For the first time ever, I would be inclined to say yes for the next match. You cannot remove Sturridge from up top, Sterling has to start so Rooney can only occupy one of the three spots across the attacking midfield. The first half we were excellent with Sterling and Wellbeck pivotal, so you would want to retain that.

That leaves Rooney, depending on your view either out of position, or in a position he occupied many times under Fergie but cannot seem to replicate for England.

In terms of who replaces him though the options are not great. Lallana may be a like for like, slightly out of position replacement and still not leave enough cover at the back and Barkley even more so and would only play for an hour. Plus I didn't think any of the 3 subs, showed they should be starting.

That only leaves two replacements for Rooney, either of which I would go for. First choice Chamberlain, if he is fit would offer the attacking and defensive cover.

If he isn't, Milner would be my choice. In the first hour, bar the cross for the goal, which was brilliant, there was not a lot from Rooney in attack so we would not be much less potent with Milner and have more solidity with still so much attacking threat.

What an option off the bench too. The subs disappointed last night, Motta probably contributed more than our three combined. Rooney could be crucial there.

No, he's still among our current top 3-4 best players IMO. I think he had a rather average game last night, as have most of the lads, especially when you consider that he was played out of his favoured position. He still produced a brilliant assist no less.

I think the immense scrutiny he's being put under, is a lot to do with his age. It seems to me that older players get away less with poor performances, whereas younger guys get a lot more leeway; sturridge and welbeck didn't play much better than rooney last night.

Wellbeck was the best player on the pitch in the first half. Intercepted position about 6 times, always an option for a pass and created several chances. Looked a bit tired as he came off though.

No. Sturridge and Sterling were hyped up by the media and they performed and provided a great attack for England which I haven't seen for ages. Even Welbeck who I didn't rate performed well. Rooney again showed to me that he doesn't perform in an England shirt. Gerrard also was a let down and our defence looked shaky, but that was more to do with we couldn't hold the midfield and the left side.

He's 28 years old so how he can be too 'old' I don't know. His pay has nothing to do with England. He's scored 39 goals for England and set up the only goal last night playing out of position. He seems to be the target of people who are making up nonsensical arguments.

Did surprise me when it was said he's not scored a single goal in any world cup tournament. Don't know how many he's scored in euros.

He provided an assist, not just a simple short pass assist, it was a brilliant long cross. Based on that alone, he's done more than just perform in my eyes.

I'm more concerned that Gerrard will be harder to drop, being captain and all. He offered nothing last night.

It doesn't provide an excuse for struggling to provide cover for Baines in the first half. Or failing to do anything notable in the other 89 minutes. Even a peak Ronaldinho would often get flak for disappearing in and out of a game..and he was a much bigger talent and threat in a game than Mr Rooney.

Stick Rooney up front with Sturridge i.e. the position from where he generally scores.

I agree with all you've said. Rooney appears unwilling or unable to play on the left of that attacking midfield trio. That leaves us with the option of accommodating him in his more favoured role, or leaving him out. It's a tough call though, he remains the most likely of that midfield trio to grab us a goal.
I wish people in various radio call-ins wouldn't insist on saying Rooney was being asked to play left wing or wide on the left. He was just on the left of that attacking midfield trio, as you say, it's no different to the position he has occupied many times for United.
In fact, Hodgson could have solved the problem with a simple tweak in the first half. With Sterling working the left channel, Darmian would have been pegged back, and Baines wouldn't have been caught in two-on-one situations so often.
But let's not forget to give some credit to Italy. Their movement at times was brilliant. It wasn't just Pirlo, Candreva, De Rossi and Verratti (before he was taken off) were outstanding.

If we had signatures on this forum that post would be going in it. Pure gold.

I think the excuses of Rooney's performances in the World Cup are much worse. This is his third one and he still hasn't scored. Do people realise he was in position when he had that miss yesterday?

It also makes me laugh when people say well he still scored a good amount of goals with England. Yeah, mostly against lesser teams who never make it to the finals.

This is his last chance to deliver. He'll be 32 by the time of the next WC and no doubt be in decline. He should be at his peak yet he can't even take a corner now...

He is still very good at his club but there's just no excusing his WC performances.....

He actually did everything right with that scoring chance, except burying it in the net. He had cleverly sent the keeper the wrong way, and just needed to slot it into the bottom left corner. Yes, he should have put it away, but he was a bit unlucky in my opinion.

His best Perormances in a tournament was in Euro 2004 he scored loads in that tournament

The truth is that Sturridge is the better player atm in the no. 9 role, so therefore Rooney shouldn't play. There's no sense in putting him on the left where he is mostly ineffective. But let's face it Roy doesn't have the balls to drop him. His big tournament record is so terrible for him to even warrant a place in the team going on reputation alone.

I've said before that I don't think Rooney should be considered as a first choice option for England. I'm not in the least bit surprised at how bad he was last night, it was exactly what I expected from him.

Yes but only if he's playing as a striker. Wtf is Roy playing strikers on the wing and in midfield for?

I totally understand the criticism of Rooney from everybody but I worry that Gerrard is not up to it anymore at to international level. He's not a box to box midfielder anymore and he can't do what Pirlo does. He deserves to be in the team cos he's a had a great season but I really think we should start planning for life without him in the team. I hope to be proved dramatically wrong when he lines up against Uruguay

I actually thought Rooney looked ok when he was up front but Sturridge is in much better form. If we are playing one up front then it has to be Sturridge. Rooney is not the answer on the left, square peg in a round hole. He left Baines exposed loads of times last night

Yes, but Rooney has never been considered an out-and-out striker, has he ? Not in the traditional spearhead role anyway. In a 4-4-2 he can play the withdrawn striker's role, in a 4-2-3-1 he can be the central number 10 or play down the channels. It looks to me as if his energy levels are the problem, even without scoring he used to contribute far more, both for England and Man Utd.

I don't care if he is dropped or not but if he does play next game please keep him away from corner kicks as that one last night was HORRENDOUS & embarrassing!!!

One player who does need to be dropped and put on a plane back home is Johnson he really does add NOTHING to the game!

I'd drop him personally and just pick as balanced a team as possible for the next game, then possibly go 4-4-2 against CR.

Too much of a knee jerk reaction to drop him. England played well, just didn't really have the bounce of the ball when they needed it.

But replace him with who?
If there is no alternative who has proven to have scored many goals, then I don't see much of an alternative and that Roy has to stick to the gameplan and play Rooney.

All I can say that there must be immense pressure on Rooney for the next match. Not necessarily from fans or the media, but the pressure he will be putting on himself.

I don't think that's a fair comment. His goal scoring record for England is nearing the all time best.

But......for some reason he doesn't seem to be able to do it at the World Cup finals.
For whatever reason. I wonder if it's become a mental block.