England captain Wayne Rooney makes a plea to fans ahead of Thursday’s Euro 2016 clash against Wales. PHOTO/DM.
LONDON, United Kingdom, Oct 5 – Wayne Rooney claims Sam Allardyce allowed him to be “battered” when he said the forward played “wherever he wanted” for England.
Allardyce made the remarks immediately after England’s 1-0 win over Slovakia, when Adam Lallana netted the winner in the 95th minute.
England captain Rooney was roundly criticised after the game, in which he started on the left of midfield alongside Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier in a 4-3-3 formation before dropping deeper once Dele Alli was introduced as a substitute.
The Manchester United star bristled at the suggestion he felt he had carte blanche to operate wherever he wanted for the national team and revealed Allardyce apologised to him on the plane home from Trnava for suggesting as much to the media.
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“Sam came out and said I play where I want but it couldn’t be further from the truth, I play to instructions,” Rooney said.
“I got battered in many different ways for my performance, which I felt was actually a decent performance.
“I don’t pick myself, I haven’t ever picked myself. I didn’t come in and say: ‘I want to play here or there.’ I played where I was asked to play. That was a big misunderstanding and I seemed to get slaughtered for it. I suffered from that.
“He knew he had made a mistake. He said that to me on the plane home. That’s part of being involved at this level. He understood that quite early and unfortunately he doesn’t have the chance to rectify that now.”
Rooney has struggled to find his best form under Jose Mourinho at United this season and has started on the bench in their past three games, with Juan Mata moving ahead of him in the pecking order for the No 10 role.
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Jamie Redknapp urges Gareth Southgate to focus on the England team and forget about the speculation surrounding Wayne Rooney’s future.
Before Mourinho arrived at Old Trafford, Rooney had been earmarked to drop into a deeper midfield role as he got older, something both Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs did successfully under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Louis van Gaal began to deploy him there in the second half of last season but Mourinho was adamant when taking over that his captain remain as a striker because he valued his goal-scoring ability.
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Rooney admits he deserved to lose his place at United, accepting he has lost some of the pace that once made him one of Europe’s most feared forwards, but he made it clear he believes the time has come for him to transition to midfield on a more permanent basis.
“I have heard a lot of people talking about transition – well, let me do it,” Rooney said.
“If that is what’s going to happen, let me do that. I feel I am not being given a chance if that is the way I want to go in my career to expand it. I am not being given that chance to go from there to there.
“It is all right talking about your career, saying you can extend it by doing this and that, but of course you need to be given that chance to do it.”
Wayne Rooney has spoken for the first time since being asked to continue as England captain by interim manager Gareth Southgate.
Wayne Rooney has spoken for the first time since being asked to continue as England captain by interim manager Gareth Southgate.
Despite his recent setbacks, Rooney remains adamant he has plenty left to offer both England and United and he is determined to answer his critics.
Rooney said: “I am a fighter. I want to get back in the team. I will work hard to try and do that, so that is where I am at. I am sure people who know me know I will come back.
“Does it gee you up? Of course it does. It’s almost like going to an audition when you get turned down – you want to prove yourself to people.”
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