Reckless boss Roy Hodgson should have moved England skipper Wayne Rooney into midfield much earlier
Three Lions' Man Utd star claims his transformation from main striker to playmaker has been six years in the making
WAYNE ROONEY claims his transformation into an England midfielder has been six years in the making.
Which makes it a shame, even a bit bizarre, that Roy Hodgson only decided to stick his captain there a couple of weeks ago.
England’s record goalscorer wins his 114th cap in tonight’s crunch Euro 2016 clash with Slovakia — yet it is only his third start in midfield.
The first was against Russia just nine days ago.
Hodgson’s decision to play Rooney deeper is the right one coinsidering the attacking options he has available.
But it is ludicrous, bordering on reckless, the Three Lions boss has only just decided this is his best position.
When asked about his switch from a striker Rooney insisted: “It was always going to happen.
“I think I said it when I was about 24 that one day I would go back into midfield. And that has happened over the last couple of months.
“I have played with some of the best midfielders England has produced in Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes.
“And I’m not so naive to play with those players and not notice what they were doing, knowing that one day I would be playing in that position. I watched them and tried to take bits from each of them and add my own way of playing.”
Since England’s final two qualifiers — when Rooney was out injured — Hodgson had seven friendlies to prepare for these finals.
Rooney, 30, was a sub in the 2-0 defeat by Spain in November, then scored while playing wide right in the 2-0 victory over France four days later.
He missed games against Germany, Holland and Turkey and then scored his 52nd England goal as a half-time sub against Australia — playing up front rather than being tested in midfield.
In England’s final warm-up against Portugal at Wembley, Rooney was supposed to be at the tip of a diamond.
But he ended up playing between Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy in a front three — and it was an absolute disaster.
So, as England approaches their third game in Group B Hodgson’s team remains a work in progress.
Rooney is proving to be an excellent England captain and is clearly enjoying his role.
The Manchester United man said: “I think you are involved in the game more.
“As a striker, most of the time you have your back to goal, but in midfield, you are mostly facing the goal. So it’s a different discipline.”
Hodgson reckons he is getting two for the price of one by playing Rooney in midfield.
The England boss said: “When you have a midfield player capable of playing the role that Wayne is at the moment, his vision and passing ability is a great asset.
“It means you have a goalscorer in that position and Wayne is more than capable of coming from from those positions and scoring goals.
“He was very close to scoring against Russia and against Wales when his shot was blocked after an excellent piece of footwork on the edge of the box.
“We think that when we can use him there we are adding a goalscorer but not losing any of our creativity or work-rate — areas of Wayne’s play which I hope don’t go unnoticed.
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“We don’t ignore the experience and work-rate he brings to the team. He has always done that.
“Even now he is in a position which gives us the chance for some of the younger guns up front to show when they can do.”
Hodgson is spot on. He just has to ask himself why it took him so long to work it out.
It was the one of the few things Louis Van Gaal got right at Old Trafford.