Sam Allardyce Faces 3 Huge Decisions Ahead of Slovakia vs. England

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: September 2, 2016

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The first international break of the season is always a painful one—it comes at an incredibly awkward juncture and, many feel, serves to stomp out the flow of recently returned league football—but this break will be particularly worrisome for England fans.

Like it or not, the Sam Allardyce reign kicks in fully on Saturday at 5 p.m. BST, as his Three Lions side travel to Trnava to play Slovakia in the first 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier of the campaign. His was a contentious appointment to say the least, with some supporters pledging to bury their heads in the sand while he is in charge, but the natural intrigue over what the former Sunderland boss might do in his maiden game will overcome most.

And he must make some big decisions.

The headline one is obvious: What will he do with Wayne Rooney? While many fans would love to see him dropped, the fact is the Manchester United forward has retained the national captaincy under Allardyce and will be playing.



While Premier League viewers will rightly point out that his overall play in Manchester United’s first three games has been familiarly sluggish, it’s impossible to deny that he has also delivered three match-defining moments, too. Permeating the slow, ponderous play have been three critical actions: a killer goal against AFC Bournemouth; a beautiful cross for Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s opener against Southampton; and an ingenious piece of play to lay the winner for Marcus Rashford against Hull City on a plate.

That will be enough for Allardyce to justify his selection of Rooney in the starting XI; that sort of production—be it swathed in average overall play or not—is difficult to ignore, and it may serve as a theme for how the manager selects players moving forward. Michail Antonio, the only uncapped player called up for the game against Slovakia, provides the same sort of productive quality that Rooney h...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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