Tuesday 8th September 2015, Wembley stadium is rocking. Chants of: "Roooooney, Roooooney" are louder than ever and the star from Croxteth, Liverpool has just become the nation's leading goal scorer at the age of just 29. The primary debate amongst pundits, ex-professionals and fellow supporters has asked the question; Is he the greatest player ever to pull on the England shirt?
 |
| Wayne Rooney celebrates his 50th goal for England, a new record. |
Firstly, no one can take away the fact that he is now the country's all time top goal scorer. Many claim he is overrated, not world class or that he has never fulfilled his potential. Nevertheless, his record now speaks for himself, and great credit should be given to Wayne Rooney, especially as he beat the record set by Sir Bobby Charlton with 4 years to spare of his predecessors record (Sir Bobby Charlton was 34 years of age upon getting his 49th England goal). However what went through my mind is the fact that if you look at the goal records of other International players, such as Miroslav Klose (71 Goals in 137 Caps), Ferenc Puskas (84 Goals in 89 Caps), Ronaldo (62 Goals in 98 Caps) and of course Pele (77 Goals in 92 Caps), in comparison with Wayne Rooney's current record (50 Goals in 107 Caps) he seems so way behind what are considered some of the best International strikers of all time.
Consideration must be given to the fact that Wayne Rooney is of course only 29 years of age. I believe, fitness permitting that he has at least 5 years left of being a regular in the England side. So far he has averaged 4.1 goals a year over a spell of 12.2 years of International football. If he carry's on his current level of goal projection for the national team he will bag at least 70 goals, and thus, put him in the same bracket as International legends as Miroslav Klose and Pele, and would certainly make him the greatest England player ever. Or would it?
Sir Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves famously contributed to England winning their only ever World Cup back in 1966. It seems that the majority of the debate is split between Wayne Rooney and Sir Bobby Charlton as to who is the best England player of all time, and football fans have frequently stated that Wayne Rooney's England tally has come mostly from 'Easy Friendly's'. However if you look at the amount of goals that both have scored in terms of tournament qualifiers, it tells a contrasting story. Wayne Rooney's tally of 30 goals in comparison with Sir Bobby Charlton's 12 (FourFourTwo), put the debate that Wayne Rooney's England tally has mostly been compromised by friendly goals to rest. I do not want to be miss lead here, Sir Bobby Charlton's achievements for England are of the highest possible for any International. But I do feel Wayne Rooney has contributed more in a goals sense, and I also feel if the players around Wayne Rooney had been consistently better within his time as England's main man, he to would have led England to an International Trophy.
England players are always overrated and over pressured by the English media, and supporters and analysts rarely have anything positive to say about the national team, and maybe rightly so. But for me Wayne Rooney needs the recognition he deserves, since being made captain in September 2014, Wayne Rooney has guided England to 8 wins out of 8 in the qualifiers for the 2016 Euro's. In Conclusion there is a certainly a degree of silent expectation amongst some England fans as France 2016 looms ever closer, and the fact that Wayne Rooney has the pressure off him to achieve the goal scoring record will hopefully allow us to see the best of the striker at the Euro's.
