The best Englishman at Euro 2024 left Germany this week… and it wasn’t Phil Foden

Wayne Rooney has several tattoos. On a recent podcast appearance he admitted to his former England and Manchester United team-mate, Gary Neville, that if he had his time again he wouldn’t bother getting any at all.

One of the first he ever had inked was the title of a Stereophonics album: Just Enough Education to Perform. It’s self-deprecating but tells us something about Rooney. He has self-awareness. He knows who he is, where he comes from, what he’s done and where he’s going.

Plymouth, is the answer to the latter question. Rooney this week said early goodbyes to Gary Lineker , Alan Shearer , Micah Richards and the rest of the crew working for the BBC in Germany during the Euros as he has taken his fourth management job. He signed a three-year contract with Championship side Plymouth Argyle and their pre-season starts on 3 July, and Wayne wants to be ready.

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Plymouth’s gain is the Beeb’s loss. I’ve found myself thoroughly enjoying Rooney’s down-to-earth, calm, insightful punditry during his on-screen appearances either inside, or on top of the BBC’s Brandenburg Gate studio.

There's something brilliantly no-nonsense about him. His voice and screen presence are oddly hypnotic. He is softly spoken, and simply built, there is no chaff to his wheat.

The build-up to the Euros saw lots of retro content produced ( not least by FourFourTwo ) as excitement for the tournament built, and one standout piece has been Rooney 2004: World at His Feet . The story of Rooney’s debut international tournament.

I went to every England game at the tournament as a fan and he was frightening. Unplayable. Still an Everton player, he went on to have the career his talent deserved and a consequence of that career is that his words carry weight when he talks.

He has earned the right to speak without filter. He’s Wayne Rooney, leading goalscorer for Manchester United and, for a time, England. People want to hear from him.

There is a charming authenticity to him. He’s calm, but clearly passionate about England. He’s not trying to be something he’s not, which can’t be said of certain pundits I'll refrain from naming.

Unlike me, Wayne Rooney doesn’t sit on the fence. In his first BBC game, he was fairly damning of former Manchester United teammate, Memphis Depay’s half-hearted pressing game: “There’s only two people in football who are able to get away with putting that effort in up front and it’s probably Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Memphis isn’t quite at that level, and I think he needs to do a bit more.”

He also produced a funny tale about the Dutchman turning up to a reserve game in a Rolls Royce and a cowboy hat. Pundit Rooney, much like player Rooney, doesn’t hold back. He has an aura on screen, he speaks, we listen.

Some presenters and pundits are guilty of attention-seeking, some try to dominate air-time, others are guilty of not listening to others in the studio or analyse games having clearly failed to do their homework.

Rooney’s BBC appearances revealed someone with deep knowledge and experience of the game. Plymouth fans could take heart from his ability to read a game and identify adjustments required.

Speaking at half-time during the France vs Netherlands game: “If I was Griezmann in this game, I would play the opposite side of where Memphis Depay is. The side Memphis is trying to press from, the midfield is stepping out and there becomes a lot of space. I would stay the opposite side to Depay and he would get a bit more space and have a bit more influence on the game.”

Paired with Lineker, Shearer and Fabregas, the half-time segment during this 0-0 turned into a finishing clinic. “A lot of players would practice their finishing from 25 yards,” Rooney told the others. “I changed. I started practicing from six yards to 12 yards which really helped me get my composure and have that timing in the penalty area, knowing that I’ve probably got a little bit more time than I probably thought.”

He revealed that during his evolution from striker to midfielder, he studied footage of Fabregas in advance of Robin Van Persie joining Manchester United. “I was dropping a bit deeper, Cesc and Robin had a really good relationship, I knew that would be my role then. So I watched a lot of clips of you [Cesc]. I then played a few passes that you were known to do, for Robin to take the glory – I was on the other side of it.

Four players who’ve absolutely been there and done it, talking about football at the elite level. Pass the popcorn.

Maybe it was the bleakness of the mid-tournament rest days, but news Rooney was leaving the party left me sad. I'll miss watching him, and I’ll be watching his Plymouth progress with interest, but if it doesn’t work out in the dugout it would be great to see Rooney, Shearer and Lineker sat together in a studio more often.

Just enough education to perform? Rooney has a PhD in football.

More Wayne Rooney stories

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