‘Big man’ is back with more mature outlook

When Wayne Rooney arrived late at the 2006 World Cup in Germany he famously stretched his arms out wide and announced himself to the assembled England squad by saying: “The big man is back.”

Now, six years on, he’s doing it again; and although the impudent Liverpudlian grin is the same, there seems to be a greater maturity behind it as he prepares to face the Ukraine tomorrow.

That might seem a strange thing to say given the reason for Rooney’s delayed arrival at Euro 2012 is a needless red card picked up in a qualifier in Montenegro which left him with a two-match ban and prevented him from playing against France or Sweden.

But there’s a real sense of calm assuredness coming off the Manchester United striker right now; and when he was presented for his first press conference of the tournament in Krakow yesterday there was little sign of the fidgety, distracted character that has sometimes betrayed his inner trauma.

He visibly reddened at memories of his big entrance in 2006, however, before saying: “Look, I’m a confident person and I’m not one to shy away. I always want to do well and feel I’m good enough to do that. That’s been in me since I was a young boy.

“I feel I’m a better player now and capable of more. I hope I can play and score on Tuesday because I feel there’s more to come from me in a tournament.”

Ironically, Rooney’s best moments in tournament football so far came way back in his very first outing in Portugal when he was a teenage star for England in 2004 — and only injury denied him a chance to take a promising team into the latter stages.

Since then there has been that late arrival in Germany when he was never fully fit and was then sent off in a controversial quarter-final against Portugal — followed by a thoroughly miserable World Cup in 2010 when he mysteriously lost even the ability to trap or pass a football.

But this time, and England fans will only dare whisper this, it feels different. This time their talisman is fully fit, fully rested and has seemed relaxed and comfortable around the squad; taking his job as temporary cheerleader extremely seriously indeed. Another sign of maturity? “Well, I don’t feel old — I’m still only 26,” said Rooney. “But I’ve been in the squad for the last nine-10 years. I feel like I have a voice in the squad and if I can help a few of the younger players then that’s great.

“But I have to perform on the pitch too. I set myself high standards, I work hard to better my game and score goals. In international tournaments I haven’t been good enough. I hope I can put it right. I am not going to say I will because you never know what is going to happen.

“But obviously as a player you have bad moments and sometimes you have to go through those bad moments to experience the good moments. The things that happened, I didn’t want them to happen, no one wants that kind of thing to happen but sometimes they do and you have to get on with it. I’m hoping I can do my best and hope the team can be successful.”

One of the most fascinating indications that Rooney is not necessarily the unthinking plebeian hooligan he is sometimes portrayed as, came with revelations that he uses visualisation techniques to prepare for matches; and has done for most of his career. So when he heads to bed early in Donetsk tonight it won’t be to watch television or play computer games but to steady his mind ahead of a match England need only to draw to reach the quarter-finals.

“It’s something I have done all my career since getting in the Everton team really,” he said. “I don’t know why but I have always asked the kit-men what colour kit we are wearing, found out what colour the opponents are wearing and visualised scoring goals or good things happening in the game.

“I always do it before every game, get good thoughts, good moments happening in the head. Hopefully that can help me.”

Whether Rooney can honestly visualise England winning the tournament here in Poland and Ukraine must be questionable, not unless his obvious self-confidence has stretched to even greater levels. But his argument is that Roy Hodgson’s side do at least have a chance.

“We’ve got the players, we’re more organised than we ever have been as long as I’ve been in the squad and we are hard to beat now,” he insisted. “If we keep doing that and keep working hard then there’s no reason we can’t go really far and be in with a shout.”

Maybe. But to stand any real chance of victory England will need their new more mature Rooney on the pitch and on form; the big time for the big man starts now.