Wayne Rooney

[bluenitsuj]

To be fair the pressure on him must be massive whipped up by the press and fans expectations

I dont think anyone has any expectations of him, is it true he has never scored in the World Cup Finals? I think so

 

[Jim Van Winkle]

Rooney has scored 39 goals for England, so is ten behind Geoff Hurst on 49 (?) Another couple of qualifying tournaments and he might match/go past that mark and into lore as our most successful striker. Then the pub discussions will get interesting regarding comparisons between the two, and Lineker on 48 as well

Shame Owen was plagued by injury he would have surpassed Lineker and Charlton.

The fact his status is being debated is all you really need to know. And after 15 minutes of the forthcoming Italy game, when he is a pink heaving sweaty blowing mess will resolve this discussion for good.

How much is a pack of 20 B&H in Brazil?

 

[Spun Cuppa]

To be fair the pressure on him must be massive whipped up by the press and fans expectations

Probably no more than for the strikers of other countries. The PL imports most strikers as there aren't that many good homegrown ones. Rooney was the best of a bad lot, but that mantle is now slipping...

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Depends what you define as 'world class' I guess, a few years ago we had a few, prime Ashley Cole & John Terry were world class for me, I still think Gerrard is too although perhaps not as good for England. Right now though I guess there's not many seen as we have a lot of young players in.

Gerrard is ' world class ' but not as good for England. I am struggling to get my head round this statement. Surely the true test for a player is the international stage not club football. Similarly in cricket, a player is judged on how he performs at the highest level, not in the County Championship. In fact, the same rule applies in every sport.
By its very definition..' world class '...means the world stage and it takes a very special few to make this stage their own. I hate the liberal use of the words ' great ' and ' world class ' It devalues the truly great who only come around very occasionally.
If you have seen the really top players then you don't start describing Terry and Gerrard as world class. It is an insult to those that deserve the label. Cole, at his peak, was better than these two but just short of the highest level.
To put it into context, imho England have only produced three world class players. Charlton ( R ) Moore and Banks. Edwards would probably have joined this elite group had Munich spared him. Just below these come Finney and Gascoigne and then we are into the ranks of the very good players, of which there are quite a number ( Greaves, Haynes, Ball, Peters, Wilson, Robson, Shilton, Lineker and Shearer to name some )
Rooney doesn't come into this group. His temperament lets him down on the big stage. He has fragile confidence and it doesn't take much to knock his game out of its stride. His self-discipline is not the stuff of the truly greats and although he does have talent, he isn't strong enough to impose himself in the big games. He has managed to hold the most successful club in the country ( in the last 20 years ) to ransom twice and secure massive pay increases, so his value at club level cannot be denied.
The responsibility-free 17/18 year old Rooney is a distant memory and he has matured into a very good club player but no more.

 

[Farehamseagull]

Whilst as an individual player Rooney is clearly one of our best, I hope he doesn't start as I don't think he fits in to this team and the way I hope we play with pace, Rooney slows us down.

I find a front four out of any of this five : Sturridge, Ox, Barkley, Welbeck and Sterling really exciting and I think it would scare a lot of defences.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Whilst as an individual player Rooney is clearly one of our best, I hope he doesn't start as I don't think he fits in to this team and the way I hope we play with pace, Rooney slows us down.

I find a front four out of any of this five : Sturridge, Ox, Barkley, Welbeck and Sterling really exciting and I think it would scare a lot of defences.

Yep agree with that.
Rooney is tarnished with the brush of previous failure and I, for one, want to see the young guns given every chance.
They are the future not Rooney.

 

[Silverhatch]

Maybe my telly's on the blink, but everyone in my family reckons Rooney has lost a ton of weight and looks trim!!

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Rooney has scored 39 goals for England, so is ten behind Geoff Hurst on 49 (?) Another couple of qualifying tournaments and he might match/go past that mark and into lore as our most successful striker. Then the pub discussions will get interesting regarding comparisons between the two, and Lineker on 48 as well

Hurst scored 24 England goals.

 

[Spun Cuppa]

Hurst scored 24 England goals.

Hence the question mark. Someone else pointed out it is Bobby Charlton who holds the England scoring record, so my bad

 

[yxee]

"England must build team around Wayne Rooney, says revitalised David Moyes"

says it all really

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Gerrard is ' world class ' but not as good for England. I am struggling to get my head round this statement. Surely the true test for a player is the international stage not club football. Similarly in cricket, a player is judged on how he performs at the highest level, not in the County Championship. In fact, the same rule applies in every sport.
By its very definition..' world class '...means the world stage and it takes a very special few to make this stage their own. I hate the liberal use of the words ' great ' and ' world class ' It devalues the truly great who only come around very occasionally.
If you have seen the really top players then you don't start describing Terry and Gerrard as world class. It is an insult to those that deserve the label. Cole, at his peak, was better than these two but just short of the highest level.
To put it into context, imho England have only produced three world class players. Charlton ( R ) Moore and Banks. Edwards would probably have joined this elite group had Munich spared him. Just below these come Finney and Gascoigne and then we are into the ranks of the very good players, of which there are quite a number ( Greaves, Haynes, Ball, Peters, Wilson, Robson, Shilton, Lineker and Shearer to name some )
Rooney doesn't come into this group. His temperament lets him down on the big stage. He has fragile confidence and it doesn't take much to knock his game out of its stride. His self-discipline is not the stuff of the truly greats and although he does have talent, he isn't strong enough to impose himself in the big games. He has managed to hold the most successful club in the country ( in the last 20 years ) to ransom twice and secure massive pay increases, so his value at club level cannot be denied.
The responsibility-free 17/18 year old Rooney is a distant memory and he has matured into a very good club player but no more.

To quote you

Surely the true test for a player is the international stage not club football.

and then

By its very definition..' world class '...means the world stage

and

To put it into context, imho England have only produced three world class players. Charlton ( R ) Moore and Banks.

So your saying that the rest of the 1966 World cup winning team proved it by winning the highest honour in the game for their respective position in that year but arn't World class? - What more did they have to do to be considered it then if thats the best a player can achieve and it's not enough for you?

 

[dan4bha]

fans and media certainly wouldn't get on his back as much if he played as if he cared about the team. He plays like a player that knows he's in the team regardless of performance.

His lazy, toothless attitude has always wound me up, he's never really performed for England and unless he's managed correctly will continue that way

 

[Grassman]

Maybe my telly's on the blink, but everyone in my family reckons Rooney has lost a ton of weight and looks trim!!

My lady said that about me yesterday. Think she was just trying to be kind.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

The fact his status is being debated is all you really need to know. And after 15 minutes of the forthcoming Italy game, when he is a pink heaving sweaty blowing mess will resolve this discussion for good.

A friend of a workmate of mine was at a London hotel last Saturday night after the Froch Groves fight, and apparently Rooney was there 'shitfaced'. It's third hand admittedly, but it really wouldn't surprise me.

 

[darters74]

He never looks fit. I agree that he's past his peak - not sure when his peak was though, completely overrated player.

Could not agree more. Get Barkley or Rickyyyyyyyyy in.

And his man u team mates can sod off too.