England striker Wayne Rooney is picked for the Three Lions line-up and stuck wherever because Roy Hodgson cannot justify leaving him out, according to former Chelsea midfielder Alan Hudson.
Former Chelsea playmaker Hudson does not believe Rooney should feature so heavily in the England side and thinks the 28-year-old Man United star is over-rated.
He described Rooney as a bit of a spare part, often played in a midfield position such as on the wing, saying he is no longer played regularly as a forward because Hodgson has more reliable strikers available who work harder, such as Daniel Sturridge.
Hudson told Football Express News: “Rooney’s record in World Cups is not good and he is not the player he was two or three years ago.
“He always gets picked because the manager thinks ‘we can’t leave Rooney out because he might do something.’
“But then they stick him out on the wing as they have players like Sturridge up front, who work a lot harder and are more likely to score.”
Hudson believes if a player is no longer up to scratch to play their primary position, they should just be left out of the side.
“You can’t keep playing players out of their position because they aren’t good enough in their primary position, and do this as justification to keep them in the game.”
“Roy will put Rooney out wide because Alex Ferguson used to do it at Man United. He thinks because Ferguson got away with it, he can get away with it.
“We need to see these players more than once or twice in a game and Rooney doesn’t do enough these days,” he added.