Wayne Rooney responsible for England’s debacle in South Africa, 2010: Gerard Houllier
Gerard Houllier, who managed Liverpool in his career, has blamed Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney’s poor form as being the key reason behind England’s disappointing World Cup campaign in South Africa 2010.
Wayne Rooney was in red hot form when he played for Manchester United, scoring a career best tally of 34 goals in the season prior to the World Cup. As a result, the striker was expected to do the same for his national side. However, Rooney failed miserably as he was unable to score a single goal in four starts for England in the World Cup. Many tipped him to be the best player of the tournament but he was far from that. England crashed out to a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of the Germans in a Round of 16 game. Many of the English stars failed to shine on the grandest stage of football and returned home dejected and disappointed. The former Liverpool Manager criticized all the English players, but singled out Rooney’s poor form as the main reason for the South African debacle.
While speaking to the British press, Houllier stated that the main reason behind England’s debacle is that England’s top players failed to deliver at the right time, and failed to come up to the expectations of everyone. The former manager however singled out Wayne Rooney when he claimed that he was one of the top players, but couldn’t understand why Rooney didn’t perform for England. Houllier was unsure whether the player was tired or lacked the required fitness, but one thing was for sure, it was not the same Wayne Rooney that was playing for Manchester United a few days earlier.
Gerard claimed that if Rooney had performed to his abilities, quite similar to what he did for Manchester United, he should have scored some goals at the World Cup. The former Reds Manager stated that teams who had top quality finishers, like the Germans, Dutch or the Spanish, got forward, while others failed to advance. Houllier pointed out Forlan’s contribution for Uruguay which reached the semi-finals due to his strikes. However, Gerard Houllier did believe that the English were unlucky when their goal was disallowed against the Germans, which could have taken them to a 2-2 draw at halftime. He praised Lampard’s strike that was disallowed, claiming it to be a good goal.
Houllier however insisted that things would’ve been different had the English players received a winter break, quite similar to other clubs around the world. England Manager Fabio Capello had highlighted the fact that a winter break was necessary for an improved performance in the World Cup.
"Of the teams that reached the semi-finals, Germany, Holland and Spain had a break of at least two weeks over the Christmas period or new year," claimed the Former Liverpool manager.
Gerard claimed that Germany, Holland and Spain had a two-week break for Christmas which allowed their players to be fitter and fresher than the English. The English Premier League is considered to be the toughest league of the world, which is renowned for its attacking game play, along with some nasty tackles throughout the season. Just as the Premier League ended in May, players were called up for international duty as South Africa 2010 was all set to begin on June 11. The English players were left with no time to rest if compared to the players from other leagues in Europe. As a result, it reflected in the players who looked tired and exhausted. This has been highlighted by many sports experts and analysts as being the core reason behind’s England debacle at the World Cup in South Africa. Fabio Capello has not been removed as the England coach even after England’s disappointing performance at the World Cup. In return, Capello has vowed to improve the performance of the national side. The Italian has already called up some young and fresh blood into the English squad and aims to replace the old guns who failed to fire in South Africa.
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