But in order for him to have that "soldish" performance we had to ditch the attacking formation that won so much praise against Italy! And all he could manage was a tap-in that was given to him on a plate, all other chances were wasted.

Why do England have to sacrifice so much just to have Captain Caveman lumbering around in his "preferred position"? It makes no sense to me.

Can you not remember last week? Sterling did better in that position. Rooney's new position should be the bench. Bring him on in the last twenty minutes to charge around and chase down the ball -- that's all he's good for.

Weren't that a song by the Kaiser Chiefs?

I've got to feel sorry for Rooney. He creates several chances despite a poor supporting team, hits several shots on target, scores England's only goal and still has threads created talking about how he was one of England's worst players? You must have been watching a different game to me OP.

I thought Rooney was our best player tonight. Unfortunately, he was having to drop so deep to pick up the ball because Gerrard and Henderson were almost playing as centre backs for most of the game. He had absolutely no support from central midfield at all, which made him less of an attacking threat from open play.

I wonder who wanted to get rid of him....case closed

Rooney wasn't that bad at all, I thought he did a decent enough performance.

You know how when people say the best players ever, its the same old goal scorers. People overlook defenders and playmakers and goalkeepers as well. Many a time the current best is almost always a striker, and even a half way decent one can demand higher wages than a great defender.

Well the inverse is true as well. When you lose, people tend to blame the strikers, ignoring the fact if more goals are going in thats a defensive problem.

I personally thought Gerrard was piss poor and has been over and over again. He has little pace, his passes were all over the place, every single time he goes for the stupid mistake pass or the "lob it up and pray to the lord of luck". He hasn't been decent for England for a long time now, I think he is one of the major issues. Nothing linking up to the scorers to work with, bar the odd miracle ball.

Who is overrated? By who? Certainly not England fans.


By who?! All you ever hear is criticism of the guy no matter what he does. He's nowhere near overrated. In fact he's now underrated.


Rooney got an assist against Italy and a goal tonight. If that was Sturridge there'd be a thread asking if he's England's future. But it's Rooney so it's somehow seen as a failure because he's overhyped and overrated...by nobody.


It's threads like these that make me look forward to the end of the World Cup. I'm kind of hoping England don't manage to qualify for the next round so people can go back to their soaps early.

Well done to him for getting a goal last night.
But I guess he isn't at the same level other players are at in the tournament.
He helped England qualify, which is good, but when we got to the actual World Cup itself it's been a bit of a damp squib.
Can't really blame Rooney for last night. It just looks as though he may not even get the opportunity to shine at the World Cup, which is a shame.

He played well last night, but it appears that it may be too little too late, as the team as a whole didn't deliver.

If he can score one or two against Costa Rica, and Lady Luck can help England scrape through to the next round, he may prove everyone wrong and impress us all.

There was a period where Rooney was a truly great player but that ship has sailed a long time ago, he is well past his best now.

I love this obsession with Rooney. Wow.

I'm the same, and quite frankly when I've read the DS thread dedicated to the team I support, (Manchester United), I haven't found it to be particularly enjoyable. I think Joey Bosewell supports them too but I might be wrong. There's 3 or 4 posters on there who whenever I've looked at it are always arguing with each other and seem to vying to be top dog. It looks very cliquey/bitchy too so I tend to avoid it, it's not for me.

The World Cup has encouraged me to post a bit more about football on Digital Spy.

He was PANTS - World Class?? I think not

Even I could have scored that goal - he was practically in the goal when he scored.

The more the merrier in the United thread, no one is treated unfairly, like any other thread in the football section there's disagreements obviously, shame that anyone would be put off posting just from what they see maybe out of perspective.

Rooney looks world class, when playing against teams like Cardiff, Fulham Norwich etc in the premiership. Put him on the world stage like Euros and WC, and he looks ordinary. He can be very good against top teams in the champions league, however he isnt consistently doing it on a regular bases. I cant remember the last time he put in a world class performance on the world stage.

However give it a couple of games into the premier league season, and people will be talking about rooney, gerard et al as world class players again.

Thevamountbhe is bounded around by the press, how much he is worth etc, he should be the best player in the Country every match.

He looks older for his age.

IHeard a Journo say on the Sunday Supplement Wayne likes his fags, I'm not against people smoking, but when you are playing sport, you should do everything to be at the fittest you can be.

Maybe clubs should have more of a say in lifestyle choices

Simplistic nonsense. Most 'simple tap-ins' you see involve reading of the game and speed of thought to get into position to score.

If Earth was taking on Alpha Centauri B in the Local Systems' Knock-Out Cup...I'm not sure I'd have him in the squad.

So not World-class, no, but then no member of the England team is, either. How we solve that problem I've no idea; if there was an answer someone would have come up with it by now.

First goal in how many World Cup games, no he never been worth his place, just because the hype, and we lost, as we had to change the line-up position's to fit Rooney in the middle, and it all fell apart. I for one hope he never play's for england again, then maybe we build a team, as a whole, and not just around one man.

If you ask me, he the next England captain once stevie.g retires.

To be honest i don't think any of the English players can be classed as World Class, constant disappointing games at top level for England would suggest this.

It would be interesting to know how many of our players would get in any of the other top International teams, although if teams did want Gerrard and Rooney they would probably play them in their preferred roles instead of shoehorning them in.

If Woy honestly thought Gerrard and Rooney were our best players, he should be building the team around them in their proper roles, and then getting players in and around them who can help them play to their best

That is as daft as the thought, England might get to the next round, not going to happen.

Oh goodness me no.

Being captain means you play every game. I guess Sturridge should forget about playing up top again, and be prepared to get chalk on his boots!

Probably the best player in the England team last night though.
If you mean pants compared to other players in the competition then that's a different question I suppose.