Wayne Rooney praised by Gary Cahill for Everton form as Chelsea captain prepares to face former England team-mate
Toffees star is shining again with new boss Sam Allardyce getting the best of his veteran striker
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GARY CAHILL knew from their days together with England that Wayne Rooney would be back.
And today the Chelsea captain will have the job of stopping his former international team-mate, whose six goals in five games have sent Everton charging up the table.
Blues defender Cahill said: “Cream rises to the top. I got on really well with him. He was great for the group — he oozes class in terms of ability, in terms of experience, winning trophies, his pedigree in the game.
“Sometimes you see him get criticism but he can just roll out his CV — and what he has done in the game is incredible.
“He had a lot of respect from the other players who had done a fraction of what he’s done.”
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte also has great admiration for Rooney and sees in him the “passion” he would need to become a manager.
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Conte, 48, said: “For sure, Wayne Rooney is one of the best players of Everton. It was a great buy. He’s showing he’s a fantastic player.
“We must pay great attention because I think Wayne Rooney is a player who plays with his soul. You can see this during the game.
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“He shows great passion. Usually when you have this type of passion, you can do this job. In our job, you must have great passion, great patience, great will to suffer.”
There has been talk of an England recall for Rooney, 32, but that would require him to reverse his decision to retire from international football.
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Conte quit playing for Italy at a similar age, having made his first professional appearance aged 16 — just like Rooney.
Conte said: “It’s not simple to make this decision. To stop your career with the national team is not easy.
“I’m sure his heart is a bit broken by this decision. But, at the same time, we have to respect it because only the player understands when this moment has come.
“I stopped my playing career at the age of 35 because I understood that my legs didn’t support me. My head and my heart and my soul, yes, wanted to continue. But my legs didn’t support me.”
Rooney and his Everton team-mates have had a new spring in their step since Sam Allardyce was finally appointed as the permanent successor to Ronald Koeman.
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Cahill, 32, said: “You’ve an automatic response to a new manager. You have people who weren’t in favour under the old manager and everyone comes back on a level, everyone is fighting and chomping at the bit to get on the new manager’s radar, to play.
“That’s what you are seeing there. Sam Allardyce has a good record. The way he plays, he gets results. That’s why he’s been in the game so long.
“Goals and wins breed confidence and goes throughout the team. But nevertheless, in the last ten games we have been in very good form.”
Cahill admits reigning champs Chelsea are probably already playing for second place, behind runaway leaders Manchester City.
The centre-back added: “Ultimately, you fight for the league — outside of that you fight for the top four. If we are not first, we fight to be second and push to the very end.
“The lead is significant enough that it’s in their hands totally. Maybe you wouldn’t expect them to let slip that lead because they can afford a few defeats, but we’ll wait and see. This is football and you never know.”
As well as Rooney, Cahill could also come up against Yannick Bolasie today.
The DR Congo winger is set to return for the first time since suffering knee ligament damage in last December’s draw with Manchester United.
Allardyce said: “Physically, he is totally ready but he is still a little rusty. The sooner we can throw him in the better. He’s likely to be on the bench and we’d like to get him on.
“We’ve got to try to continue our run and pick up as many points as we can. There’s no room for complacency and a long way for us to develop and get better.
“Chelsea are in a good vein of form but I’ve beaten them in the last two games, first with Sunderland and then at Chelsea with Palace. Hopefully I’m a lucky omen for Everton.”