The case for an alternative England captain grew as Wayne Rooney toiled against Norway

Roy Hodgson claimed the decision to appoint Wayne Rooney as captain was a no-brainer but should the striker’s form continue like this, he may soon be faced with a far more difficult choice.

When was the last time Rooney played well for England? There were flashes of quality against Italy at the World Cup — his cross for Daniel Sturridge’s equaliser in Manaus was sublime — but not since England’s final qualifier, against Poland, has the 28-year-old Manchester United player dazzled in the way we all know
possible.

That game, in which he pulled the strings and scored a goal as England won 2-0, was in October last year. Hodgson’s side have played 10 games since then and Rooney has scored twice — a scrambled close-range finish against Honduras and a tap-in which briefly earned England parity with Uruguay in Sao Paulo.

His place in the team was scrutinised at length during the summer but Hodgson was keen to place Rooney at the forefront of the two-year build-up to Euro 2016, as England look to restore themselves among the elite of international football.

The sight of Gary Cahill and then Joe Hart being thrown the armband when Rooney went off evoked memories of an away game against Denmark under Fabio Capello in February 2011, when England had three captains in Copenhagen and the Italian was castigated for a lack of due diligence.

At least Capello had options back then. Rooney has nearly twice as many caps as the next most experienced player — James Milner — and, as England’s one bonafide established star and captain of his club, Hodgson had little alternative.

But even as Hodgson announced his squad last week, the question of whether Rooney is now undroppable was raised.

“When you name a captain, it does go through your head that making a player captain makes it a lot harder if you want to drop him but I don’t think he would expect me, if he wasn’t playing well enough, to keep him in the team because he is captain,” said Hodgson.

The time has not yet come to drop Rooney — England must only be judged on Monday’s Euro 2016 qualifier in Switzerland — but the case for his potential replacements grew a little against Norway.

England looked more dangerous with Raheem Sterling operating in a central position behind Sturridge and substitute Danny Welbeck, albeit against tiring opponents willing to chase the game after going behind.

Rooney scored his 41st goal from the penalty spot but England need more from him than a slow procession to surpassing the all-time goal and appearance records. He is England’s best player when on his game. Rooney has to lead by example.