As much as it pains me to say this, Wayne Rooney should absolutely not be taken to Germany this summer.

I realise he is probably the best player in England and one of the top strikers in the world. But if he is not fit then he shouldn’t go and to even suggest he should reeks of pure desperation.

Rooney broke the bone in his foot exactly 40 days before England’s opening match of the tournament. History tells us it could easily take up to 60 days before he is anything like ready to play at the highest level. It’s just not worth wasting a squad place on a player who will not be able to take part.

Even if the metatarsal gods do shine on the young lad and he is healed and ready to go in six weeks, he will be far, far short of match fitness and even further short of confidence in his ability to get stuck in where it hurts.

When Beckham broke his metatarsal before the last World Cup he had a longer time to recover. And, although he did make it in time, he was nothing like the player he would have been had he been match fit.

And the same goes for Rooney. As much as I would love to see him on the biggest stage of them all, it is not fair on him, the rest of the squad, or indeed the fans, to pin your entire hopes on a player who just won’t be ready.

England need players who are ready to stand up to the rigours of a possible seven games in four weeks. They need players who won’t back out of tackles for fear of re-injuring themselves. In short, they need players who are fit.

To be honest the fact that Sven has already said Rooney will be in the squad come what may shows he has absolutely no idea about tactics and that his plan B is non-existent. He is simply relying on Wayne magic to see England through.

Although it is hard to find a silver lining in this particularly dark cloud, the fact that Rooney got injured now rather than during the opening match against Paraguay should be seen as something of a lucky break.

And a decent manager would see it as that.

At least now Sven has the chance to try out different options up front. He has six weeks to rethink his game plan and reshuffle the entire pack if need be. To possibly even think of a new system to replace what was inevitably going to be a 4-4-2.

I know the striking options are limited. But with Owen on the way to recovery maybe Sven could start thinking about playing five in the midfield with Joe Cole just behind Owen, a position in which the Chelsea player can be quite devastating.

I, for one, refuse to believe that England without Rooney don’t have a chance this summer. We do.

Now, if only Sven can figure that much out and tell Wayne he is not going to Germany, we might actually still have a chance.

Credit to Chelsea

Love them of loath them, you have got to give Chelsea credit for becoming only the third team to win back to back top-flight titles.

Mourinho and his boys may not be everybody’s cup of tea and their outrageous bank balance may make them almost universally unpopular among the rest of the football world.

But nevertheless, their achievements over the past couple of years do deserve the highest possible praise.

Last Saturday they secured the championship with a 3-0 win over their nearest rivals which just happened to be Manchester United.

The only surprising aspect of the game was the comfort with which they won it.

A few weeks ago when Chelsea were wobbling and United were busy putting a storming run together, doubts began to creep in as to whether the lads from Stamford Bridge were actually about to throw away a near-certain title.

But they answered their critics in the best possible way, sowing it all up with two games to spare.

I don’t like Chelsea. I have made no secret of that. But you have to give credit where it is genuinely due. And it is certainly due to them.

So well done Jose, John, Frank and the rest of you. If you make it three in a row I am fairly sure my begrudging respect may actually turn into genuine admiration.

However, there is one point I do feel needs making. And that is that to be considered as one of the true great teams of all time, Chelsea do need to start winning more than one competition a year.

All the teams which have really left their mark on history have won at least a double, if not a treble.

At one stage this season Chelsea were looking pretty good on all four of the main fronts so to come out with just a single trophy – albeit the most important – is a bit of a let down.

I wonder if that’s why they call Mourinho the special “one”….

Contact James on: [email protected]