Wayne Rooney must find a way to reinvent himself if he wants to play on at the very top for another decade, according to England coach Gary Neville.
It is 10 years since Rooney exploded on to the Premier League scene with a spectacular goal for Everton against Arsenal and tonight in Poland he will win his 78th cap.
‘At the age of 26, you always have to think that there’s more to come,’ Neville told BBC 5 Live. ‘You can’t get to the age of 26 and think, “My best years have gone.” He has to now challenge himself.
‘He has great examples of players who have continued to do that in Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, how they have adapted their games.
‘Giggs has gone from a flying, out-and-out left-winger to someone who now plays off the front, inside-left, he plays central midfield. Scholes was a goal-scoring midfielder, off-the-front No 10 player when he started playing as a 16-year-old. Now he’s a holding midfielder who controls the game.’
The arrival of Robin van Persie is expected to change Rooney’s role in the United team and England manager Roy Hodgson sees him as a No 10 playmaker, with more involvement in midfield, than a hard-running frontman as he has been in the past.
‘You have to adapt,’ said Neville. ‘Rooney is still a centre forward, but he’ll adapt over this next 10 years to continue to become someone who’s thought of in the same way as those two players.
‘He’s a wonderful player. Rooney is best when he plays like the street kid — fights for every ball, loves playing football, wants to take every free kick, every throw-in, tackles, heads, fights like he has the passion to win.
‘The last couple of weeks, coming back from injury, I’ve seen a lean, fit, hungry Rooney. He looks like he is up for the next challenge in his career, to maintain his position at Manchester United but he looks like he is really up for it.’ – Daily Mail