He should never play for England again and for the money he gets that is utterly disgraceful, but he isn't the only guilty party in that respect. The whole national set-up is a total embarrassment and will never change with today's players. Sad but true.
I'd say that I cared about England, Rooney, and all the rest of the wasters, the hype and all the nonsense that surround them, but it would be an utter lie.
I doubt many football fans care about our National team any longer, most I talk to dread the International breaks. I'm with Angelic, it's a fiasco driven by money and led by the FA Clowns. And of course by Blatter's organisation who think it just to have the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. It wouldn't worry me if England never played another game. This is from a 16year old in '66 who sat with his Dad with tears of joy in their eyes. Unfortunately, no a bloody outrage, that the game has moved on, hijacked by money and run by incompetent idiots.
What's utterly disgraceful about it? The blokes been dropped, end of story. Why stick the knife in? It's saddens me the lack of respect he is getting. Ok he earns a lot of money, big deal. He is still our nations top scorer and second in appearances to Shilton. He's one player the way people are taking about him it would appear its solely his fault we haven't won anything for 40yrs. I'm not his greatest fan either but give the bloke a break
He will just have to knuckle down, try harder and keep dignified - like Beckham did when he was vilified for a while.
Thing is Rooney is like a tank. He is slow, lumbering, predictable and uninspired. Surely we have better in England than that. For any other European country he would have been pensioned off after Brazil
It gets in the way of league football too, and more and more people are deserting the national team. And rightly so. Perhaps there still is some common sense around.
Playing for England used to be the pinnacle of a players career- Some great players, Steve Bruce, for example never played and Steve Perryman had about a 5 minute sub appearance. Too many players, and I dont put Rooney in that camp, see it as a distraction and its not just the players. How many friendlies was Ryan Giggs injured for Wales? I can understand this as its a low earner compared to other events, like the Champions League. Time and events move on- Cricket used to be a game played in whites, with a red ball and very 9-5 and no Sundays. The purists still dont like the one day game. Rugby has teams called Sharks, Chiefs etc. If we didn't move on, we would be talking like they did in Shakespeare's day- Me for one, still am very proud of the national set up. But I think part of that harps back to collecting football stickers in 1970 and gained a learning about that World Cup. Today, you know most of the players anyway and I didn't take too much notice of the last World cup other than Englands games. Once we were out, I lost interest.
I certainly DO still care about England, but I am so used to their underachievement internationally that it no longer hurts like it did when we inevitably fizzle out after a couple of lacklustre performances. And, the money certainly DOES grate with me - because they are paid so much compared to other international sides and yet are simply NOT WORTH IT - I bet they were the most expensive team in the Euros - Hodgson was definitely the highest paid manager - and did we get value for money? Did we fk. Regarding Rooney, he is simply one of those overrated, overpaid TEAM of flops who constantly keep letting the international side down. I have nothing against him personally - and he's only been relegated to the bench - its not like he's been humiliatingly fired from the entire team like Becks was under McClown, just to prove a point. I know Beckham isn't everyone's cup of tea - and he is another example of ridiculous overpayment, I am merely pointing out that Rooney simply isn't starting whereas other first team players have been unceremoniously fired out. Rooney will be back - he will come on as sub and score a winner, then we'll all love him again.
Rooney between his ears is a little boy, he loves playing football. So, tell Jose you want out, get a contract at a lesser club playing up top. You've been a top player for years, you don't need the money, get some enjoyment playing football again. Life's to short to fight anno domini. Just be happy.
I don't like quite how much money has taken over either, but I'm not sure how much I blame the players themselves. The going rate has been overinflated and they're simply getting what someone's willing to pay them, like most of us would. If you found out a colleague who was doing the same job as you were and did it as well as you did, but was paid ten times as much, it's unlikely you'd turn it down, out of a wish to remain 'humble'. Regarding Beckham, I've almost always been a fan. People seem to confuse his level of celebrity as a sign of unprofessionalism or lack of dedication, but every manager he played under commented how dedicated he was to training - in particular, winning back the favour of Fabio Capello when he was briefly frozen out at Real Madrid. Also, going back to the subject of money, he donated his salary to a children's charity when playing for PSG - that's classy. You'll get people criticise him, but then hold up twunt anti-heroes like Robin Friday as examples of what a 'real' footballer should be like, but I say being a great player doesn't equate to being a great man.
Good comment. I think he should fight it out if he genuinely believes he can and wants to win back a starting spot for United, but if not, then yes, go out and actually play football for no other reason than because that's what he wants to do. He played the best football of his career during his late teens/early 20s when presumably he was probably still thinking to himself 'this is bloody brilliant!' every time he walked out on the pitch, and though he may not have the same pace he once did, I do think a lack of spark/drive is as key as that in him not being at the standard he was before. Jack Wilshere made a ballsy decision to go to Bournemouth and perhaps Wayne should consider something similar, though I'd wager that United would only sanction a loan move abroad at best. If he packs it in to get a super payday in China before he's 34/35 I think that'd be a touch sad.
I don't blame the players for their money either - if someone offered me £60k+ per week to do the job I am doing then I would bite their hand off - and would cry all the way to the bank worrying over what anyone else thought about it. No, I blame the setup that makes these obscene payments possible. The question for me is: are the obscene payments that players receive when playing for their clubs, responsible all or in part for the stark underachievement of successive sets of players when they are playing for the 3 lions? I would suggest that they probably are - certainly in part. If you want to see an England side give 110% and play with pride, passion and belief like they did years ago then I would pick a side from the Championship and League 1 - they would play their socks off. What they may lack in sharpness they would make up for in sheer effort. PS - I too like Beckham very much, but I was caveating my example by acknowledging that there are many who don't.
But if went for this we would end up like Wales. Ok they've had a decent year or so but would we really be happy for an England side not to qualify for a major championship for 50 years albeit they may try really really hard in those 50 years?
Its not just football with money though. Rory McIlroy gets amasing money and Lewis Hamilton gets about £1m per race, different concept I know, but money isn't confined to football. F1 was something I used to enjoy. The circuits rarely changed and there was real racing. Nowadays, I cant be bothered to turn the TV on.
Short answer; No we wouldn't be happy with that. However, would a team made from the best of the Championship - or lower Prem - with the occasional starlet from L1 REALLY struggle to make a major tournament? I don't think so. I may be wrong, but look at how many times teams in major tournaments have fielded players who have played in England outside the top of the premiership. I think its true to say we may not WIN anything - but I have never seen England win anything anyway when selecting all the cream of the premiership prima-donnas (apart from the 'Touroi de France' back in 1998 I believe). I was born in 1967, so missed out on our only big win. Since then the best I have seen was Italia 90 when we came 4th. We have tried changing managers umpteen times to no avail. Perhaps its our selection process? the presence of foreign players in our top flight? Money? Who knows, but the only thing consistent in the England camp is underachievement.
I've been saying it for years, but I reckon playing for England is simply an unwanted burden. Given the choice, very few of the players would want to. They know it brings nothing but additional hassle and unwarranted expectations, mainly from the stupid media goons at the Sun and the Mirror.
Well Wales, Rep of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland have primarily recruited from those levels and have failed to qualify for major tournaments on a regular basis . Again probably not the best year to bring up that argument . It would be great though to see some Man Utd player get transferred to Bury just because he wanted to play for England
