The real problem with Wayne Rooney is that he's just too good. If he were a bit more ordinary, if there was an English player who was obviously just that little bit better, then Rooney might actually get some credit. And it would be that better player being reduced to rubble on a weekly basis.

That better player would be constantly followed by discussions about how he's good, yes, but not that good; there would be forensic examinations of how he didn't do this at that time in that game, thereby bringing disaster upon his team, the team that was looking to him to deliver, only for him to fail, again.

Meanwhile, everyone would be lauding willing tryer Wayne. Yeah okay, maybe he's not quite as good, but he's always trying, and in England, with our grassroots love of honest endeavor more than talent, well, that's what we like to see.

The trouble is, it's all an illusion. The point at which talent becomes suspicious or disappointing is constantly shifting, to be just below whoever our best player is. Even Alan Shearer was subjected to this; David Beckham too. They weren't as good as Rooney, but they were just good enough to be the nation's key players. And consequently, well, they were rather disappointing.

Yes they'd produce the goods every now and then, but let's be realistic: They weren't up with the greats, were they?

The thing is, those greats, if they were English, would not be so great. If Cristiano Ronaldo was English, would he be as celebrated as he is now? Nope. He would be, actually, a distant second to Lionel Messi. Big and strong and relentless and all that, but in terms of talent, nowhere near.

So what if Messi was English? He'd be an even bigger disappointment. The world's most gifted player, you say? But look at this game in which he failed to turn up; that one in which he went for glory and blew it; yes, yes, yes we know about the bits where he scored the winning goal, but look at the times when he failed!

The author is a copy editor with the Global Times. tominbeijing@gmail.com