Rooney vs Pele??

[jimslip]

"Rooney can be England's Pele!"

Discuss:
(Just to remind you how Pele played here's little sample of Pele in action)

[jimslip]

As a subscript does anyone else think that it is really bad for the morale of the England team as a whole, for one person ie Rooney, who as someone quipped, "Is a little rusty", to be elevated by the media and by the manager to the staus of a Saviour or a God?

[Flat_Eric]

Rooney is a good player on his day but is no Pele.

His goal against Ukraine was his first in a major tournament finals since 2004 (he'd been at best ineffectual and at worst a liability in every other tournament finals between then and now). Terrorising the defences of the the Wigan Athletics, QPRs and Sunderlands of this world on a Saturday afternoon is one thing. Delivering the goods when it matters against your Italy, Germanys, Spains etc. at a Euros or a World Cup is another thing altogether.

And you have to laugh don'tya? Before the first group match England had been written off by just about everyone as not having a cat in Hell's chance. Now that they've escaped the group and Rooney has scored one goal, it's the same old nonsense in the media about England being on the march and looking like they might actually win the thing (which has to be the kiss of death to England's hopes, surely).

Back in the real world, I reckon that England will probably manage a score draw against Italy but will go out on penalties. And even if they were to get past Italy, it'll probably be Germany waiting in the semis - and we all know what happens when England come up against Germany in a major tournament knockout game don't we (disappointment and/or humiliation every time, with the notable sole exception of the 1966 World Cup final).

Remember - you read it here first (though I'd be quite happy to be proved wrong and for England to actually go on and win it).

- Eric

[jimslip]

I ain't no football pundit but I know one thing, get England rid of the spoilt, wealthy, family men like Rooney and replace them with youngsters, it is they that have the fire to win, the desperation to win, in fact the athleticism to win! Hasn't anyone notice how most of the England team run around the pitch, well, like "Dads" looking for any opportunity to stop and have a break!

[arseneltic]

The former really should not be even mentioned in the same sentence as the great Pele

[MegaTon]

Pele wins by a long long way!

[Sam Slater]

Being like Pele and being 'England's Pele' are two different things.

[planeterotica]

Best England player was Stanley Mathews but most of you are to young to remember him, i think his wages at the height of his career wasn't much more than ?10.00 a week..

[jimslip]

I rest my case!

[one eyed jack]

Im no expert on football by a long shot but growing up I remember Pele was feted like some super hero gladiator.

Everyone knew his name and there was some awesome footage of this guy in action on the field

Can we really truly compare????