James Defends Rooney
England goalkeeper, David James, has jumped to Wayne Rooney's defence by saying that teams simply marked him out of the game at the World Cup.
Rooney failed to have the big impact that many predicted he would have during England's campaign in South Africa. However, Rooney was clearly a little unfit during the tournament and James says teams played very well in defending against him.
It was very noticeable that during England games whenever Rooney was given the ball there was always a player all over him within a matter of seconds. This often led Rooney to miscontrol the ball or be tackled and he ended up routinely giving it away to release any pressure that England could build up.
There will be no doubt that Rooney will probably enjoy another successful season at Manchester United when the Premier League starts again in August but the way teams defended against him at the World Cup could be a lesson for others to pay attention to.
Man Marking
Man marking is one of the oldest defensive techniques in football. It basically revolves around one defensive player marking an attacking player from the opposition for the entire game. The tactic is designed to stop this attacking player from having any influence at all on the game.
This was clearly evident during England's games as sides considered him to be England's best player. When he was passed the ball he instantly found himself surrounded by one or two players. This forced Rooney into not being able to control the ball first time or panicking and playing a bad pass, which gave the ball away.
The point is that if you are being effectively man marked by a very good defensive player then it is difficult to find the space and time you need to play creative chances or have a shot on goal. It was combination of this and the fact that Rooney may have been a little unfit, which could have caused his lack of impact during the World Cup.
Lessons
Rooney will now have to work very hard during the pre-season at Manchester United to ensure that he is not troubled by these tactics during the early Premier League games and the first few matches of England's Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.
He will have to up his ideas in terms of how he will counter these tactics because it was pretty clear that he did not have any during the World Cup. If he does not do this then he will find himself being routinely marked out of games every week and this will frustrate him and everyone who supports his country and his club.
Rooney has enough quality and consistency to make sure that this is not going to be a problem but his performance during the World Cup was flat and disappointing. He is not the sort of player to be happy with the way he played and he'll be trying his hardest to figure out a slightly new way to play.
Advice
Rooney will be a very good bet to win the Premier League golden boot and be the highest scorer during England's European qualification campaign. Have a look around for the best odds on both of these possibilities and take the best options.
Don't be afraid to back him in each game. There would have been customers who did this during the World Cup and may have been put off by this prospect. However, you don't keep Rooney quiet for long and he is going to come up with the goods at some point in the near future.
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