For England tonight the equation is simple. No Wayne Rooney, no guarantee of Brazil next year.
If the England talisman isn’t on form for his country in the must-win World Cup qualifier against Poland, Roy Hodgson’s men could easily surrender first place and hand Group H’s automatic qualification rights to Ukraine and end up pinning their hopes on winning a two-legged play-off.
England need the striker to deliver as he is the only great attacking hope and the one player who can break down a team like Poland individually.
The Manchester United striker is England’s top scorer in qualifying – with six goals – despite only playing in five of the nine qualifying games.
Rooney has netted vital goals away from home against Montenegro and Poland and in a team of relatively little star quality, he is the one player that strikes fear into opposition players.
When England played Ukraine in August without Rooney, opposition midfielder Yevhen Konoplyanka suggested we were another side.
“England are a different team when he plays. When he isn’t, you can see they are looking for inspiration from somebody else, but can’t find it,” said Konoplyanka, whose side face minnows San Marino tonight and will look to pile the pressure on England in the hunt for plane tickets to South America.
“Every nation has their stand-out player, but I can’t think of any nations that are as reliant on one player as England are on Rooney.”
The statistics prove that England have missed Rooney during this qualifying campaign.
Without the striker England have a 50% win ratio. With Rooney England have won 60% of their games.
England have also been more prolific in front of goal when Rooney has played in this qualifying campaign: 19 goals scored with the Manchester United man, 15 without.
After watching England’s impressive 4-1 victory over Montenegro on Friday it is also evident that Rooney’s goals are not the only asset the Three Lions need.
Rooney’s mere presence on the pitch drags opposition players towards him as they look to man mark him and attempt to stifle England’s attacking threat.
What that does is give others much more space allowing them to create chances and play much more freely.
Take Friday for example. As the Montenegrin defenders were drawn towards Rooney, Andros Townsend, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge all exploited the gaps left.
Yes England have other great players and many have questioned whether Hodgson’s troops are better off without Rooney especially when it comes to international tournaments.
Rooney has never scored in a World Cup finals and was sent off during the 2006 tournament in the quarter-final against Portugal.
However on Friday Rooney became England’s record goal-scorer in World Cup qualifiers, scoring 15 in 21 games since bursting onto the scene in 2003.
He also has an impressive record at the European championship finals, scoring five goals in six games.
What you also have to remember about Rooney, is that at both World Cups he’s been to the forward has been hampered by a nagging injury.
Before 2006 Rooney broke his metatarsal and in 2010 he injured his ankle a few weeks before going to South Africa.
“A fully fit, match-fit Wayne Rooney is important to the country,” Hodgson said before England’s games against Moldova and Ukraine last month.
Hodgson showed how much he valued Rooney when he played the United striker in August’s friendly against Scotland even when he was out of favour at his club.
Rooney encourages Hodgson to play much more attacking football and you question whether England would have been so defensive in Ukraine last month had the 27-year-old been available.
Steven Gerrard is arguably the only other England player who can change a game on his own, but as he’s aged the Liverpool midfielder has dropped deeper into midfield and can no longer affectthe game like he used to do.
This leaves Rooney as the only man who can grab the game by the scruff of the neck and turn a performance around when England are struggling.
Image courtesy of SkySports via YouTube, with thanks.
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