Why Rooney And Crouch Can't Play Together
Filed in archive England on October 9, 2006
On paper it looks like it should work. Big Crouchy flicking headers on for an incoming Rooney, it should be a classic big man/little man combo.
But Crouch and Rooney are a lot more similar than most care to admit. While Crouch's height makes him look like the ideal target man, he loves to come deep, just like Rooney. So not only are the two guys in each other's space, they're also failing to stretch the defence.
Both men thrive on having a second, faster striker always on the last defender. That's why Owen was actually a fantastic Foil for Rooney, even though their lack of height suggested otherwise. Owen's natural inclination to push on the last defender meant the defence had to be wary and created far more space for Rooney to drop into create.
It's the same reason that Defoe and Crouch worked as a partnership, Defoe pinning defenders back, Crouch coming deep.
For these reasons, McClaren should choose one or the other to partner either Defoe or Bent against Croatia. Rooney and Crouch might be England's two best available strikers, but they're not the best partnership.
Tags: england football soccer crouch rooney defoe bent owen play rooney+crouch
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