‘When Sam got the job I made that clear to him and here we are. With England’s young talent and Rooney’s sagging form, that’s no guarantee. He will be only 32 at the end of the next World Cup, no age at all when you consider that Fabio Cannavaro was 33 when he captained Italy’s winning team in 2006.
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The 30-year-old, who will be retained by Sam Allardyce as England captain, announced yesterday that he will step down from worldwide football after the finals.
“Wayne’s record speaks for itself”. He is the most senior member of the squad and he is hugely respected by his peers. “You can’t forget it, but it’s a new era for us, a new manager”.
Rooney received widespread derision from England supporters in the wake of England’s abject failure at Euro 2016, with many lambasting the striker for his muted performance in the defeat to Iceland.
New United manager Jose Mourinho has returned Rooney to the No. 10 role behind the striker, and Allardyce also thinks that’s his best position. I’m quite ragged. People say raw and some people don’t like raw.
Michail Antonio will join Wayne Rooney in Sam Allardyce’s first England squad.
While Rooney is now holding down a place in the Manchester United first team, where he is under contract until the summer of 2019, even that is hardly a given.
“It’s still two years away and I started playing professional football at 16 and worldwide when I was 17 so it’ll have been 15 years, it’s a lot of years and I think that’ll be the right time to finish”. “But you have to make these decisions”. Antonio moved to West Ham past year and has impressed as a right-sided midfielder, especially in the air. “Obviously [I’ve got] bad memories of the last time playing for England, so it will be nice to get back out there playing and hopefully [get] a positive result”. “It’s a bit similar to Jamie Vardy – it shows if you have got guts and determination and desire, how much it means”.
He is seen as one of the best players to ever play in the club and the Premier League. “I’m looking forward to meeting him”.
Rashford has had to settle for a place on the bench for the first few games of the season and has had very little playing time so far.
“Every time I have played for England I keep saying I’m proud to do so, it is a huge honour for me so to do it more than any outfield player will be great – but it isn’t about playing, it is about trying to win and that is what I have been trying to do”.
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“Having worldwide experience with the under-21 will be invaluable for us later down the line”, Allardyce said. Only Peter Shilton (125) has more caps than him.
