England captain dropped for World Cup qualifier
He may be his country's captain, all-time leading goalscorer and most capped outfield player, but that's no longer enough to guarantee Wayne Rooney a place in the England starting XI. The 30-year-old has been dropped by interim manager Gareth Southgate for Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Slovenia, the first time he's been left out of the lineup since the final group game of Euro 2016. "It's a very straight forward decision," Southgate said at Monday's press conference in Ljubljana. "We've looked at the way Slovenia played last week and we knew the profile of midfield we wanted to play. "In no way is it a reflection of his performance on Saturday (against Malta), he played well and dictated play with discipline, but we felt it was the right decision." Rooney's recent performances have come under scrutiny from large sections of the media, as well as Manchester United and England fans. The United captain has...