After another indifferent performance for England at the weekend, captain Wayne Rooney’s place in the team has been place under scrutiny once again.
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Rooney made his 116th worldwide appearance during Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Slovakia, passing David Beckham to become England’s most-capped outfield player.
Shilton, who won 125 caps for England from 1970 to 1990, believes that Rooney should have walked away from the worldwide set-up after the team’s poor showing at the European Championships earlier this summer, rather than having a situation now where Allardyce is trying to shoehorn him into the side.
Slovakian defender Jan Durica has made a shocking claim that the FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifying game between England and Slovakia was fixed.
The 30-year-old Manchester United forward has announced his intention to hang up his England boots after the 2018 World Cup in Russian Federation – but Shilton feels he should already have done so.
“I am using his experience to its maximum on the field as captain and football player – and encouraging him to play as a captain and play very, very well, which I thought he did”. I think that the referee waited until Skrtel did a foul. Far from it. If he does and he plays well, fine’.
Allardyce, who oversaw the 1-0 win, his first game in charge of England, has backed Rooney but insists he needs to add goals to his game.
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“He has had it at Manchester United, under many different managers, played down the right, the left, centre forward, in behind, centre midfield”.
