5 Truths: Wayne Rooney doesn't trust himself, 'Dab Cams' have no place in sport

When Wayne Rooney emerged back in 2002, he was a completely instinctive footballer. He played in his subconscious; it all came so naturally. The goal that brought him to the attention of the masses – a stunning, last-minute winner against Arsenal for Everton – was fully representative of that. He plucked the ball out of the sky, turned and leathered one top corner. He had an unbelievable assuredness about himself and his decision making.

That has, however, disintegrated over the years. Even against Malta, Rooney appeared to be second guessing every pass. He no longer plays on instinct and his deployment in midfield simply does not work because of said hesitation. It slows the pace of the game down. This is perhaps a remnant of the Louis van Gaal’s stagnant era at United, or perhaps his confidence is shot.

Whatever is the case his game – and his mind-set – needs a complete overhaul.

It really is time to take Jordan Henderson seriously. Perhaps it's horribly overdue to recognise this fact, but he is key to England's midfield.

The Liverpool midfielder has stepped back up a level this season and showed just what an accomplished player he can be when he's injury free and confident. It is no exaggeration to say that he is now instrumental to everything England do from midfield and the energy and dynamism he provides are crucial to what Southgate needs to achieve.

Henderson produced a series of delicious crosses against Malta, with one leading to Daniel Sturridge's opening goal. He also had a hand in Dele Alli's second and impressed with his forward running and probing passing. It's time to give him his due.

Just give the job to Gareth Southgate. England are a run of the mill side, and the employment of a ‘super’ manager would only ramp up expectations. Reaching the quarter-finals at a major tournament should roughly be about par for this generation of England.

If England want to engender real change then it has to be done patiently – invest time in a coherent style of play all the way through the age groups. They do not have to write off this generation but set realistic targets and anything more - a semi-final appearance, say - can be viewed as success.

Then crucially build towards the future with cohesive focus on the youth teams. Both Spain and Germany’s successes over the last decade or so have been built on that exact commitment.

Look, we like to think we're reasonably open-minded when it comes to fan engagement at sporting events - although we have not once stood for a Mexican Wave - but the 'Dab Cam' which dominated proceedings on the big screen at Wembley left us pretty disgusted.

Do the fans need entertaining? Well, that's what the football is for. Okay, no seriously, we know that England's football in recent years has been fairly drab, but frankly a 'Dab Cam' represents a pretty fair reason to not attend a football match at all.

Fans appeared to have a mixture of amusement, confusion and contempt at the whole affair, but no matter how it was perceived, we hope it never returns to Wembley again, regardless of how bad England's football gets.

Okay, so he did come in for a bit of stick, but Gareth Southgate's blue waistcoat and striking shoes were an absolute delight. Not content to merely occupy the touchline and bark the odd order, the new interim England manager made his appearance count.

The former skipper of a sinking Middlesbrough ship knew he had to win a few very sceptical England fans round, and he could not have done more than sport a magnificent waistcoat, for starters. As fans were beginning to come to terms with their new manager looking like a cocktail waiter, his 'massively wedged' shoes took over the show with some powerful forays into the eye of the ITV camera lens.

Southgate has certainly set a fashion precedent which he will struggle to maintain, particularly if he gets the job full-time. Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho have an awful lot to live up to now the England boss has upped his smart attire game so considerably.