England legend Alan Shearer has advised Wayne Rooney to quit playing international football in order to prolong his club career.
Wayne Rooney has been a part of the Three Lions’ setup for the last 13 years and has made a staggering 115 appearances for the national side. In fact, only Peter Shilton (125) has been capped more times than the Manchester United and England captain. But in the last few years, Rooney’s performances have taken a sudden decline. Known to run past defenders and put in tireless shifts throughout the game, the 30-year-old seems to look a shadow of his former self.
However, new England manager Sam Allardyce recently appointed Wayne Rooney as the captain of his side and also stated that he will continue to play in the number 10 role as he has been doing at Manchester United this season.
In his column in the Sun, former Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer stated that it was time for Rooney to bid farewell to international football so that he can solely focus on his club career. Shearer wrote: “This is a Manchester United squad of real depth and power and Rooney needs to be producing at the highest level to make sure he stays in it.
“It is time for Rooney to be selfish and start thinking just about himself. And that, I really regret to say, means his retirement from international football. I don’t say this in the belief that he is no longer good enough for England — he is. But he is 30 now and captaining your club and country, satisfying the demand to play at the top level for both, gets harder.
“I don’t think there was anyone else on the pitch who could have done that. Rooney still possesses magic in those boots, even if they don’t go as quickly as they used to,” wrote the Newcastle legend.”
Shearer himself retired from international football at the age of 29 and continued playing for Newcastle until he turned 36. Rooney, who has been under tremendous scrutiny, could benefit from calling it a day from his international commitments.
Despite all the slack he has received recently, the Manchester United captain’s numbers this season are far from abysmal. In each of the three league games this term, Rooney has been directly involved in United’s goals.
His most recent contribution came this weekend against Hull City, where he dribbled past Ahmed Elmohamady to set up Marcus Rashford for a 92nd minute winner. Despite not possessing the same amount of pace he did at his peak, Rooney still is an exquisite reader of the game and can play on for several more years if he can remain injury free.
