Wayne Rooney’s opening goal in the 3-1 victory against Bournemouth on Tuesday night in the side’s final Premier League game of the season was the club captain’s 15th goal of the season and 40th goal for both club and country since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
And following England head coach Roy Hodgson’s delayed squad announcement on Monday that included his captain alongside fellow teammates Chris Smalling and, more surprisingly, Marcus Rashford, the 31-year-old is set to lead his country out as captain at a major tournament for the first time in his career.
Much has been made already about the inclusion of England’s all-time leading goalscorer with many believing that Rooney should not have been selected with other English strikers deserving a place as six Englishmen have scored more goals in the league whilst Ross Barkley, Michail Antonio and Daniel Sturridge also sit on eight Premier League goals alongside Rooney.
Yet instead opting for the likes of Jermain Defoe, Andy Carroll or Troy Deeney former Fulham and Liverpool manager Hodgson has opted to keep faith in his captain once again and Rooney is set to continue to be the most used outfield player by the head coach – appearing on 33 occasions with only Joe Hart making more appearances for England since Hodgson took over in 2012 (40).
However, no argument can be made that Rooney is the country’s best striker at the moment with the star, who is closing in on Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time goalscoring record for Manchester United scoring his first goal in over three months against Bournemouth after struggling with a knee injury for six weeks recently whilst the likes of Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy competed for the league’s golden boot and amassing 52 goals between them for their respective clubs this season.
But Hodgson’s decision on who to select for England hinges on more than just the performances of Englishmen in the past few weeks and the 68-year-old must also consider how players have performed since the beginning of the qualifying stages of this year’s Euros in 2014 and the stats prove that Rooney’s selection was fully justifiable as no English striker has been more consistent for England in the past two years.
And in comparison to the other forwards selected by Hodgson no one was more pivotal to England’s perfect qualification process than Rooney, who’s seven goals in eight appearances attributed to 25% of all goals scored by England whilst Welbeck was the only other forward to compete with Rooney’s fine finishing as the Arsenal star amassed six goals. Harry Kane is the only other striker in the squad who contributed to qualifying for Euro 2016 with two goals in three appearances.
Therefore, in analysing the five strikers who Hodgson has opted for over the past two years only one player has managed to amass a better goalscoring record than the England captain’s impressive 40 goal tally – and that is 2014 breakthrough star Harry Kane.
Following an impressive first season in the Premier League where the promising young star managed 21 goals in 34 appearances few would have believed that Kane would go on to not only repeat that impressive feat but also build upon it and only a few in Europe – let alone England, have managed to provide a better outlay than Kane’s 63 goals in all competitions for club and country since the start of the 2014/15 season.
So, is Rooney England’s best striker? No. Based upon this season alone and recent form the country’s most in-form strikers Kane and Vardy should be the two to lead England out on Saturday, June 11 against Russia as few national sides, let alone Euro 2016 rivals can boast a more lethal strikeforce than what Hodgson has at his disposal.
But, should Rooney start for England? Yes. If there is one element oozing from this England side more than anything else it’s potential. And despite the future looking promising for this young and exciting England group, there also needs to be an element of experience which, following the departures of the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry, has been somewhat lacking from the England setup.
Only three players in the current 26-man squad have managed over 50 caps for their country whilst 11 players have yet to reach 10 caps for the senior side. However, Rooney currently resides in fourth place amongst the list of most-capped players for England with 109 caps and could yet break the record for being the most-capped Englishman of all time as Peter Shilton is only 16 caps ahead of the England captain with 125 appearances.
In recent weeks Rooney’s versatility has also come to fruition as United manager Louis Van Gaal had opted to start Rooney in midfield – culminating in a Man of the Match performance against Bournemouth. As he is also able to play as the furthest man forward or even as a number 10 behind the striker, Rooney’s creativity and superb passing range may be the key to seeing one of Kane or Vardy flourish as England’s number nine.
England have suffered 50 years of hurt since winning the World Cup in 1966, can Rooney become the first captain since Sir Bobby Moore to lift a trophy with England? Only time will tell.
