Wayne Rooney retires from England duty

FlorinRaduclious

I thought somebody else would have set this up, but alas no. So I'm breaking my duck and starting the discussion myself.

As per BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41027204

I know he can split opinion but his stats do not lie, he has been a very important player for our country;

- Our second highest cap holder having played 119 games, only Shilton, P. (125) has more.
- Our highest goalscorer with 53, second place being Charlton, R. with 49. It leaves Rooney with a very good ratio of almost 1:2.
- Our second youngest ever player at 17 years 110 days, beaten only by Walcott, T. with 17 years 74 days.

Personally, while he has not hit great tournament heights with England, for a substantial time (particularly after the retirement of the more-so disappointing tournament wise 'golden generation') he was one of the few (or possibly only) genuinely world class players England could call upon. Yet even when those around him were not top end, he tried his best and took ownership, especially after taking the captaincy. Finally, he has also been unlucky with both injuries (eg. leading into 2004 WC) and bans (eg. leading into 2012 Euros) in tournaments. He was unfortunate IMO to have a lack of top end players around him once the 'Golden Gen' retired and he always gave his all.

TBH I feel he still had more to offer England, and would definitely be in the squad and at the moment probably in my first 11 for England. However, I respect his decision, he has given many years service to the side. I thank him for his efforts, and wish him well in taking his hometown club to a high position, hopefully one below us.

imagelost

His not the future, and did he play against Iceland?

imagelost

R yes he scored a pen 4th min and we went down hill after that
Noooo he go
Thanks for your goals for England

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Don't have the stats on me but can't remember him ever actually doing it at an actual competition judt the qualifying

Would like to see the number of games/goals he played split into friendlies, qualifying and actually tournaments

Not a fan of his personal think he shouldve been dropped years ago so not fussed at all with this

Legend for United but not for England

MrsGrey

And... he's back. Due to come on for the 2nd half, apparently (BBC says).

Hamstew

Some awful players there. At least Dier isn't starting

Yeoldhammer

Rooney had his shot, even Harry Maguire has more tournament goals than Wayne Rooney. They should have just organised a testimonial for him not an actual fixture.

IronHerb

No he hasn't. ;hmm

imagelost

IronHerb said:

No he hasn't. ;hmm

Panto time
Hole yes he has

Kuchinghammer

I don't get it. England is not a club. He's done his bit, now someone else's turn. And if he deserves a testimonial, surely the same applies to other regular England players? ;hmm

Hamstew

Think I'm in the minority but I don't really see what the big deal is. I agree it's a bit strange but nothing to get worked up about. Most people think freindlies are a waste of time anyway. I think what's more of a scandal is players like Eric Dier racking up the caps when just constantly passing the ball sideways and backward, not tracking his players and walking about.

claretandbluesky

I am still trying to understand why the press felt England turned a corner at the world cup as I didn't see one result that would have been against expectations this year or any other of the last how ever many. Ordinary but spirited would have been my appraisal.

As for Rooney he reminds me of Mike Tyson in that he was unplayable in the beginning, an absolute monster, but towards the end was a shadow of that.

imagelost

I put him in the never fouls to disappoint bracket

ammerinaberdeen

Good player, just don’t like him ;lol

ammerinaberdeen

Not a single post all day except mine earllier, is the site deserted or down?

Giant_Hammer

;tumbleweed

grey_til_I_dye

ammerin

It gets a bit like that during international breaks.

I suspect people are about, but for whatever reason don't post their musings, so no one has anything to respond to.

thornburyiron

Rooney says that some ex players can't come to terms with how successful and how well the current team are doing. He has a very different view to me as to what being successful means.

grey_til_I_dye

No doubt he does, thorn.

However, if you are arguing that getting to a WC semi-final does not equal 'success' for England, then you really do have very high standards.

MunichHammer

They have now reached the semi finals of the Nations League, too, leaving Spain and Croatia behind them.

It certainly feels line a corner has been turned to me. Sure, the Nations League is not the most prestigious tournament and we still have to beat teams like Germany or Argentina on a regular basis but coupled with last year's success for the youth teams something looks like it has changed. They are playing for something now, not giving up and they are still young. Next year they will all be more experienced and who knows what can happen.

Vorselaarhammer

Nice to finish top of the group and this team filled with young players give me optimism....

We still need a passing CM before we can be considered a potential tournament winner imo.

Delph for about 30mins did something resembing that today... Dier is just so one gear, Pickford is a better passer....

Hamstew

I know I keep going on about Dier but he waso depressing again today. The guy is an oaf.

Cuz1

Again imo dier by name dire by nature

alderz

I went to Wembley on Sunday, and I have to say the game was really good, and England played really well. I feel a real optimism and interest in England at the moment that I haven't really experienced before. People can say what they like about the Nations League, but I have found it to be an exciting tournament so far. For us to top a group with Spain and Croatia is really impressive, particularly when you see the likes of Germany getting relegated from other groups.

The only real disappointment was Eric Dier, who regularly lost the ball and slowed play down. I think we're a far better team when Henderson plays in the holding role, personally.

I was very excited to watch Sancho play, and he was very bright and dangerous when he came on. Chilwell and Gomez both looked very much at home in an England side too, so I think the future looks bright.