With a full plate of matches in the month of October between numerous competitions, Rooney has to be salivating at the chance to prove the skeptics wrong and guarantee his spot for England and United, on merit, and not just because he captained both squads.
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He went 11 Premier League games without a goal before ending the drought with his first league goal of the season in United’s 3-0 win over Sunderland last weekend.
The statement comes at an interesting time as Rooney has looked off pace for much of the season, with the majority of his goals coming against lesser opposition, notably San Marino for country, and a few against Club Brugge for club. “It is not easy to get them on the phone, especially as I was trying to reach him on the phone very shortly after the injury when he was still in hospital. No-one else has ever done”.
The forward will now have to compete for places with Arsenal’s Theo Walcott, Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane, Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, and Liverpool’s Danny Ings.
England boss Roy Hodgson reveals that he left Daniel Sturridge out of the latest squad to allow the Liverpool striker more time to regain match sharpness. “If I cast my mind back, there seems to be so many more players now knocking on the door than there were four years ago, so that’s got to be very positive”.
Roy Hodgson has given the clearest indication that Luke Shaw was going to be his first choice left back at next summer’s European Championships.
“At the moment, that day has not arrived”, Hodgson added.
The FA are still waiting for the 20-year-old’s global clearance after he opted to play for the Three Lions ahead of the Republic of Ireland.
Hodgson did say he would consider selecting Luke Shaw for Euro 2016 if he returns to action by March.
Grealish was also warned by coach Gareth Southgate that he will not walk straight into the under-21s squad. When players go away I let them deal with it. They are highly-qualified professionals who work at that level.
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“He is a player of good potential but I don’t know an bad lot about him in terms of his personality and character”, Southgate said.
