Wayne Rooney was criticised on his lacklustre performance for England in their opening World Cup qualifier against Slovakia. He did surpass David Beckham on Sunday to become the Three Lions' highest capped outfield player with 116 appearances but that was not enough to mask his performance for the national side.
Over the years, Rooney has played in a number of positions with settling in a number 10 role for Jose Mourinho this summer. Under Louis van Gaal, Rooney played in almost three positions with the Dutchman deploying him as a forward, in a number 10 role and also as a central midfielder at times.
The former Chelsea manager, Ruud Gullit has come to the Manchester United and England's captain rescue as he said, “I’ve seen so many coaches or managers over the years mess Rooney about. They’ve been juggling him between the no.10 position, the striker’s position or an attacking role from the left. Sir Alex, in the end, used him in that role. I feel that Wayne has never been able to focus on one position during his career”. Ferguson also had played the England captain on the wings during the 2008-09 season.
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Gullit continued, “Somehow it was always depending of the players around him, or the way the opposition played, where managers decided to put Rooney in the team. To a certain extent I can see the point of a manager, but for Rooney this has often worked in a negative way. The fact is that all these changes of positions for him in different games and under different managers led to continuous debates about his ideal role and position."
The Dutchman spoke at length about England's top scorer and added, “Ever since Rooney started playing at top level, which is most of his career, the media have been wondering ‘Is he a striker or a no.10? If Rooney didn't score for three weeks, he suddenly was a no.10 again. If he scored two goals as a no.10, he should play as a striker again in the eyes of all the experts in the media."
The former Chelsea player also felt that Rooney is sometimes unfairly targeted by the media. Sam Allardyce’s bizarre appreciation of his performance against Slovakia was not taken well by the media and the supporters.
Even with the relatively poor performances for England, Rooney is all set to captain the United side on Saturday. This would be the first Manchester derby of the season and would pit rival managers Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola against each other for the first time in the Premier League.
