Wayne Rooney is becoming England’s Lionel Messi and that’s a bad thing

He’s only been in the job a matter of weeks, but Sam Allardyce has already made a number of surprising revelations as England manager. First there was his open consideration of a return to the national team fold for John Terry. Then he pondered aloud the possibility of naturalising foreigners for international selection. But none of what he has said so far was as astonishing as his admission on Sunday.

With his first win as England boss logged, secured in Slovakia following Adam Lallana’s stoppage-time strike, Allardyce was pressed on the true position of his captain Wayne Rooney. “Wayne played wherever he wanted,” he said after the World Cup qualification win. “He was brilliant and controlled midfield. I can’t stop Wayne playing there.”

Can’t he? Rooney is undoubtedly an influential figure in the England dressing room, becoming the country’s most capped outfield player against Slovakia on Sunday, but he doesn’t - and most significantly shouldn’t - make tactical decisions. Going on Allardyce’s remarks, though, that’s exactly what he does.

“This is the most decorated outfield player in England,” the national team boss continued. “He’s won everything at Manchester United, at Champions League and domestic level. I think he holds a lot more experience at international football than I do as an international manager. So, when he is using his experience and playing as a team member, it’s not for me to say where he’s going to play.”

It’s somewhat understandable that Allardyce wishes to get Rooney on side early on in his stewardship, but if the England boss truly means what he said a critical compromise of the manager’s duties and responsibilities has occurred. No matter how good or commanding a player may be, they must never interfere in the decision-making process of the coaching staff. There must be a distinction between the two.

With regards to the English national team, those lines have been blurred. Perhaps we should have seen this coming, given that Rooney is viewed as untouchable by so many in the game. No matter how poorly he plays his influence only seems to increase, with manager after manager failing to recognise his flaws. Even for the neutral, it’s infuriating to observe.

Of course, it’s not completely unheard of for a player to guide the managerial direction of a team. Lionel Messi does the same thing for Argentina, with the country’s football association consulting the playmaker over the future of manager Tata Martino following their failure to win the Copa America this summer. This was after Martino was appointed on the recommendation of Messi in the first place.

It’s been said before that Messi pulls the strings at Barcelona, but he does the same to an even greater extent with his national team. But he is afforded a certain level of tolerance because of who he is. Messi makes up for such distracting interference by being the best player in world football. Rooney certainly doesn’t do that.

At a time when England needs to cut adrift its failures of the past two decades, Allardyce is allowing a key figure in that failure to plot the way forward. By now Rooney should be some way towards being phased out of the national team. He is no longer the formidable force if nature he once was, with his presence as a leader also leaving much to be desired. It’s not exactly clear what he now brings to the England fold.

That’s largely because, for club just like country, nobody seems sure what Rooney stylistically is any more. It’s widely accepted that he lacks the finishing instinct to play as an orthodox number nine, with Jose Mourinho clarifying early on in his Manchester United tenure that he wouldn’t play as a central midfielder.

That leaves the number 10 role, but Rooney has deteriorated in that position too. His touch is poor and his short-range passing - central to a playmaker’s skill-set - is even worse. That’s what makes Rooney’s influence over Allardyce all the more puzzling - it’s arguable that he doesn’t even warrant a place in the national team’s starting lineup, let alone as the one calling the shots. Rooney is becoming England’s Messi, and that is undoubtedly a bad thing.