England Vs Lithuania     

Quoted from Bigdog

Age should not be a measure of value of contribution. Defoe has scored more than half of a struggling Sunderland side's goals in the past two seasons. I'm struggling to think what Rooney has contributed to Manure or England in the same period.

Some players age quicker than others, some have injuries that draw their careers to end quicker than others.

A fit and in-form Defoe is a short term sticking plaster for England that may have to last until the World Cup. We also may not need him.

But, I can't for the life of me imagine how the Rooney of the past couple of seasons can offer more to the team than the wealth of talent we have in the number 10 role. Lallana has been awesome and blossoming as an international player being one example.

Time to move on and build for the future. Having said that, the present isn't too bad anyway. I really don't think we need to start shoehorning Rooney into the England team again. Look what happened at the Euros.

Two different scenarios. Defoe is a nice back up plan to have in a defined position. Including Rooney affects how the whole team plays.

A fresh start with a new manager should be exactly that..

This.

Rooney not only affects how we play but he demands the ball all the time and wanders all over the pitch.  I was surprised when Defoe was picked, but he is clearly still sharp and he is different in that he is almost like an old fashioned goal hanger who is always in a place trying to score and his movement is still excellent whereas your modern day striker is expected to do a lot more pulling players out wide and make room for others to utilise the space created. That can work but it depends on the opposition and if they are parking the bus as most teams apart from the top ones do, this tactic doesn't work. For me, much better to have a goal poacher against buses.

In the Euro 2016 qualifiers, Rooney made 8 appearances and scored 7 goals, yet he somehow gets written off on a regular basis. I know he doesn't do it at tournaments but the team in general don't do much at them either. You have to qualify first and Rooney has helped us do that well over the years. I just don't get all the criticism he receives, despite being England's record goalscorer.  

Quoted from ginnywings

In the Euro 2016 qualifiers, Rooney made 8 appearances and scored 7 goals, yet he somehow gets written off on a regular basis. I know he doesn't do it at tournaments but the team in general don't do much at them either. You have to qualify first and Rooney has helped us do that well over the years. I just don't get all the criticism he receives, despite being England's record goalscorer.  

I get the criticism. Rooney has never performed in a major competition, we know that. But also he affected the way the side performed in qualifying as well as the tournaments. In 2016 qualifying 4 of his goals were penalties. In fact 6 of his 50 goals have been penalties. Without them he would not hold Charlton's record. He has scored only 6 in tournament final stages.

But the main issue with Rooney is that he is all over the place mentally and physically. He demands the ball but often fails to do anything constructive with it. In a sense he gets caught between trying too hard and playing safe so we see a mix of square passes that get intercepted and overambitious through balls that get picked off. His control is not what it was either so he is frequently caught in possession or loses the ball in a dribble and leaves his side wide  open to the counterattack.

His fitness is OK but no more than that. He does not have a yard of pace to lose an opponent anymore. Strangely perhaps Defoe does although he's 4 years older. Physique comes into play here perhaps. Rooney has always carried weight in his legs. As a youngster he had enough speed to get by but he's lost that some time back.

I have no quarrel with his commitment to the cause though. He puts in the effort as a rule and probably thinks he is badly done by.

But in my opinion, for what it's worth, Rooney should have been finished as an international 3 years ago but has been picked for two reasons since then, a gamble he might come good and the lack of any other talent to replace him.

I'd guess that some of the criticism of Rooney comes because he's just not lived up to his early promise. I reckon his injuries must have taken more out of him than you'd expect because he's been a shadow of the player he was as a teenager pretty much since the age of 27 or 28 though he should have been in his prime.

Either that, or he's become a lazy so-and-so after making his millions and just isn't putting the effort into his game!

Quoted from Maringer

I'd guess that some of the criticism of Rooney comes because he's just not lived up to his early promise. I reckon his injuries must have taken more out of him than you'd expect because he's been a shadow of the player he was as a teenager pretty much since the age of 27 or 28 though he should have been in his prime.

Either that, or he's become a lazy so-and-so after making his millions and just isn't putting the effort into his game!

I would say that's fair comment. When you think back to those first few games where he was bursting past players like Gazza used to do and then think how ponderous he is now. I'm just surprised how many managers have failed to realise this. Fergie knew it so he changed his position to accommodate Ronaldo and get some pace up front. But you would think the player himself would have done more to change his game. He's no age at 31 but he plays as though he's 41.

He's suffered for 2 reasons. One, he doesn't have a proper position, we don't know if it's midfield, No. 10, striker or whatever which means he can't develop any consistency. Secondly, he hasn't been quite as good as he promised to be. He burst onto the scene and was ridiculously good for a period but he soon became targeted and has subsequently become tired out and worn down by this endless targeting of him on and off the field.