England captain Rooney should have retired after Euro 2016 – Shilton

England great Peter Shilton said Tuesday that Wayne Rooney should have retired from worldwide football after this year’s European Championships.

” I’m playing on the pitch for England”.

England manager Sam Allardyce has warned Wayne Rooney that he needs to rediscover his scoring boots for the national team. Rooney played virtually as deep as midfield duo Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier.

I think the saddest thing about Rooney’s choice in central midfield are the people who miss out because of his inclusion.

The ex-Nottingham Forest goalkeepers comments inevitably raised the question ‘what is he then?’.

And Shilton stressed that Rooney can never be an effective midfielder, despite his diminishing powers up front as a striker. I think it was possession for possession’s sake rather than trying to break the opposition down. Rooney’s cap against Slovakia was his 116th, meaning only Shilton (125) has more.

Many pundits have claimed that there has been a massive drop in local talent ever since the Premier League was launched 20 years ago and took the world by storm, bringing in a record TV rights deal this season. “Far from it. If he does and he plays well, fine”.

“So that may be a bit of subconscious (fear) about not wanting to give the ball away”.

Shilton also followed up his comments about Beckham by saying “I’d be the first to shake David Beckham’s hand if he beats my record”.

Highlights from Group F as England face Slovakia in the European Qualifiers for the Federation Internationale de Football Association 2018 World Cup.

Slovakia defender Jan Durica has made the startling claim that England’s victory on Sunday evening was fixed, suggesting the authorities would rather an established country qualify for the World Cup in Russian Federation in 2018.

Rooney, England’s captain, has been playing as a number 10 for Manchester United this season and Allardyce indicated prior to Sunday’s game that he would use him in a similar role.