England 2-0 Malta

GARETH SOUTHGATE said he struggled to comprehend why England fans jeered captain Wayne Rooney prior to Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Malta. But judging on his performance over the 90 minutes and the past 18 months, it is hard to understand why the caretaker manager was surprised.

Rooney’s continued presence in the England set-up is dividing opinion, with fans calling for him to be dropped while ex-players feel England’s record goalscorer deserves to be treated with more respect.

Against Malta, he was routinely dispossessed and the Manchester United captain struggled to take hold of the game. It was his midfield partner Jordan Henderson who showed Rooney how to play in the middle of the park.

Henderson’s cross set-up Daniel Sturridge for the opener and he played a part in the second, which saw Deli Alli score at the second time of asking and had England two goals up before the break.

Southgate used his post-game press conference to briefly touch upon the situation he inherited. England recently parted ways with Sam Allardyce after he was taped telling undercover journalists how to get around the Football Association’s third-party ownership rules, and part of Southgate’s remit for the four games he is in charge is to work out what to do with Rooney.

Southgate opted to continue with the failed experiment that is Rooney deployed in a deep-lying midfield role, something United manager Jose Mourinho said he would not do.

The former Middlesbrough boss said he didn’t want to get into a discussion about where Rooney plays for his club and that for this game, he felt that 30-year-old was best suited for a deeper posistion.

However, Rooney is not a midfielder and should Southgate be hired permanently, he will have to address the elephant in the room: not only can Rooney not play in a withdrawn role but, more importantly, he is no longer a starter for his country.

Southgate heralded Rooney for the way he has conducted himself as an England player and made the point that Rooney has never turned his back on his country when he has been vilified by the press and fans, something Southgate said ex-players have done in the past.

He then justified Rooney’s continued inclusion by bringing up his goals and cap record.

But past performances should not be the criteria on whether or not a player starts a football match and the 90-minute display of Jesse Lingard and another impressive cameo from Marcus Rashford are welcome reminders that there is life after Rooney.