Rooney: England’s current crop of strikers are the best in a decade; Is he right?

Wayne Rooney

In the inevitably snail-paced news week that accompanies the international break, Wayne Rooney found his words filling vital column inches as he made the claim that England’s current strike force – that illustrious one comprising of himself, Daniel Sturridge, Rickie Lambert, Danny Welbeck and Jermain Defoe – is the best the nation have had to call upon in the time he’s been in the set-up.

Of course, hardly a neutral party, Rooney was under something of an obligation to say as much, and so his outwardly morale-lifting proclamation should be taken with more than a pinch of the necessary salt, but it’s nonetheless worthy of some deconstruction. And so, if we work on the (presumptive) basis that Roy Hodgson’s current attack would also be his preferred one for next summer, here follows a brief comparison with other tournament strikeforces of the previous decade.

To begin: Last summer, as England boarded their flight to Poland, Rooney and Welbeck were accompanied in Hogdson’s squad by Jermain Defoe and Andy Carroll. Few can argue that today’s incarnation of Sturridge marks a significant upgrade on Defoe, and indeed a case could be made that Lambert’s vision and control were sorely lacking in Carroll, despite the West Ham striker’s undoubted use as a crude bludgeon. The Welbeck of today is also a better-rounded and less raw version than that of 16 months ago. And so, overall, in this case Rooney has a fine point – today’s batch win out.

Two years before that, in the 2010 World Cup, Rooney’s supporting cast were Crouch, Defoe and Emile Heskey. Although there was a touch more pedigree in Heskey than offered by Lambert, this doesn’t necessarily translate into ability, and the Southampton man’s technical aptitude, eye for goal, and, perhaps most significantly, his eye for a pass, lifts him above then then Aston Villa target man. And, in total, there’s simply more variety in today’s group, with Sturridge’s trickery, Welbeck’s hard-running tactical nous and Lambert’s unique interpretation of the ‘big man’ role than the more easily-compartmentalised quartet of three years ago.

Rewind a further four years to Germany 2006, and, in place of Heskey and Defoe were chosen the useful-against-the-minnows-but-desperately-limited Peter Crouch and, criminally, the utterly unused wide-eyed 17-year-old Theo Walcott. And in the quarter final, to misquote Boyzone, when the going got tough, Rooney attempted an on-field neutering of Ricardo Carvalho and Crouch was left toiling hopelessly alone up front. Few England fans wouldn’t exchange those four for today’s batch in the stamp of an angry Scouse foot blink of an eye.

The most intriguing case for a superior strike force, though, comes from Rooney’s first taste of tournament football, two years before that. Euro 2004, of course, was Rooney’s debut – and arguably, only non-disappointing – international tournament, and the point at which his arrival on the elite-level stage was truly announced, scoring four well-varied goals in the group stages before limping wretchedly off in his side’s ill-fated quarter final against Portugal.

His fellow strikers in the squad that summer were Emile Heskey, Darius Vassell and Michael Owen. Owen, it should be remembered, was actually rather good in 2004. Though not quite in his Ballon d’Or-winning pomp, he was nonetheless a globally-heralded goal-getter – with that tournament becoming the fourth consecutive one in which he netted in – and as such brought a greater pedigree and fear factor than his equivalent today, in Sturridge. On the other hand, the net worth – and, crucially, goal-threat – of Lambert and Defoe certainly exceeds that of Heskey and Vassell. In which case, today’s supporting trio, collectively speaking, probably just about better their 2004 equivalents.

The key difference, though, lies in Rooney himself. The Rooney on show at Euro 2004 was, quite simply, a different player to the one today. To describe exactly how is far too grand an examination for now – and indeed one belied by his increased rate of goalscoring – but, in short, Rooney played with a joy and fearlessness in 2004 that is rarely apparent today. The latter-year Rooney seems to have traded in his bullock-like forward bursts and thumping shoot-on-site policy for a more clinical and measuredly-paced approach, but he no longer holds the single-handedly match-winning tenacity that was on display nine years ago.

In light of that, there’s a fine argument to be made that England’s collective striking talent at Euro 2004 trumps that of today on the basis that Rooney’s individualistic brilliance makes up for any comparatively marginal differences in quality. Of course, due to paucity of motivation word-count here, none of the above accounts for the players’ tactical cohesion within the grander context of the team itself – you’d rather, for instance, have an abundantly-serviced Darius Vassell than an isolated Daniel Sturridge – but Rooney spoke in purely individual terms, and therefore so will we.

It may be slightly premature judgement to come upon, that Rooney will never, on the international stage, rediscover the furious form that so lit up the footballing world in 2004, but it’s certainly the way it seems right now. Perhaps Rooney, next summer, will prove such verdicts wrong. But perhaps he won’t.