Tweet
“My message to Wayne Rooney and his managers, Roy Hodgson and Louis van Gaal, is that he must focus on one thing from now on — goals. Forget about him being England’s No10. He is not that kind of player — a creative, playmaker and goalscorer like Lionel Messi or Neymar for instance — and we don’t want him thinking he can drop deep into midfield to become a No10. From now on I want to see Rooney as a goalscorer. That should be his No1 priority — getting into the box and around the box and seeking out goals. I want to see him play centrally, whether that is right up top or just behind the main striker. He is capable of being the main target man, powerful enough to lead the line and has done so successfully with Manchester United. We know he can drop just behind the main striker and make late runs into the box as he did so effectively in the World Cup qualifiers at
He needs to be told not to worry about coming so deep and that if he wants to play in the pocket, it’s not about standing still in that space, it’s about bursting forward I was convinced Rooney would end his barren spell at World Cup finals here and I thought he might go on a scoring run in Brazil so it’s a real shame my theory won’t be tested past tonight. I don’t know what part he will play against Costa Rica as Roy has left him out of a new-look line-up to give everyone in the squad some game time. Rooney has got 40 goals and might have added more over the two matches. He could easily have had three or four, having left Uruguay keeper Fernando Muslera for dead with his first-half free-kick. He hit the bar from close range with a header and should have put a couple more chances away when he had sight of goal. The way he jumped for the header, getting so much height, showed his aggression and determination to do well for England but he needed to be more in the ‘pose’ positions, inside the box.”
He needs to be told not to worry about coming so deep and that if he wants to play in the pocket, it’s not about standing still in that space, it’s about bursting forward I was convinced Rooney would end his barren spell at World Cup finals here and I thought he might go on a scoring run in Brazil so it’s a real shame my theory won’t be tested past tonight. I don’t know what part he will play against Costa Rica as Roy has left him out of a new-look line-up to give everyone in the squad some game time. Rooney has got 40 goals and might have added more over the two matches. He could easily have had three or four, having left Uruguay keeper Fernando Muslera for dead with his first-half free-kick. He hit the bar from close range with a header and should have put a couple more chances away when he had sight of goal. The way he jumped for the header, getting so much height, showed his aggression and determination to do well for England but he needed to be more in the ‘pose’ positions, inside the box.”