Wayne Rooney recalled in No10 role for World Cup 2018 qualifier
• Rooney better placed and looks freer in his mind, says Gareth Southgate
Daniel Sturridge is set to start England’s World Cup qualifier against Scotland on Friday, with Wayne Rooney recalled in a No10 role for a game Gareth Southgate believes will provide his captain with the “perfect” stage on which to reassert his influence at this level.
Southgate is inclined to opt for Sturridge, who is without a Premier League goal this season, ahead of Harry Kane, with the Tottenham Hotspur striker having played 73 minutes of Sunday’s north London derby on his comeback after seven weeks out with ankle ligament damage. Although he is fully recovered from that injury, the lay-off has rendered him rusty and the interim manager would prefer to use him, if required, from the bench.
Sturridge has also endured life on the sidelines at club level of late and has not started a top-flight game since Liverpool’s goalless draw with Manchester United in mid-October – but he did score twice against Spurs in an EFL Cup tie. He also struck the woodwork twice during a 19-minute cameo against Watford on Sunday and, having started the qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia last month, retains the faith of the national management. Southgate hopes Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana will provide service from wide, with Rooney operating as the central pivot of the three.
In Slovenia, England’s record outfield cap holder and record goalscorer had been dropped for the first time since breaking into the national setup in 2003 after a period on the fringes at United that reflected sluggish early-season form and apparent confusion over his best position within the side.
Southgate, however, has spied a player revived in training up at St George’s Park this week, with Rooney having impressed as a starter in his club’s past two games, and is convinced the captain’s experience will be vital against Scotland.
He suggested Rooney was “better placed” than last month. Asked what had changed for the 31-year-old, Southgate said: “Game time, as much as anything. He wasn’t in a flow of playing but he has had more matches since. He had two 90 minutes last week, scored and had two assists. To my mind, even in his training, he looks freer in his mind. That is an important place to be in order to perform.
“I think he will play well. He doesn’t have anything to prove to me. The whole basis of our conversation [before the Slovenia game] wasn’t about my belief in him as a player. I made a decision that I thought was right for that game. He is a big-game player with big-match experience. I think a game like this will be perfect for him.
“Class is permanent, isn’t it? We all have moments as players where you have runs of games. There are matches and periods where you know you are not at your best but part of being a player is grinding out the difficult moments. There are games when you have to grind out and play your part for the team. Then there are others where things are happening more naturally. To me, he looks like he is just heading into that period, which is great for us.”
In England’s first competitive game against Scotland since the 1999 two-leg play-off to reach Euro 2000, Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier are expected to anchor the hosts’ midfield, with the Tottenham full-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker having apparently overcome minor fitness problems to feature. Southgate put his entire 25-man squad through their paces at St George’s Park on Thursday before they travelled to their hotel in Hertfordshire, with the manager hoping to achieve the favourable result that should ensure he is confirmed in the role on a permanent basis this month.
There is an acceptance that England will need to be more ruthless than of late if they are to prevail. Since the summer of 2015, and overlooking a 6-0 thrashing of hapless San Marino, England have managed only 25 goals in 17 internationals. Moreover, they have scored seven in their past seven matches against relatively underwhelming opposition in Russia, Wales, Slovenia, Iceland, Malta and Slovakia twice. There has been an emphasis placed on creating more clearcut opportunities in training this week, with Southgate hopeful his players will be more au fait with his demands than they were after he was parachuted in just before last month’s qualifiers.
“The guys have a bit more clarity on what we want to do with the ball,” he added. “We have talked about our goalscoring and we have to show more patience in our buildup play. But also I think when the opportunity is there to slide people in and play forward we have got to take it. We can’t just be a team that wants to keep the ball for the sake of it. We have got to be progressive. We have highlighted that in looking back at the last few matches.
“I also have to say that it will have been very difficult for them with three coaches in the last three matches, all with a very different idea of how they want to play. I have got to be realistic about how they take that on board but I sense there is more clarity this week from the training and the discussion that we have had.”
England team to face Scotland (4-2-3-1; probable)
Hart; Walker, Stones, Cahill, Rose; Henderson, Dier; Sterling, Rooney, Lallana; Sturridge.
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