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Wayne Rooney should not start Englands opening game at Euro 2016 against Russia, according to Sky Sports Now guest Paul Ince. The Three Lions kick-off their European Championship campaign on June 11 against Group B second-favourites Russia in Marseille.Ince, who played for England at Euro 96, the 1998 World Cup in France and Euro 2000, stressed the importance of avoiding defeat in the opening game of major tournaments. And he has omitted Englands captain - and all-time leading goalscorer - from his XI for the opening fixture at the Stade Veldrome, citing Rooneys recent deployment in an unfavoured position at Manchester United as the reason.Paul Inces England XI v Russia Paul Inces England starting XI v Russia Its important not to open the competition with a defeat, Ince told Sky Sports. People are going to say: do this, play Rooney or play your strongest XI, but when you go into tournament football its important to start with a point or even three.No Rooney... why?INCE SAYS: I havent put Rooney in the first XI for the game against Russia because I dont think he is ready for that yet, he is playing in midfield for Manchester United at the moment. I do, however, think he will come in later - Id like to see Rooney play up front. Ince expects England to play without fear at this summers European Championships in France Who will shoulder the attacking responsibility in Rooneys absence?INCE SAYS: Ive gone with a 4-4-2 formation with Danny Drinkwater and Eric Dier in midfield and Dele Alli in the No 10 role. Offensively, Alli would be the key man as you dont want to isolate Harry Kane.James Milner and Adam Lallana would support Kane but Alli has been outstanding this year for a young kid that has just come in. He has taken the Premier League by storm, he carries himself with confidence and he is a top, top player. Can Spurs starlet Dele Alli transfer his fine club form to the international stage? Its strange that someone like Alli, having come from a League One club, is going to be one of the main men in the England team but thats how good the kid can be. He makes great runs forward and thats why Ive put him in the No 10 role.An overly cautious selection?INCE SAYS: Ive gone with a solid line-up because I feel Englands weaknesses are the two full-backs. Our full-backs like to go forward so much that they leave so many spaces behind. Rooney is playing in midfield for Manchester United at the moment so I don’t think he is ready to start for England. Former England captain Paul Ince By getting Dier and Drinkwater there - along with the pace of Gary Cahill and Chris Smalling - they can cover the gaps. Milner and Lallana will help to keep it tight defensively, because youve got to keep things tight.You can always nick a goal, Kane has been flying this season and Alli will push forward in support.How far can England go in the tournament?INCE SAYS: The group stage is always the nervous part of the tournament. Once you get past the group stage and it comes down to one-off games, England can go and win it all. I see no reason why England cant win it. Englands fixtures in the group stages of Euro 2016 Its going to be tough with the top teams - Germany, Spain, France on home soil - being there, but England have got the quality and a nice balance.If England can get through the group-stages, which I expect them to do, there is no reason why they can reach the semi-finals or better.Do you agree with Inces England XI? If not, who would make YOUR team to play Russia? Leave your suggestions in the message boards below or tweet us @SkyFootball. Also See: Merse: England short in defence Where should Rooney play? Tel: Summer of a lifetime England fixtures Brooklyn Nets Jerseys . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Spencer Dinwiddie Jersey . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. https://www.netsrookiesshop.com/Theo-Pinson-City-Edition-Jersey/ . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. Julius Erving Nets Jersey . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. Kenneth Faried Nets Jersey . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Its right there, in bold type, on the College Football Playoff website.Every Game Counts. Well, and sorry if this seems a little weird, truth is that maybe not quite every game. Maybe the game that does not count is a conference championship game, like Saturday nights Big Ten matchup of Penn State and Wisconsin, and try to explain that one.Because, in the very next paragraph, the playoff websites criteria go on to proclaim, The selection committee ranks the teams based on conference championships won . . .In other words, a conference championship is the key factor.Except when it isnt.Critics used to mock the people who run the college football bowl games because they paraded around looking like peacocks in all those brightly colored blazers with their oversize logos, spending fall weekends wining and dining athletic directors.Well, those guys look like Einstein compared to the clowns now in charge of the college playoff.They played the Big Ten championship game Saturday night at the dome in Indianapolis, and as game time approached, tickets could be had for less than $10, which should give you some idea of what the public thought of it.And about a dozen hours after the end of the game, Ohio State, which failed even to qualify for the conference title game, is expected to be chosen one of the four teams for the college playoff.The Big Ten champion will finish the season with a high place in the national rankings and a boost in its recruiting. It just will not be given a chance to play for the national championship, not be allowed a Cinderella champion like Texas Western in 1966 or a Villanova in 1985 in the NCAA basketball tournament.The consolation prize will be a trip to the Rose Bowl.Thats not bad.And, an argument can be made that Ohio State was the best team in the Big Ten this year, anyway, and maybe it was, although it lost to Penn State and beat Michigan only because of a few dunderhead plays by the Wolverines in critical spots. But the point is the Buckeyes did not even win their conference championship and they are going to get a chance to play for the national championship and the team(s) that finished ahead of them in the conference are not.You have to wonder what the geniuses who dreamed up the college playoff were thinking when, by design, they guaranteed a degree of controversy by setting up a four-team playoff among five power conferences. In other words, you know you are starting out by leaving out one of the conference champions. Period.Its a small step from there to leaving out another.The playoff, of course, was supposedly designed to eliminate the controversy that occurred in the past when the national champion was decided by a vote instead of, oh, say, an actual game. Which is how an undefeated Nebraska was selected over an undefeated Penn State in 1994 or several years when two groups of voters seleected different teams as national champions, giving a little for everybody.ddddddddddddA word, supposedly, appears in the previous paragraph because it would never pass a lie detector test. Lets face it, the playoff was set up to give a small group power and a bigger group money, because nothing much happens in college sports that does not really involve power and money.The five major conferences brought six bowls into their playoff orbit and only under pressure allowed one of the dozen spots to go to a school not a member of their cartel. But they certainly did not want one of the outliers getting super rich on the playoff, which is why they limited the playoff field to four teams and put the rest into a so-called Group of 6 bowl lineup which they controlled -- and, of course, sold for a huge sum to television.One interesting sidelight is that the people who run this sham championship arrangement, try as they might, could not fool everybody. Youd think, ordinarily, the championship game of the richest conference would be a huge magnet for fans, but since the fans realized it had so little to do with the national championship they smelled it for what it is.On Stubhub earlier in the week, there were more than 15,000 tickets available for the Penn State-Wisconsin matchup. As late as Saturday morning, more than 5,000 were still available, with sideline seats going for as little as, get this, $9.71.You can be sure that would not have been the case were the winner assured of going on to play for a bigger prize, but as it was, even Penn State and Wisconsin fans kept their wallets in their pockets because, since the meaning of the game was diminished, theyd prefer to save for, say, a trip to Pasadena instead of Indianapolis.Going into the game, the coaches, of course, tried to downplay the bigger picture by simply talking about the import of a conference championship -- huge, said Penn States James Franklin -- and deferring any questions about the playoff possibilities.But it didnt take a deep reading of Franklins comments to know how he felt.You could make a really good argument that the Big Ten, specifically the Big Ten East, may be the best conference in all of college football right now, Franklin said.He is probably right. The Big Ten is probably the best conference in college football right now, just a couple years after people were writing obituaries about the leagues weakness. Its just not a good enough conference, apparently, to allow its champion to play for the national title.--Ira Miller is an award-winning sportswriter who has covered the National Football League for more than five decades and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee. He is a national columnist for The Sports Xchange. ' ' '