Wayne Rooney has appeared in almost 100 games and scored 30 goals. This is impressive but does it warrant such appraisals as that of “Robbo” on the Beeb’s website that he will undoubtedly be England’s finest talent yet if he remains relatively injury-free? He does have a seeming head for the occasion, witness his Euro 2004 performance and his recent hat-trick debut for United. The answer is, of course, “no”. It would be wonderful if he becomes a great player. It’s far too early to even compare him to, say, Trevor Francis, or Kevin Keegan or Gary Lineker (or, for that matter, Michael Owen), much less Matthews, Finney, Charlton, Greaves among forwards or Moore or Brian Robson. Such are the times in which we live.

An interesting comparison is the young Charlton, the last true World-class forward /mid-fielder England has produced. At the end of Charlton’s first three seasons he’d played 63 games and scored 47 goals. Leaving aside the stats, the young Rooney is fast, strong, cocky, has good ball control and a very good right foot. The young Charlton, was faster, strong (but not as obviously so), had phenomenal ball control and natural swerve and two exceptional feet. He wasn’t that cocky. He switched from being a goalscoring winger to a commander of midfield, with a passing ability unsurpassed by even the great European and Latin midfielders. Rooney has a long way to go before he can carry Bobby’s jock.