Paul Scholes has spoken rather candidly about Wayne Rooney’s position in England’s World Cup 2014 squad, saying that he questions whether Roy Hodgson has the “balls” to drop the striker even though he’s been on a poor international run in recent years.
Rooney hasn’t scored in eight World Cup finals appearances, but he was inevitably at the forefront of Roy Hodgson’s team announcement for the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. While Rooney had a decent season at Manchester United (which was undermined by his teammates’ poor performances), he has continuously failed to live up to expectations when it comes to international tournaments.
It’ll be interesting to see whether the management team has the balls [to drop Rooney].
However, his Manchester United and former England teammate Paul Scholes has questioned whether Hodgson will put Rooney on the bench if he doesn’t perform, writing in a blog post: “I’m not saying Wayne needs to be dropped but if form doesn’t get up to scratch in the warm-ups, or in the first game of the World Cup, it’ll be interesting to see if the England management team has the balls to make that decision.
“We have quality forwards in the squad this time. That should give Wayne the competition he needs to spur him on a little more.
“To get the very best from Wayne in Rio, the manager needs to tell him: ‘Don’t bother running back. Stay up top. Stay centre-forward. Score goals. That’s your job in my team.'”
Scholes also spoke about former Manchester United manager David Moyes, who is today facing allegations of assault, and his ill-fated time at the club.
Scholes said: “The players did not perform last season. The manager was a little negative with the teams he put out but I wasn’t around the place in training until Ryan asked me back, so I can’t judge properly. David Moyes took a lot of stick, but I believe he’s a top manager. I’d question if 10 months was enough time.
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