England caretaker manager Gareth Southgate says that making tough decisions is “part and parcel” of being the boss but it seems very unlikely that he will drop Wayne Rooney for England’s clash __with Slovenia on Tuesday night.
Rooney was once again poor in a withdrawn midfield role and was booed by a small section of the Wembley crowd during Saturday’s 2-0 win over Malta.
His poor form has seen him lose his place in Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United team but Southgate continues to crowbar him into his England team.
“I think at this moment in time that’s irrelevant,said Southgate when asked about Rooney being dropped by United. “We’ve got 30% of the Premier League eligible for England.
“Of that, some don’t want to play [for England]. Some aren’t good enough to play and we’ve got a captain who is desperate to lead on and off the field and continues to make an outstanding contribution to that group of players. That was why he was selected.
“What’s happening at Manchester United, for this week, is not as important.”
Rooney played alongside Jordan Henderson in central midfield against Malta; our player ratings were not the only ones to highlight the difference between the pair.
Wayne Rooney on borrowed time as Gareth Southgate prepares to stick by captain against Slovenia https://t.co/d4ezMFg3Co pic.twitter.com/qYz7Lpc8Da
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) October 10, 2016
Southgate has insisted that he can make tough decisions, saying: “I’ve got to make decisions which are right for the team and, whenever you select a team for England, you’re going to leave out some players.
“You look at the bench [against Malta] and there are guys who are playing every week in the Premier League, so you have to be prepared to do that (make tough decisions). That’s part and parcel of the job.”
And yet on Tuesday night, it is expected that Rooney will be pushed into a No. 10 role, __with Eric Dier coming into central midfield and Dele Alli being pushed wide, with Jesse Lingard or Theo Walcott the player to lose his place.