There was a time when Wayne Rooney being benched in an international game would have made the biggest breaking news in English press and the manager responsible for that would have to provide the most suitable of the explanations to justify what he has done.

Rooney had to be the first name on the sheet, no matter where England is playing and against whom. But, times and situations do change for a sportsperson and quite dramatically.

We are in an era now where if Roy Hodgson doesn’t put Rooney among the starters on 11th of next month when England makes the start of their run in the European Championships, it would not be difficult for people to make peace with that because there are players who are more likely to win England the game in the front line than Rooney is.

But, the debate is if there is a job for Rooney to do somewhere else than in the front line like he has been doing in the Red Devils’ line up where he has gone deeper than before and has well and truly become a midfielder.

Losing the ability that he might have had in his youth is normal for a Footballer or a sportsperson playing any sport, but what makes up for the loss of ability is the experience and the knowledge that comes with time and that’s what the managers look to exploit too.

Whether Hodgson does that with his skipper is to be seen, but, provided him being someone always treating players on merit, he will look around for the best options for the midfield and only if Rooney is one of them, he will be positioned in that region, else he will be seated out for sure.