Roy Hodgson agitated by ‘Rooney obsession’

England boss Roy Hodgson is annoyed by England’s fans ‘obsession’ with striker Wayne Rooney

England boss Roy Hodgson has criticised the England fans ‘obsession’ with Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.

Hodgson was clearly annoyed that the media was concentrating on Rooney’s performance after England’s average 3-0 victory over South Americans Peru.

With the start of the World Cup just two weeks and England odds off 28/1 to claim the trophy, England boss Hodgson has a lot of thinking to do.

Sad

Hodgson told Sky Sports: “I think it’s a bit sad that the country is so Wayne Rooney-obsessed,”

“I don’t think Wayne sets himself up to be anything other than a very important member of the squad who tries his best at all times.

“We work as a team but certainly we don’t have the same obsession with Wayne, or Daniel Sturridge.

Potential

The so called ‘obsession’ that England fans has is probably due to Wayne Rooney breaking into the England team at such a young age and making an impact at club level. He looked to be an exciting prospect for the future, with every attribute needed to be a world-class player.

Rooney was regarded as the most exciting player that England had produced since Paul Gascoigne. He was technically gifted, could take on a man and was fearless. That is why the weight of England’s hopes seemed to be on his shoulders.

Poor

Rooney has enjoyed a very good club career with Manchester United, proving influential and winning silverware in his decade at Old Trafford. However, he has been a flop at the major tournaments.

He burst onto the international scene at Euro 2004 and made a great impact, before succumbing to injury in the quarter-finals against hosts Portugal. It seemed that England had found a new hero, who would inspire the Three Lions to greater things at future tournaments.

However, it was not to be. In every major tournament that he has represented England the Manchester United striker has struggled to make the anticipated impact. No doubt Wayne Rooney is a talented player, but the focus of attention always seemed to be on him.

Prime

Wayne Rooney is 28 years old and as a footballer should be in his prime. Instead people are now talking about him being past his best and not being at peak fitness because of an injury sustained during the back end of last season.

Rooney’s performance against Peru was almost anonymous. It was the display of a man that has not played much football in recent months. Rooney seems to be fighting a constant battle with his body to stay in peak physical condition.

Exciting

While some England fans will be looking to Rooney to provide the inspiration this summer, most other England fans will be excited by the fact that Roy Hodgson has selected a youthful squad of players.

This squad of players has far more to it than recent squads. Suddenly England have a group of young fearless players like Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who can beat people and provide key moments for England.

In past tournaments, England fans have pinned their hopes on Rooney, because basically he was one of the few players that were capable of providing inspiration for the team. That is no longer the case, as the new breed all seems pretty confident and capable of producing a match-winning moments.

Hodgson can now look at his squad and think that he has a lot of players that are capable of providing a piece of skill that makes the difference in crucial games. He is no longer the single source of flair for the team and that as an England supporter is comforting.

Maybe not being the centre of attention will be good for Wayne Rooney. For too long too much has been expected of him. The striker is only one player and he must have felt the weight of expectation on his shoulders.

Dropped

Rooney is a big player with a big reputation for both club and country, but for too long people have seen him as a must-start player for England. However, what has annoyed England boss Roy Hodgson is the fact that people are asking whether Rooney should still be a starter for England.

The England boss will have his own opinions on Rooney I am sure, but he should not been seen as an automatic starter just because of his reputation. Hodgson has even stated that he would be willing to start without Rooney, if he thought it was best for the team.

Dropping Rooney at the moment really is not unthinkable. England currently has a lot of promising players that can play in Rooney’s position. They may not have the same experience as Rooney, but they have not underperformed at major tournaments either.

The likes of Sterling and Barkley are inexperienced, but both are confident young attacking midfielders with bags of ability and have just enjoyed breakthrough seasons at club level.

Hope

For England’s sake I do hope that Wayne Rooney does enjoy a good tournament for England in Brazil. Rooney is a player that is desperate to do well for both club and country, sometimes that gets the better of him at major tournaments.

He has been built up so much by the media in the past that he believes he has to win games on his, which means he tries too hard to force the game at times.

Hopefully when the tournament starts England fans are talking more about the team, rather than just Rooney, because this England squad is probably the most exciting we have seen at a major tournament for a long time.

Rooney is no longer the be all and end all for the England team. He may be regarded as the big star at the moment, but there is a galaxy of young starlets in that England squad just waiting to shine, which can only for a good thing for the Three Lions.

Do England fans have an obsession with Wayne Rooney?