Shilton: Hodgson has a dilemma to solve in Rooney

England goalkeeping legend Peter Shilton is writing exclusively for Gulf News throughout Euro 2016.

Roy Hodgson has to make his mind up about how he wants to use Wayne Rooney and what system he wants to play heading into England’s first game against Russia on Saturday.

At the moment it seems Roy is trying to fit Rooney in. No disrespect to Wayne, I’ve been a massive fan of his over the years, but now Daniel Sturridge, Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy are ahead of him.

Hodgson has got two choices; either he plays Kane up front, Wayne just behind and uses Vardy on the bench, or he goes all out attack with Kane and Vardy up front and Wayne as the most attacking midfielder.

Wayne is not what I would call a proper midfielder though, where you play up and down in defence and attack. He’s very creative and can get you a goal, but how to use him and what system to play is a dilemma.

In the friendly against Portugal the other night Wayne was in midfield but ended up as a striker. That isn’t ideal for Kane and Vardy.

Vardy and Kane have both had great seasons and you can’t leave either one out. It depends which system you want to play behind them as to whether Rooney starts. If you play Wayne just behind you need a couple of holding midfielders to give the defence some cover. It’s whether Roy wants to do that, but those are the type of tough calls he’s paid to make.

Selection-wise, and as a Leicester City fan, I was disappointed to see Danny Drinkwater miss out to Jordan Henderson. I really admired Leicester’s season and Danny was a pivotal part of that.

You have to admit however, Danny’s not really got enough experience internationally and that was the thing that went against him. Henderson may not be everyone’s type of player but he has been on the scene quite a while now and has the experience, so that was probably what tipped the scales.

There’s also the thing about picking injury-prone Jack Wilshere over Drinkwater, but a fit Wilshere would always get in my team. Along with Ross Barkley, who hasn’t had the best season but is still a terrific talent, Jack is probably one of our most gifted players, along with Dele Alli, who has just come through.

Any player could get injured at any time, so this thing about overlooking Wilshere because he’s injury prone is a bit redundant. If he’s fit you have to take him. Sometimes he’s a bit too brave for his own good, but hopefully with experience that will change. His injury record is not ideal but ultimately he’s a risk worth taking.

Defensively, we’ve got to start playing more as a unit and not a team of individuals. When I was in goal, we used to have this ‘not over our dead bodies’ mentality where you were always first to the ball and were communicating, concentrated and determined for 90 minutes. Nowadays England concede far too many easy goals. I think the ability is there, but I just think we’re too individual, and the concentration isn’t what it should be.

I’m not sure we have the Peter Shilton, Terry Butcher and Stuart Pearce-like characters. I hope they prove me wrong. But we would make things happen and change things on the pitch, and that’s what I’m waiting to see, whether this side is the modern equivalent.

Getting off to a good start against Russia is vital for momentum. With this young squad, if we start disastrously it’s not going to help confidence.

Russia will be wary of our pace up front and will probably sit back early on, but if we score first they will have to come out and it could be a good day for England.

— Peter Shilton OBE is the global ambassador for Seattle Sport Sciences, Inc. and brand ISOTechne. For more information, visit www.isotechne.com.