Could Wayne Rooney Only Be a Substitute for England at Euro 2016?

England captain Wayne Rooney will have watched England’s impressive 3-2 win over Germany on Saturday from the comfort of his sofa at home in Cheshire.

But soon after kick-off and throughout the match, he will have experienced a growing sense of dread at just how well England were playing without him.

It was more than just a win, for England played with great pace and movement and scored three sumptuous goals.

Above all, it was painfully obvious that not only was Rooney not missed but that England actually thrived because he wasn’t there.

After Saturday night’s win, the truth is Rooney might have to get used to being a spectator when England play at this summer’s UEFA European Championship.

He will, of course, make the squad and at least take a seat on the bench, but he can no longer be certain of a place on the pitch.

It had to happen eventually. This great force for England over the last decade appears to have lost his relevance.

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Two years ago, at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, debate raged about whether Rooney deserved his place in England’s starting XI.

He hung onto his shirt, even scoring his first World Cup goal—and first goal in a major championship for 10 years—amid the wreckage of England’s campaign.

But two years on, the debate has only intensified, as Rooney has since turned 30 and is naturally slower, and he appears to be less clinical in front of goal.

He endured a frankly awful start to the season for Manchester United, scoring just twice in the Premier League in its first five months, but mere statistics don’t convey the full extent of how so many games simply passed him by.

He is too good to go quietly and returned to some form in the new year, engineering a run of five goals in seven games. But injury intervened, and United have since looked a quicker and more potent attacking threat without him.

This might seem like a harsh and ungrateful judgement, but football has always been a brutal business with little room for sentiment.

England and United are beginning to both move on without him.

As Rooney recuperates from his injury, his England rivals are all in fine form. Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane are contesting an unlikely battle for the title, Daniel Sturridge is fit and scoring and even Danny Welbeck has recently returned from his own injury layoff and looks sharp and prolific.

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On Saturday night, Kane, Vardy and Welbeck were all at the heart of England, outplaying the world champions in Berlin.

When Rooney returns, who should be asked to step aside for him for England?

It would be patently ridiculous, even an act of self-harm, for manager Roy Hodgson to select Rooney over Kane as England’s No. 9 and main striker.

At the moment, Kane is a man possessed, driving Tottenham Hotspur on in their bid for a first title in 55 years, and he has so far scored 24 goals in all competitions.

Kane is quicker, more mobile and quite simply in better form than Rooney, as he showed against the Germans on Saturday night.

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Forget the name and the reputation; this is Rooney in 2016, not 2010.

Then there is Vardy, only a year younger than Rooney, but he's a player in the form of his life who has been integral during Leicester City’s incredible season.

Vardy has what Rooney used to have: frightening pace. And he has used it to score 19 goals in the Premier League so far this season, nearly three times as many as the England captain.

His first England goal on Saturday was also a thing of effortless beauty.

In years past, it would have been imperative for an England manager to find a place for Rooney somewhere else, most likely in a more withdrawn role, but as it would be with Kane, it would be foolish to relegate Dele Alli to the bench.

The Tottenham man was England’s best player against Germany, stationed just behind the strikers, and that should now be his position.

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Rooney still has a crucial role to play for England. It would make no sense to discard his experience completely, for he has more international goals and caps than Vardy, Kane, Sturridge and Welbeck combined.

Hodgson might be loyal, but he is not blind to what has unfolded this season, and he is already preparing the groundwork to omit Rooney.

Per Dominic Fifield of the Guardian, the England manager said earlier in March:

"

I’ve never said he’s an automatic starter. Does he have a good chance with his track record, ability and experience? Of course he does. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he will be in the lineup: He might not have recovered to the best of his ability, or we might want to use different players or play in a different way.

"

That different way was on display against Germany, and it means playing with pace, something Rooney no longer has because the years have sapped his lungs and legs.

It should be seen as a symbol of progress that England’s chances are no longer so tightly tied to Rooney’s form and fitness.

It is difficult to suggest anyone but Kane should start as England’s main striker, but if Hodgson still requires a goal with 20 minutes remaining in a game at Euro 2016, who better to turn to on the bench than England's record goalscorer?

Welcome to the new Rooney: impact substitute.