England: Arsenal newbie and Rooney must keep places

Danny Welbeck's England record is superior to Daniel Sturridge's

Michael Lintorn thinks there is a case for England sticking with Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney up front...

The two scapegoats unsubtly lined up by the English press to carry blame for an anticipated botched start to Euro 2016 qualifying were Roy Hodgson and Wayne Rooney, but manager and captain were two of the biggest winners as the Three Lions triumphed 2-0 in Switzerland.

Hodgson again showed that his portrayal as unadventurous and archaic is misguided by integrating a new shape for his team's trickiest qualifier and being rewarded, while Rooney ridiculed the idea that he is more hindrance than help to the emerging stars with a fluid display and key role in the opener.

Having fired first in England's last two World Cup qualifiers, netted in their final warm-up, scored one and created the other of England's two World Cup goals and then grabbed the only goal in the recent friendly with Norway, it is bizarre that "Rooney critic" is such a popular vocation at present.

Of the four forwards in the latest squad - Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Rickie Lambert - Rooney has by far the best goal-per-game record, with 41 in 97 equating to a 42% strike rate. 71% of those came in competitive fixtures - more than any rival - and his win percentage of 58% also trumps the other three.

What might surprise you is that Welbeck, the hero of the victory in Switzerland, leads both Sturridge and Lambert in goal-per-game record (36% to Lambert's 33% and Sturridge's 31%), competitive goal ratio (70% to Sturridge's 60% and Lambert's 33%) and team win rate (54% to the other two's 44%).

So while there has been a campaign to get Rooney dropped and Welbeck is often unfairly used as a figure of fun, the former Man United colleagues are statistically England's most effective combo, with the most celebrated of the quartet, Studger, the least impressive.

Welbeck's clinical offering in Basel supporting this writer's argument that when he plays up front - particularly for an extended period - he delivers goals, and he is 3.02/1 to help steer Arsenal to three points on his Gunners debut against Man City.