Wayne Rooney dilemma
After the game, when asked about Rooney's position, Allardyce said, "He could play wherever he wanted to be. He was brilliant. He controlled the game. He controlled midfield, as well as Eric Dier. Yes sometimes he played a little deep but I'm not going to stop Wayne if he thinks that's the right position to go to."
Anyone who saw the game yesterday would counter Allardyce’s claim that Rooney was ‘brilliant’.
Also Read: Wayne Rooney's 'free role' in midfield is now England's greatest concern
The 30-year old dropped a little too deep on many occasions when he was required near the attacking half. England had a deep lying midfielder in Eric Dier, who had the most touches yesterday with 99 passes.
With a ball playing defender in John Stones, the decision to drop deep from Rooney just did not make sense. On many occasions, Stones was ahead of Rooney as the England captain looked to take hold of the proceedings, which he failed to do so.
Harry Kane was left isolated with Rooney dropping deep. Allardyce needs to take a tough decision on Rooney's best position and build the team around it.
The performance that was needed from Rooney playing behind the striker was produced by Dele Alli in his short cameo, who was kept out of the lineup to accommodate Rooney.
Star man: Adam Lallana
Lallana scored his first international goal in 27 appearances and looked England's best player throughout the game. His silky touches and skills kept the tempo up and he produced important passes too.
He had a good few exchanges with both the full-backs with Danny Rose providing the assist for his goal.
Lallana has reinvented himself under Jurgen Klopp and has shown that on the field; he had a shot off the post and produced a save from Slovakia's keeper.
He played on the left predominantly with Rose and Lallana expected to be the players on the left flank under Allardyce for the foreseeable future.
The road ahead
Allardyce has always taken brave decisions in his managerial career and he needs to be bold in the biggest job of his career. He has a plethora of attacking talent at his service and needs to make proper use of it.
England in hindsight should have included Marcus Rashford, as they lacked the pace of the teenage sensation.
The likes of Raheem Sterling and Dele Alli are the future of England and must get used to criticism from all corners heading into the 2018 World Cup.
