at the England Hertfordshire base before the squad flew to France. Hodgson loved that.
For Allardyce to have stated that the No 10 position is inalienably Rooney’s, in the way he has done, suggests he also intuits Rooney’s effect on the chemistry of the squad. But the 30-year-old faces a very hard fight to retain the place he will take up behind England’s designated striker in Slovakia this weekend. Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli has put himself out of contention with the overhang of last season’s three-match suspension impeding his start but that is a temporary situation.
It is self-evident that the conversations Alli has had with manager Mauricio Pochettino coming into this season have been about his temperament. To say that he is a player to look out for again this season is a statement of the obvious, but you sense that the mercury is still rising in his game. Under Pochettino’s management, he could quite conceivably become the outstanding force in English football this season.
For his part, Rooney no longer looks like the obligatory presence at the hub of Manchester United’s starting line-up; free-kick, penalty, corner-taker, chief cook and bottle-washer. Something Jose Mourinho said last weekend served unintentionally as a cold reminder. “I know that he's the guy with the vision for an assist and a feeling for the ball, and that he could perfectly be important," he said. “I can take him out, though. It's no problem for me to take him out, no problem for him to be out.”
One of the factors that Allardyce’s detractors always forget is that he is a players’ manager. Those in his squads love him. In part, that is because he has more courage to take the hard decisions than some. They know he is equitable.
Rooney will be where he most wants to be this weekend; operating in the narrow pockets of space in the penalty area where he can be at his most dangerous and seeking to pick the pass. But the road to Moscow may not be all he wants it to be. This is his toughest test and the choreography is beyond his control.
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