Sam Allardyce: New England manager's first action should be to move beyond Wayne Rooney and start afresh

Allardyce would do well to say thank you but no thank you to the last of the ‘Golden Generation’

Jordan Henderson and Wayne Rooney feel the impact of finishing second in the group (Getty)

When Wayne Rooney stopped to speak to journalists in the mixed zone following England’s killer defeat to Iceland at the fag-end of his European Championships, the first thing he made clear was that he wanted to carry on playing for his country - and as captain.

Roy Hodgson, the coach, had just fallen on his sword and there was some suspicion that the captain may quit too. But a crestfallen Rooney, his country’s leading scorer, was adamant that he would not be following suit. The 30-year-old feels he has more to give and his commitment to the cause can’t be faulted. It is clear playing for his country means the world to the Manchester United striker and he has his sights set on the World Cup in Russia in 2018… and possibly beyond.

But should Sam Allardyce, who will be appointed England manager in the next few hours, indulge Rooney? Shouldn’t he make his mind up for him? If he won’t jump, should he not be pushed?

It’s not as if Rooney lights up every tournament he plays at now is it? Of his 53 England goals, seven have come in tournament competition and he has not scored more than one goal at an event since the 2004 Euros when he banged in four in such exciting fashion that promised so much more to come at the cutting edge of international football.

Rooney will be 32 come the next World Cup and his powers are only going to wane between now and then. Yes, he has experience - but experience of failing at major tournaments.

Rooney is already having to alter his playing style to extend his career as we saw at United at the tail-end of last season when he dropped deep into midfield under the guidance of Louis Van Gaal. But Jose Mourinho, the new man in Manchester, has already made clear that Rooney should not play too far back but as a No 10. His burst of pace to get on the end of crosses, to be a No 9, has gone.

This much was clear not just watching Rooney in a United shirt but also in an England one. In his country’s final warm-up game prior to Euro 2016 against Portugal at Wembley, Rooney was played in the hole behind two strikers, Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane. The end result was a disaster with the threat of Kane and Vardy being nullified as they split and were forced wide with Rooney earmarked as the one to time runs into the box to get on the end of balls in. Only he was unable to do so. The legs don’t have that fizz anymore.


 Rooney struggled again for England at Euro 2016 
 (Getty)

So he is a No 10 and undoubtedly has a brilliant football brain befitting that position – although it seemed to freeze against Iceland. But the best No 10 in the country is Dele Alli. One of Hodgson’s problems at the Euros was trying to shoehorn Alli and Rooney into the same team. It didn’t work. Alli’s partnership with Kane for Tottenham last season nearly won them the league but come the Euros, Kane was bumped aside and couldn’t link up with his Spurs team-mate to such devastating effect as he had managed all campaign.

Allardyce would do well to say thank you but no thank you to the last of the ‘Golden Generation’ and give Alli his head. Build a team around the Spurs man.

Rooney famously said “The Big Man is back” in Baden-Baden in 2006 when he returned from injury to hook up with England during another ill-fated tournament. It’s time Allardyce sent him back to his club and used England’s World Cup qualifiers as a time to start afresh with a younger team he can mould. The Rooney road should be at an end.