Should England take Wayne Rooney to Euro 2012?

Rooney has been banned for the next three Euro Championship matches, as he was sent off in the last qualifying game, so that means he will not be able to play in the group stage of next year’s event. Is there any point in including him in the squad, when somebody else could go and be available for the whole tournament? If England doesn’t get beyond the group stage, there would be nothing for him to do anyway, and if they do progress, will he be match fit?

Rooney has done well for Manchester United, but his track record for England isn’t so impressive. He was sent off against Portugal in the World Cup in 2006, and his commitment to playing for England has sometimes been questioned. There was even a rumour that he had booked a flight to his Caribbean home before we were knocked out of the World Cup in 2010 by Germany. And with his bad temper and tendency to behave recklessly, is he worth picking anyway, when he is more likely than most to get sent off and reduce the team to ten men?

Rooney and Owen are the "new" bunch of perfeshnuls!

Both see football merely as a means to an end, and lack SERIOUS commitment - Rooney to England and Owen to the club that pays his extrotionate wage.

Both should be sanctioned and kicked into touch when their respective contracts come up for renewal.

How many goals can be scored from the bench?

Rooney is virtually a spectator, since when as spectators been able to play. If Rooney is just going to sit and watch, he should be like all the other spectators and pay is own way. The English manager is turning out to be a fool, (the way he treated Beckham when he was a club manager and now the English manager proved to me that he was a fool ), you can't take a none player when their are other players that are just as good. The way they go on about Rooney, you would think he was some sort of god. Recent events have proved he is just a normal thug like footballer, (nothing wrong with that), most continental and South American footballers behave just like thugs on the field. So let someone else go and prove them selves a better footballer, it does give them an extra player anyway.

Perhaps England should consider taking Luke Rooney (no relation) to Euro 2012, a talented 20-year-old who currently plays for Gillingham.

At one time not so long ago, to be invited to play for your national team was an honour, now it is taken for granted. Is it not odd how messrs Owen and Rooney ALWAYS make themselves fit enough to play when an international match is near.

If I were the FA, just for arguments sake (ye unnerstan') NO player should be allowed in the national team if he earns over say £15000 per week!

This would give the other players a hoist up, and at the same time, put the primmadonnas and harlequins in their place!

How many goals can be scored from the bench?

Hello OW.



That did not bother Ruud Gullit when he kept the captain of your England team - Alan Shearer on the bench for 3 league games because of an internicine spat!

Keen students of the game of soccer recognise that English players are judged somewhat differently by foreign referees than are players of other nations. The reasons for this appear to extend beyond how English players have transgressed over the years and take account of how England ( Britain ) is currently viewed in the world because of its participation in wider international political matters.

Our own referees have different problems with their standards of performance. They take no account of the niceties of politics in making on-field decisions- they are simply useless in their own right and about as trustworthy as a Coalition Cabinet Minister near a waste-paper bin...

England is, of course , taking Rooney as we now know.

The more current question is whether black ( and Jewish) players should be subjected to what may greet them from disgusting elements of so-called fans in the Ukraine and Poland during the European Championships. The relevant authorities should automatically remove individual offending attendees from stadia. And it will serve the game of soccer - not to mention common decency- well , if games are abandoned if there is any mass racist chanting or other such despicable behaviour. Any team whose players are subjected to this type of abuse should walk off the field immediately. Unless racism, and its associated mindless hatred, is challenged in such a way, we shall see it grow across Europe very quickly.

Soccer is sick enough as it is ,with all its other attendant problems. If players (or supporters) are to be victimised on account of their race or colour there will be nothing at all left to admire about the game...

Phil Hornby wrote:England is, of course , taking Rooney as we now know.

The more current question is whether black ( and Jewish) players should be subjected to what may greet them from disgusting elements of so-called fans in the Ukraine and Poland during the European Championships. The relevant authorities should automatically remove individual offending attendees from stadia. And it will serve the game of soccer - not to mention common decency- well , if games are abandoned if there is any mass racist chanting or other such despicable behaviour. Any team whose players are subjected to this type of abuse should walk off the field immediately. Unless racism, and its associated mindless hatred, is challenged in such a way, we shall see it grow across Europe very quickly.

Soccer is sick enough as it is ,with all its other attendant problems. If players (or supporters) are to be victimised on account of their race or colour there will be nothing at all left to admire about the game...

[color=black]Spot on. Agree entirely about racism. But is Rooney a liability at the moment, internationally? color]

Although Rooney has a chequered history, I do feel he has made real efforts to clean up his act. His natural style of play is the old-fashioned British way which would not have shocked the likes of Lofthouse and John Charles, but it just can't be done that way in these enlightened days.

Rooney has made some creditable adjustments, while still being vulnerable to the urge to retaliate if faced with the sly provocations of foreign opponents who are quite happy to tap the odd ankle while tumbling dramatically if anyone should say 'Boo!' to them...

Phil.quote

Rooney has made some creditable adjustments, while still being vulnerable to the urge to retaliate if faced with the sly provocations of foreign opponents who are quite happy to tap the odd ankle while tumbling dramatically if anyone should say 'Boo!' to them...

That's surely the problem. Do we risk starting with him and ending with 10 men. I suppose if he scores 2 goals before being sent off then we could hold out

Should England take Wayne Rooney to Euro 2012?

He's old enough to go on his own if he wants to.

My guess is that Rooney now has pretty much the same ability to keep the red mist at bay as any other of the more naturally-combative players in Europe.

At one time, I would have been in eager anticipation at the prospect of an uncoming soccer tournament but , sadly, it ain't the game it was, somehow...

Eoro 2012 : England v France - Reflections

A draw was a better result for England than could have been predicted, although the French were far more technically competent than England. This is true, however, of most of the opponents the English face.

Notable - as so often was the awful performance of the referee. Hardly a free kick for England when the French committed fouls , yet a keenness to whistle at every available opportunity when a blue shirt hit the deck. Two English bookings, and , naturally, none for the French, despite the foul count.

It would be no surprise if several English players and many supporters regarded the 'man in the middle' as the usual snivelling little cheat which UEFA have besmirching many matches in these enlightened days...

Phil quote.
It would be no surprise if several English players and many supporters regarded the 'man in the middle' as the usual snivelling little cheat which UEFA have besmirching many matches in these enlightened days...

How dare you tell the truth.
Still, better result than I expected too. Good old Nelson spirit. England expects, and all that y'know. Could it be a case of Kiss me - oops - Kismet, Hardy. Dare we hope these non-hopers could actually ........... Er no, dream on.

I was going to watch the Euro 2012 activity on ITV this evening, but bits of the match keep interrupting the advertisements...