BY Guest Writer
I have followed English football for a while. Growing up in Nigeria, it was difficult to miss Roy of The Rovers comics, Shoot football magazine and the glossy World Soccer magazines too. You grew up hearing the name of Gordon Banks and other England greats.
Following their success in 1966, England has been on a downward slope as a great soccer nation. They were unlucky to lose to a great Brazilian side in 1970 and exited the tournament after losing to West Germany. They missed out on both the 1974 and 78 world cups. Returned in 1982 but went out in the 2nd round. They exited in the quarterfinals stage in 1986 to both of Maradona’s miraculous goals.
1990 was their best tournament yet since they won in 1966. They lost to eventual winners West Germany on penalties. They missed out again in 1994, qualified in 1998 but exited at the round of 16. Since 1998, England have routinely qualified for the World Cup & Euros but their performance at tournaments have been underwhelming.
Fast-forward to 2004 and the arrival of a kid in the England jersey. He was 18 and was rightfully referred to as the new Pele. That one – The greatest footballer who ever lived Pele. The young kid was Wayne Rooney. The great man Arsene Wenger referred to him as the greatest young English talent he has ever seen and Arsene has seen many.
He might have been unknown to many on the international stage but he had announced himself to many in England and also to followers of the Premier League elsewhere. As an Arsenal fan, I disliked him then and even later when he dived in a red shirt to end The Gunners’ unbeaten run.
He was simply & purely a gifted natural footballer. A street fighter who made football a delight to watch. And then he vanished. That player was never to be seen again in an England shirt.
His disappearing act in that 2004 tournament was due to injury. England were left ruing what could have been if Rooney wasn’t injured. It is certainly not an exaggeration that England could easily have won Euro 2004 with a fit Rooney. He was that good.
He was also injured prior to another international competition in the 2006 World Cup which ended with England’s quarterfinal exit on penalties. AGAIN. A petulant Rooney getting a red card. That petulance on the pitch and his off field shenanigans with follow him throughout is career like a granny follows her grandkids & shaggy dogs.
That 2006 World Cup has been England’s best in terms of progress. They have been a shambles since and Rooney as a central figure in the team bears a lot of responsibility for the poor showing.
Between his first 2 international competitions, Rooney had joined Manchester United. In my opinion, this was the main reason why that child prodigy, that teenage sensation was never seen again.
Sir Alex played him in many different roles because United had an abundance of talent. Rooney wasn’t allowed to nail down a role that could have benefited his England career. He became a workman like player as opposed to the prodigious talent that could have fulfilled his destiny for his country. He became like Lee Cattermole with a bit more panache with cameo performance out of the ordinary. This might explain some of the animosity between Wayne and Sir Alex. As the former probably resents his legendary manager for not helping him fulfill his destiny for his country. Perhaps if Rooney only knew Sir Alex was Scottish.
Don’t get me wrong, he is a United legend. He has won something like 16 major trophies. That was before United started doing The New Treble in the Mourinho years. The personal accolades he has garnered and his stats are out of this world. He is easily the stand out player of his generation. BUT he was a dud for England despite his record England outfield caps and goals.
Seeing as many will disagree with this evaluation of Rooney. I have a few examples for you. The ones that disagree don’t rate Per Mertesacker for his 100+ caps for Germany. You don’t rate Kieran Gibbs but he has captained Arsenal many times. Malta, Cyprus, Lichtenstein and Swaziland all have their leading goal scorers and players with the highest caps but it doesn’t make any of those players special.
Rooney was special for Manchester United and he alongside may of his co – players were instrumental on the field of play to United’s success. Outside the field of play, Rooney & his agent played United like a trombone. I suppose we all do things to better our lives and you can’t fault Rooney for this but don’t believe all that badge kissing nonsense. He made United look desperate during his last contract saga with Sir Alex and when Moyes was trying to ‘flunckt’ his authority. It is easily believable that Rooney left with a golden bye bye from United for the privilege of allowing them cancel his massive contract courtesy of Daddy (Davy Christmas) Moyes.
Rooney should have retired from England maybe 4 years ago. Probably before the 2014 World Cup. Brilliant and talented players way better than Rooney were shunted aside to make room for him. I thought Woy Hodgson was a safe pair of hands and could take the big decisions when he was appointed as England manager but he took his safe pair of hands too far. He was in awe of Rooney and you begin to think Rooney must have a few video recordings of England managers.
Roy & Wayne took their pantomime act too far at the last Euros. With the all of the team’s structure changed to find a room for Rooney. Nobody will ever forget the sight of Harry Kane taking corners and free kicks. A true patriot will have nicely declined this poisoned chalice from Roy. But in pursuit of personal glory he stuck with it and England were promptly embarrassed.
His decision to retire now has been lauded. Better late than ever I say. But please don’t be deceived. My guess is that Gareth Southgate (another not so safe ‘safe pair’ of hands) has told him he is a squaddie. And Rooney’s ego is too big to sit on the England bench in perpetuity waiting for the 89thminute to come and play left wing back.
Cherrio Rooney. You were a Manchester United legend. END OF.
Baba Grumpy works in financial services in the United Kingdom. He blogs mostly about football at http://babagrumpy.blogspot.co.uk. His Twitter handle is @BabaGrumpy
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