Considered a bit of a flop prior to the German’s arrival due to the lack of end product, the flashy midfielder has arguably progressed more than any other inherited player in the team.
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It was however, a nerve-wracking beginning to England’s 2018 World Cup campaign.
Slovakia defender Jan Durica has made the startling claim that England’s victory on Sunday evening was fixed, suggesting the authorities would rather an established country qualify for the World Cup in Russian Federation in 2018.
Rooney started in midfield as Allardyce began his England reign with 1-0 victory in Sunday’s World Cup qualifier in Trnava, and dropped deeper when Dele Alli was introduced as a second-half substitute.
Rooney, 30, was expected to play as a No. 10 behind Harry Kane but spent much of the game in midfield.
With questions being asked of his position in the United starting line-up already this season, it doesn’t bode well for a man who announced last week that he would retire from worldwide football after the 2018 World Cup.
‘Of course, they will always prefer the stronger team.
“I think I saw a little nervous tension and it’s bound to be in the back of their mind. We were really unhappy”, he added.
“We kept plugging away – as a unit we played brilliantly and they didn’t have any chances”.
Former England striker Shearer hailed Lallana’s display, stating that he was England’s best player on the day, and suggested to The Sun that his goal was a reward for his performance. “Finally we did get the goal and it’s [Lallana’s] first goal for England, so good luck to him”.
Skrtel’s red card appeared to have been coming for some time – he had twice been spoken to by Mazic after the first yellow – and Kane believes Skrtel was lucky to stay on the pitch as long as he did.
“I can see the logic in terms of the odds but it wasn’t a route I felt I was ready to take”. “It was just a matter of time”.
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Nevertheless, for Allardyce to claim that he can play “wherever he wants” and that “it’s not for him to say where he’s going to play” is just plain wrong.
