Capello predicts Rooney as future England captain

[Karl]

Capello predicts Rooney as future England captain

Man United's Wayne Rooney - file

LONDON (AP)
Fabio Capello sees Wayne Rooney as a future England captain. Before that, he wants him to score goals on a more regular basis.

After three months as England coach, Capello has identified Rooney as the country's best young star, who could develop into a team leader.
"He is very good at everything. The one thing he can improve is the number of chances he puts away," Capello told the Football Association website. "He doesn't convert as many as he could but I am sure that will come in the future."

The 22-year-old Manchester United striker, who has 14 goals in 42 international appearances, has failed to score in England's two games under the Italian - a 2-1 victory over Switzerland a 1-0 loss to France.
Because England failed to qualify for the European Championships in June, Capello faces at least two more friendlies - against the United States on May 28 and Trinidad and Tobago on June 1 - before his first competitive games. Qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup start in September.

"I am undecided who will be captain for the next game and Wayne Rooney is very young, but I believe in the future he could be captain of England one day," said Capello, speaking from the African nation of Lesotho, where he is part of an FA delegation. "What are his qualities for the role? He is a leader, he is a good example on the pitch. Like I said, he is very young so we need to give him a bit more time to get some more experience and mature a bit.

"But I do believe he could one day be captain. He is the most talented young English player and the good thing is, he has still got a big margin of improvement ahead of him."

[Westman]

Just like a lawyer, ".....he has still got a big margin of improvement ahead of him." Big margin of improvement means he his far, far from being ready. Some may see it as a compliment but he says Rooney is not in the ball park for that anytime soon.

[Karl]

Wayne’s World Of Worry

Wayne’s World Of Worry

These are not the best of times for Wayne Rooney, argues Nigel Smith...

Arguments rage as to whether this season should be considered a success for the young striker. The confidence of the manager, not to mention 17 goals bagged with games left to play, seems a fair return for a player who began the campaign with a serious foot fracture and returned only to damage his ankle in a freak training ground accident.

But this does not convince some of the player’s more determined critics, who believe the passage from boy to man has stripped Rooney of the freshness and the air of invincibility that once distinguished his play and terrified Europe. Their questions remain: Does Rooney still have the nerve to fire United to a Double this year? Can he lead England out of the wilderness? Has he pushed on from the electrifying youngster who announced himself as a 16 year old in the blue of Everton?

Such is the interest in Rooney that these questions seem to have dogged him every season since his £27 million move to Old Trafford four years ago.

United fans sense a sinister ABU agenda. Criticism of Wazza was once silenced all to easily by reference to that goal against Newcastle, a strike that will be replayed until the end of time, or the debut Champions League hattrick against Fenebache.

Not so now. The ‘Rooney stagnates’ story is still with us and despite United’s rise to domestic dominance, it just wont go away.

Earlier this month, Middlesbrough’s goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, during an Observer newspaper interview about his Australian upbringing and extra-football interests, departed from standard football orthodoxy to declare plainly that Rooney had lost his way.

"The English league was always a popular league back in the 70s and 80s but it has never been as popular as it is now,” he said. “Why? Cristiano Ronaldo is one reason, Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres are others.

"There's not an English player like them, as much as everybody in England wishes. Wayne Rooney was supposed to be that good but even he hasn't progressed as they've wanted him to."

A fitting response would have been for Rooney to have rammed Schwarzer’s comments down his throat courtesy of a virtuoso hatrick when the teams faced each other at the Riverside later that afternoon. He did hit the target but in an uneven display by the champions, the goalkeeper's accusation went largely unanswered.

And there lies the problem for Rooney. Never mind his contribution to United, the space he makes for others or his versatility: Rooney must score and regularly to keep the critics at bay. When he doesn’t, or when he misses what the television pundits insist are ‘straightforward’ chances, he is reproached.

It's weighing on him. The sense of relief that Rooney embodied in scoring against Aston Villa last month was perhaps a reflection of this pressure to perform.

It is said that marksman are born, not made. Clearly, Rooney is no Ruud Van Nistelrooy in front of goal, a point made forcefully by Fabio Capello.

According to a Guardian news report, the new England manager "has demanded that Wayne Rooney improve his finishing."

It went on, "The England manager agrees that the attacker is the team's most talented player but says his reliability is a concern.

"Rooney went more than three years without a goal for his country in a competitive fixture, between the Euro 2004 quarter-final against Portugal and a qualifier against Estonia in October 2007, and operating as a lone striker he did not score in the recent friendlies with Switzerland and France.

"It is a grave flaw if the person in that position cannot be trusted to finish, so the issue is urgent for Capello. But the Italian expresses faith. "There is one thing he has got to improve and will improve. In every game he has a lot of scoring chances and he doesn't take them, or nowhere near as many of them as he should. I am fairly sure he will in the future."

Capello’s comments will be seized upon by those looking to bury England’s greatest talent - a national sport that flourishes as a dark side show to the country’s obsession with celebrity.

Looped replays of chances gone astray – like the three at home to Arsenal - do make it easy for Rooney to be the prize catch of those whose business it is to build 'em up and then knock 'em down.

Worse, much worse, for the player’s image and public appreciation is the extraordinary rise over the last two years of teammate and fellow young star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Their 2006 World Cup spat will forever link the players in the public mind and it remains for some a neat dividing line in the assessment of their respective careers.

Before the quarter final match, Rooney was considered the better of the two youngsters. It was Rooney who enjoyed the pan-European reputation after his Euro 2004 exploits. It was Rooney who was the darling of the tabloids and the Chav magazines with his girl-next-door companion and stellar contracts and it was Rooney who was the kingpin of the United team.

By contrast, Ronaldo, for all his speed and talent, was considered a show pony, at odds with at least two of his team mates, his abilities less well integrated into the team ethic Sir Alex was fashioning.

Whereas pundits spoke of Rooney’s positives – speed, power, clever football brain, vitality – Ronaldo was discussed in the negative – frustrating, goes to easily to ground, doesn’t know when to pass to team mates, etc., etc.

The quarter final clash between the pair produced a media storm which many assumed would devour the Portuguese winger. Instead, Ronaldo thrived, silencing his critics as his myriad talents blossomed over the next season. The goals came too as United came back to challenge and eventually overhaul Chelsea.

As Ronaldo rose to claim the limelight, so Rooney’s star appeared to shine less brightly. Perhaps it was the successive metatarsal breaks and other injuries that required weeks on the sidelines. In turn, these layoffs may have affected the fitness and sharpness that Rooney needed to stay on top of his game.

Whereas Ronaldo has been able to focus solely on refining his wing skills and deploying them to the maximum reward of the team, Rooney has been forced to learn a new role in order to fit into Sir Alex’s shifting team plans.

Rooney, ideally cast in the ‘hole’ behind the front man is now asked to lead both club and country as the lone spearhead. The process of changing his game to suit new tactics and personnel has admittedly not always been smooth. However, when the learning curve is complete, it should make Rooney an even more versatile force.

Certainly, Rooney could find no better manager to guide his transition from teen prodigy to adult star. Sir Alex’s Ferguson’s many gifts have been placed at the service of striplings such as Giggs, Beckham, Scholes and Ronaldo and he has made superstars of them all.

If Rooney, still only 22 years old, can play two or three seasons without serious injury, fans might then have a real opportunity to gauge conclusively the scale of his development.

Despite the groans, the sighs and the poisoned whispers, Rooney's talent is undoubted. Surely, only bad luck can hold him back.

Nigel Smith

[Rockman]

Nigel's article is divisive and has a xenophobic undertone. The Rooney/Ronaldo comparison and the why are the stars in England mostly foreigners annoting chat.
What makes Rooney unique is he is a team player. He, more likely than any other forward, will play defense if needed, every time he plays it is clear that he is special. A winning England side would be Rooney with capable replacements for Man U players.

Blessed

[Rockman]

And of course it is regarding striker being the captain of England.
Eratic temper yes but I see no other reason preventing him from being the captain. England had it right from the get go, he is far from the average Joe.





Blessed

[HL]

Reality check in a few weeks time against the Unites States.

WORDS may be powerful...but it is still wind.