Where Can Rooney Be Most Effective For England?

As usual, the British media are quick to find a scapegoat for England's defeat last night against Italy. And, as always, the finger is pointed at Wayne Rooney.

Football pundits across the globe have stated that Rooney is England's best player. I agree. But what other nation in the World Cup decides to play their best player out of position? Rooney spent a majority of the match playing in a left sided role, which he is rarely asked to do at a domestic level. We do not see Portugal giving Ronaldo a run out in the centre of midfield or Messi playing left back, so why are we not playing to our strengths?

It is not hard to see why Roy Hodgson is thinking this way. Of course, he has a flurry of young talent up top that he wants to incorporate, such as Sturridge, Sterling, Welbeck, Barkley, Oxlaide-Chamberlain, etc. But all of these players are versatile and should not be used to put our best striker out on the wing.

As we saw this season, Daniel Sturridge can now be considered an "in and out" striker. He scored 20 Premier League goals and formed a deadly partnership with Luis Suarez. We've seen glimpses of what he, Rooney and Sterling are capable of when they link up in the warm up friendlies and even against Italy.

In my opinion, both Rooney and Sturridge should be featured as central strikers. Do not force either of them out onto the wing. Leave that space for Sterling, Welbeck, Oxlaide-Chamberlain, Lalana, Milner or anyone else we brought to this tournament intended to play on the wing!

As a nation, we (England) are one of the most negative nations in football. We always need someone to blame and never truly get behind our key players and offer them our trust and confidence that goal scorers need. Think Brazil and Neymar, the entire country is behind that boy and look how he repays them, goals! If we stick to playing Rooney out on the wing (which, by the way, led to poor Leighton Baines having a bad outing for not having a true outside player in front of him) and constantly bombarding him with criticism, we will not see his true potential in an England shirt.

I want to hear from you. I can't be the only one thinking this. Rooney plays centrally for United and is given the trust and support from the fans and plays like a world class forward. Surely if we did the same as England fans, the results would be replicated. Don't be one of those people who think we should drop our best player down to the bench. Nobody has time for that.

So what do you think? Play him centrally? Just behind or ahead of Sturridge? Or do we keep him in exile out on the flanks?