Where does England captain Wayne Rooney fit into Roy Hodgsons side at Euro 2016? It is a topic being hotly debated right now, given the England managers range of options in forward positions and Rooneys recent switch to a midfield role for Manchester United after a poor goal return up front this seaso

Where does England captain Wayne Rooney fit into Roy Hodgsons side at Euro 2016? It is a topic being hotly debated right now, given the England managers range of options in forward positions and Rooneys recent switch to a midfield role for Manchester United after a poor goal return up front this season. Eric Gordon Jersey .There has also been an intriguing twist, with news Rooney has told Hodgson he would prefer to play at the base of a midfield diamond, effectively as a holding midfielder, according to Sky sources. Ahead of Englands friendly with Turkey on Sunday and with the help of Sky Sports Now guests Stuart Pearce, Alan Smith and Danny Higginbotham and Sky Sports Jamie Carragher, we look at the range of options - and whether Rooney should be in Englands starting XI at all. England announce their squad for the Euro 2016 friendlies. Up frontWayne Rooney is Englands record goal scorer, with 51 strikes for his country from 109 caps. Since his international debut in 2003 he has been a fixture in the Three Lions frontline.However, Rooney has struggled to find the net at European Championships and World Cups - he has scored just twice in 13 appearances at major tournaments since his four goals at Euro 2004. The way Kane has played this season and the way hes played for England of late, I think hes going to be difficult to shift. Jamie Carragher Now, with Tottenhams Harry Kane and Leicesters Jamie Vardy the top two scorers in England and Rooney returning just seven league goals for Manchester United in 2015/16, he is not necessarily an automatic selection up front.The more I watch Kane and Vardy - Kane mainly, I think hes going to be difficult to shift from playing that position now, says Carragher. I know Kane has come late [to the England set-up in Euro 2016 qualifying], similar to what Wayne did when he was a youngster in Euro 2004, but the way Kane has played this season and the way hes played for England of late, I think hes going to be difficult to shift. On the left of a 4-3-3 At the World Cup, England started Wayne Rooney on the left, with Daniel Sturridge up top Rooney started the 2014 World Cup on the left of a front three featuring Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck and that role could be an option again for the England captain, with Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy taking up the other spots.Smith says that may be the best way to incorporate Rooney into the starting XI - he teed up Sturridges strike in the 2-1 defeat to Italy with a cross from the left. Ive got a feeling Hodgson will go 4-3-3 and Wayne Rooney on the left, which isnt ideal but hes done it before, Smith told Sky Sports Now. Rooney has done it in World Cups and it might be thats how we accommodate him. One of the problems you have with a 4-3-3 and Rooney on the left is when youre defending you go into a 4-5-1 and youre expecting Rooney to track the full-back. Danny Higginbotham However, Higginbotham believes that option could prove detrimental to both England and Rooney when the opposition have the ball.One of the problems you have is if you do play 4-3-3 and Rooney on the left, when youre defending you go into a 4-5-1 and youre expecting Rooney to track the full-back, he said. We saw in the World Cup against Italy when Rooney was asked to track Matteo Darmian and it was a big problem.As a number 10 behind one or two strikers Could Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy form an effective strike partnership for England? If Hodgson sees Rooney as central to his creative play, a No 10 role behind one or two strikers could be a solution. Its an option Higginbotham favours.I think Rooney could play at the tip of the diamond, he said. If youve got players like Vardy and Kane who are going to stretch the opposition, that gives Rooney time and space on the ball to dictate play.If you play with a diamond and you play with Eric Dier holding, that allows you to play a forward-thinking system.We should go into a tournament now and forget about the opposition - let them worry about England as a nation. We went into the World Cup and worried about Andrea Pirlo against Italy and Luis Suarez against Uruguay, and still lost both of those games. If England play that set-up, there are going to be a lot of nations that are going to be fearful.At the base of a diamond Former England defender Jamie Carragher thinks Wayne Rooney may have to play in midfield to make room for Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy. A more controversial and surprising option - although one Rooney is seemingly keen on himself - is to position the Manchester United man at the base of a midfield diamond.The theory would be that, from a deeper role, Rooney would have time on the ball to dictate play. However, would playing a former centre forward in front of the England defence make Hodgsons side vulnerable when they dont have the ball? Alan Smith thinks so.Jack Wilshere has played at the base of a diamond and hes not a defensive-minded player and did it quite successfully, said Smith. But I do think if youre playing two up top, to have someone who isnt defensive-minded at the base is a real risk. Dier seems tailor made for it. He knows the position inside out now, having played there for Spurs. If youre playing two up top, to have someone who isnt defensive-minded at the base is a real risk. Alan Smith Pearce agrees. I wouldnt drop Rooney in front of the back four, he said. The Achilles heel of the England squad is at centre-half. Thats what cost us in Brazil. Thats why we came home early, because we couldnt defend in the middle of our defence. So to put an attacker there, as your shield in front of your centre-halves is a big gamble.Like the other two pundits, Higginbotham believes a role at the base of a midfield diamond should be reserved for Tottenhams Dier.If youre looking at the alternatives, someone like Dier is there, who is a converted centre-half. Football is now going a lot towards counter-attacking, so if your two full-backs are going to be bombing on, and youve got your two centre-backs, Id want someone like Dier there.Dier has been sensational and the way he works with the two centre-backs - especially at Spurs this season, when Spurs have been attacking - I think its invaluable to have that defensive-minded midfielder there.Do you play him at all? Could Wayne Rooney find himself on the bench in France? Of course, an alternative option for Hodgson is to not play Rooney at all. Does he have more suitable options across the field? Pearce believes Rooney has plenty of competition to make the starting XI in France.Rooney is a must-pick for England in the squad, definitely. But, for the starting line-up, hes got his work cut out, said Pearce.Up front, if youre going to play one or two players I think Kane and Vardy are ahead of him on form. If youre talking about playing somebody in just behind your strikers, I think Dele Alli, that suits him better and hes slightly better at it than Wayne. Rooney is a must-pick for England in the squad. But, for the starting line-up, hes got his work cut out. Stuart Pearce So youre look at playing Wayne either wide or in a midfield berth. Hes got it all on to fight his way into the team - but hes certainly well worth his position in the squad.It would be a major story if Hodgson were to omit his captain - but the England manager must do whats best for the team, says Smith.The problem Roy Hodgson has got is that he will want to play his captain, his record scorer, he told Sky Sports Now. Its almost shoe-horning Rooney in or finding a system to accommodate Wayne, which can be a dangerous thing.Where do you think England should play Wayne Rooney at Euro 2016 - if at all? Also See: Rashford and Wilshere in squad England squad named - as it happened Hodgson: No Rooney guarantees What now for Walcott? Tracy McGrady Jersey . Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday. Austin Rivers Rockets Jersey . You can, too, Clay Buchholz, if we ignore the sixth inning of Game 2. Doug Fister and Jake Peavy, youre up next in Game 4 and theres a lot to live up to. http://www.therocketsofficial.com/Authentic-Robert-Horry-Rockets-Jersey/ . - Zac Leslie scored two goals and assisted on two more, and Justin Nichols made 34 saves as the Guelph Storm blanked the Kitchener Rangers 6-0 in Ontario Hockey League action on Sunday. The Swedish mens hockey team capitalized on a quick start and some shaky opposing goaltending to skate to a 4-2 win over the Czech Republic in their opening game of the Olympic tournament at the Bolshoy Ice Dome on Wednesday. Ottawa Senators star defenceman Erik Karlsson scored two goals while his defensive partner Oliver Ekman-Larsson added two assists. Henrik Zetterberg and Patrik Berglund had the other two goals for the Swedes, who jumped to an early 3-0 lead thanks to some suspect goaltending by Czech starter Jakub Kovar. Head coach Alois Hadamczik made the surprising decision to not even dress the teams only NHL goaltender for the teams stiffest test of the preliminary round. Winnipegs Ondrej Pavelec was scratched in favour of KHL goalies Alexander Salak and Jakub Kovar. Kovar got the start, which backfired horribly when he let in three questionable goals before being pulled early in the second and replaced by Salak, who let in the Swedes fourth goal before the Czechs got on the board. Salak settled down after that and kept the Czech Republic in the game, and Marek Zidlicky and Jaromir Jagr scored two quick goals midway through the second period to spark the Czechs. But the Czech Republic couldnt put any more past Swedish goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who kept the lead intact while the Czechs outshot the SSwedes 15-5 in the third. Gerald Green Rockets Jersey. . Lundqvist made 23 saves for the win, while Kovar and Salak combined for 25 stops in the loss. Swedens next game in Group C is against Switzerland, while the Czech Republic faces Latvia, both on Friday. Quick start from Swedes Sweden carried the play for most of the first period, capitalizing on a couple miscues by Kovar to go ahead 2-0 after 20 minutes. Karlsson scored the opening goal of the Olympic tournament from the point on a delayed penalty halfway through the period, as Kovar struggled to deal with the traffic in front of his net and saw the Swedes shot go through his glove. Berglund made Kovars opening 20 minutes worse by scoring Swedens second goal from a bad angle at 13:17, firing a shot right through the Czech goaltender from outside the left faceoff dot. It didnt get any better for Kovar in the second. Zetterberg scored on another shot that went through the Czech goalie only 51 seconds in. That goal ended Kovars night after Salak came in to replace him. But the switch didnt matter. Karlsson scored his second of the game with a laser from the point with little over three minutes after Salak made his debut. The Czechs clawed their way back into the contest with goals from Zidlicky and Jagr two minutes apart midway through the second, and pushed the Swedes hard for the remainder of the period. ' ' '