Wayne Rooney to captain England against Scotland
England to host arch rivals Scotland in World Cup 2018 Qualifier
Interim England manager Gareth Southgate has named his side for The Red Lions’ battle with arch enemies Scotland on Friday night at Wembley Stadium in London. Great authentic England v Scotland tickets are still available for sale at the last minute at 1st4FootballTickets.com! Southgate confirmed that thirty-one-year-old Manchester United skipper Wayne Rooney will start the game at Wembley as England captain after leaving Roo out for last month’s match against Slovenia, the first time Rooney had been dropped by England since 2003.
Wayne Rooney will have a chance to reassert his team authority in the massive and eagerly anticipated World Cup qualifier against Scotland, following a slightly sluggish start to the season with some confusion by both of his managers about the best position for him to play on both the England and Man Utd sides. Man United striker Rooney started in United’s past two games, and was impressive in the Red Devils’ victory against the Swans last Sunday. Rooney stated before the match in Ljubljana that he still has confidence in his ability as a fit footballer. On Friday night Rooney will have an opportunity to show his skills as he earns his 119th cap for England as England’s record goal scorer.
“Wayne will be captain,” said Southgate. “It was an easy decision. He is better placed than he was for the last get-together in terms of his sharpness and confidence, and I think he is an experienced player for a game like this. He is playing well. He has played in the last couple of matches for Manchester United and he is a player that when he is in a rhythm of playing that helps. So he is confident and I think experience in a game like this is important. This is a team that has a lot of energy and potential, but you need some experience around it as well.”
Rooney previously scored twice for Roy Hodgson’s England side as they defeated Scotland 3-1 at Celtic Park in November 2014 in the last game between the two national teams. “Wayne will speak to a lot of the players with his experience, not just for this game,” said Jordan Henderson, who was interim captain in Slovenia. “He uses his experience for the players very well, especially the younger lads who maybe haven’t experienced a game as big as this is. He is a big part in trying to get the victory.”
The following is a probable starting XI for England with Joe Hart as #1 and Wayne Rooney as #10: Hart; Walker, Stones, Cahill, Rose; Henderson, Dier; Sterling, Rooney, Lilliana; Sturridge. On Thursday Southgate led pre-match training practice at St. George’ Park the day before the sides go face to face in their World Cup 2018 Qualifiers Group F match, the third of England’s four fixtures with Southgate as boss. Southgate had his entire 25-man England side go through their paces before they travelled to their hotel in Hertfordshire. England has an upcoming friendly against Spain next week.
Odds are in favor of forty-six-year-old Southgate being offered the opportunity to be hired on as England manager to take the place of Big Sam Allardyce on a permanent basis unless England loses to the Scots. “I have leadership responsibilities, of course, for the team and on a broader level, but the game is not about me,” said Southgate. “Football is about those who play and pay and that is about right so, 100%, my focus is on the match. It would be irresponsible and unprofessional for it to be any other way.”
Daniel Sturridge is ready to start England’s World Cup qualifier against Scotland. Southgate may opt for Sturridge, who is without a Premier League goal this season, ahead of Spurs striker Harry Kane, who scored for Tottenham Hotspur and played 73 minutes in Sunday’s north London Derby on his comeback after seven weeks out with ankle ligament injury. Kane is fully recovered; however, the lay-off may have rendered him a bit rusty. Liverpool’s Sturridge has not started a top-flight game since The Reds’ goalless draw with Man United in October, but scored twice against Tottenham in an EFL Cup tie. Southgate is convinced Wayne Rooney’s captain’s experience will be vital against Scotland.
“He wasn’t in a flow of playing but he has had more matches since. He had two 90 minutes last week, scored and had two assists,” said Southgate. “To my mind, even in his training, he looks freer in his mind. That is an important place to be in order to perform. I think he will play well. He doesn’t have anything to prove to me. The whole basis of our conversation wasn’t about my belief in him as a player. I made a decision that I thought was right for that game. He is a big-game player with big-match experience. I think a game like this will be perfect for him. Class is permanent, isn’t it? We all have moments as players where you have runs of games. There are matches and periods where you know you are not at your best but part of being a player is grinding out the difficult moments. There are games when you have to grind out and play your part for the team. Then there are others where things are happening more naturally. To me, he looks like he is just heading into that period, which is great for us.”
In England’s first match against Scotland since the 1999 two-leg play-off to reach Euro 2000, Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier are expected to anchor the hosts’ midfield, with the Tottenham full-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker having apparently overcome minor fitness problems to feature. Since the summer of 2015, England only scored 25 goals in 17 internationals. However the Red Lions have scored seven goals in their past seven matches against Russia, Wales, Slovenia, Iceland, Malta and Slovakia twice.
“The guys have a bit more clarity on what we want to do with the ball,” said Southgate. “We have talked about our goal scoring and we have to show more patience in our buildup play. But also I think when the opportunity is there to slide people in and play forward we have got to take it. We can’t just be a team that wants to keep the ball for the sake of it. We have got to be progressive. We have highlighted that in looking back at the last few matches. I also have to say that it will have been very difficult for them with three coaches in the last three matches, all with a very different idea of how they want to play. I have got to be realistic about how they take that on board but I sense there is more clarity this week from the training and the discussion that we have had.”
Scotland National Team manager Gordon Strachan said under-pressure Scotland needs to restore their “respectability and pride” when competing against England in the huge match at Wembley on Friday night. To date Scotland has earned four points in World Cup qualifying from three games and a wounding 3-0 defeat in Slovakia. Rumor has it that fifty-nine-year-old Strachan will quit if Scotland loses to England. “It really is a huge three points and it’s about trying to get some respectability back because I felt we lost that in the last couple of games,” said Strachan. “And a little bit of pride. It’s the one place you want to perform and put on a good show because there are so many people there. We’re doing it for the group, the people who have travelled, anybody who has tapped us on the shoulder and wished us good luck and anyone who wants us to win. We’re doing it for them. It’s huge. Absolutely. It’s a huge game. We can’t beat about the bush on this one. I have got to say if anybody actually thinks that I am thinking about something else then they must be crazy because this is so big and so great. It could be so wonderful that this is what I want to do. I want to sit back and watch players. Tomorrow we go on the pitch and genuinely believe we are as good as the team we’re playing against.” Scotland’s captain, Darren Fletcher, is Scotland’s joint third-most capped player, with 77 caps. Fletcher was in hospital when the nations last met in London in August 2013.
“I went in that morning and woke up that night and tried to watch the game. I have vague memories of it. I was fighting bigger things than football at that point. It’s amazing that I got another chance. I’m very fortunate to be in that position,” said Fletcher. “The game’s not played on paper. Its eleven players going out there and going against another eleven where anything can happen. Talent alone can only take you so far. Desire takes you further. Tactical things are important too. There are a number of combinations that win football matches.” England are two points clear in first place in World Cup 2018 Qualifiers Group F, with Scotland fourth only a point behind. There are still England v Scotland football tickets for sale at 1st4FootballTickets for the sold-out game at Wembley.
