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Originally Posted by t-force I think it's stupid to keep Rooney in the squad. There's no guarantee he'll be ready for the knock-out stages, and, as has already been said, there's no-one else apart from Theo to call on if Crouchy or Owen get injured - unless Ericsson is planning on playing Gerrard as a striker - which is an option with the way he's playing at the moment. |
Which is exactly why Sven should have taken a fifth striker. With 23 players in the squad, we can afford to take Rooney, becuase having him available for the 2nd round/quarter final makes a massive difference to our chances of winning the WC. As it is right now, if Owen/Crouch is to get injured early on, we either have to put in walcott from the start, or re-arrange a very very strong midfield. i.e. move Gerrard or Cole.
If he had Defoe/Bent available, then they automatically slot in up front and there's then no need to tinker with the midfield.
Also, there's a big difference between having Gerrard playing the Rooney role compared to what he does now for Liverpool where he starts deep and pushes forward. As good as Gerrard is, its yet to be seen as to whether he can perform as well in the Rooney position.
JMO
Lee