Wayne Rooney finds himself in a brave new world…and he fits the midfield role perfectly
Manchester United skipper shifted into midfield against Russia and revelled in the role
WAYNE ROONEY now finds himself in a wonderful new world.
And anybody who doubted his ability to transform himself from England’s 52-goal record goalscorer to a master in midfield must be feeling a wee bit silly.
All the talk before England arrived in the Stade Velodrome was about the gamble boss Roy Hodgson was planning.
By half-time in Marseilles Hodgson — and Rooney — had come up trumps.
And everybody was singing their praises.
For there now can be no argument that Hodgson had it spot on in dropping Wayne deeper.
Rio Ferdinand said Wayne was Andrea Pirlo-like and I can see what he means.
I think Wayne’s got a bit to go before he makes himself a maestro like the Italian who bossed England two years ago in the World Cup finals.
But for him — and England — the future is bright for he showed how intelligent and how adaptable he is.
You would never have believed that this was the first time he had ever started a game for his country in that deeper role.
He looked like a natural. And Pirlo–like, he was sending passes around the pitch like radar before he was subbed off, which ultimately looked a bad decision after the late equaliser.
One 40-yarder to Dele Alli was sensational.
It was easy to see he was loving it, maybe because as a striker you normally play with your back to the goal.
But Wayne just loves being on the ball and, now facing the goal, he looked like he was a natural playmaker.
I also really appreciated the fact that he took on the responsibility of tracking back as he did
to cut out one dangerous raid by the Russians.
The bonus having Rooney deeper is that he can also still see space to move into to have a crack at goal.
And he would have added to his England haul but for a fantastic save from the Russian keeper Igor Akinfeev with just under 20 minutes to go.
Wayne and Alli — who really grew into the game — were helped by having Eric Dier around, for the kid is crucial to Hodgson’s system.
Dier is a player who is selfless in keeping the back door guarded but I also like the fact that he can see opportunities to get forward.
And boy, can he take a free- kick as well.
He got the winner in Berlin in that incredible 3-2 friendly win over Germany — but that strike last night was truly something special.
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What I really liked about the performance overall was that Hodgson’s players all showed up.
Too often in the past our teams have frozen. Not this one, even if Russia were without some key players.
They went out to express themselves, they showed no fear and they sent out a message of intent before blotting their copybook in injury-time.
Roy’s boys were under extra pressure because Wales had won a couple of hours before they kicked off and, of course, the countries play each other on Thursday afternoon.
By and large they handled it. They handled the frustrations of those first 73 minutes, right up until heartbreak at the end.