朗尼應否退位讓賢？英格蘭領隊鶴臣力撐！

曼聯前鋒朗尼 (Wayne Rooney) 在2月中旬面對新特蘭的英超賽事中受傷，由於右膝韌帶受損，他因而缺席了最近個多月的比賽。在朗尼因傷缺陣下，「紅魔鬼」由安東尼馬迪爾 (Anthony Martial) 搭檔18歲小將拉舒福特 (Marcus Rashford) 攻堅反而有驚喜表現，球隊亦有望爭逐聯賽前四席位。
至於在英格蘭國家隊方面，上月先後面對德國及荷蘭的友誼賽中，「三獅軍團」的哈利卡尼 (Harry Kane) 及占美華迪 (Jamie Vardy) 有出色的表現，而史杜列治 (Daniel Sturridge) 和韋碧克 (Danny Welbeck) 亦有力挑戰正選位置。
在眾多年輕優秀前鋒崛起的情況下，實在不禁令球迷思考朗尼如今的重要性及價值。但英格蘭國家隊的領隊鶴臣 (Roy Hodgson) 日前就出言力挺這位國家隊隊長，更指朗尼將肯定入選今年於法國舉行的歐洲國家盃的23人大軍名單之中。
68歲的鶴臣表示，“一直以來我都沒有要拋棄朗尼的想法，我亦肯定不會這樣做。過去兩年他身為球隊的隊長，他的表現極之出色。歷史以來很多的球隊，即使出現了表現出色的年輕球員，除非球隊有充份的理由，否則也不會拋棄他們的隊長。朗尼一直都表現不俗，因此我希望他能夠盡快傷癒回歸，並為英格蘭出戰歐洲國家盃。”

引用"I have no thoughts of jettisoning Wayne Rooney and I certainly wouldn't do it because I fear people might be thinking I am cautious, He has been the captain of our team for the last two years and has done extremely well. Most teams, if they are any good as teams, don’t throw their captain out the first time a young player comes on the team and scores a goal unless there is a clear reason for doing so. Rooney has never given us any reasons to do that and I expect him to get back to fitness, start playing well again and be on the plane to France."

這位英格蘭領隊又強調，“朗尼是一位非常好的隊長，亦有著相當不錯的性格。假如你要全面地認識朗尼，你必須回顧一下他國家隊生涯上陣的108場、當中攻入的50個入球、以及他效力曼聯期間的優秀表現。我認為他目前的首要目標是要盡快回復其狀態，以爭取在歐洲國家盃中有出色的表現。”

引用"He's a very good captain. He's a very good character. If you really want to know 'who is Wayne Rooney?' then I'd look back over his career and his 108 caps and his 50 goals and all his goals for Manchester United and form an opinion of him then. I am certain that his major concern now will be to get fit enough and play well enough so he can come to the tournament in top condition."

雖然鶴臣表明朗尼將入選國家隊23人大軍名單，但他亦不諱言這位「三獅軍團」隊長亦需要為正選位置而與其他前鋒競爭。鶴臣明言，“在占美華迪和哈利卡尼兩人持續為球隊貢獻入球、史杜列治及韋碧克回復狀態、以及史達寧 (Raheem Sterling) 屆時傷癒復出的情況下，前鋒位置的競爭將會非常激烈。”

引用"With Vardy scoring goals and doing well, with Kane scoring goals and doing well, with Sturridge and Danny Welbeck fit again, with Raheem Sterling to come back, the competition is a lot fiercer than it was even two years ago."

資料來源：fourfourtwo.com