Former Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has defended the England team he was part of, saying that the current squad did not have a better attitude in comparison to the teams he played in. The 39-year-old said that it was “disrespectful” to say that previous generation squads had a worse attitude than the present generation, admitting that they worked equally hard as the current lot of players.
Rooney was responding to comments made by his former England teammate Steven Gerrard, who recently said that England’s Golden Generation were a bunch of “egotistical losers”.
“I wouldn’t quite put it that way but I know what he’s saying. There was a lot of big characters in the dressing room. I wouldn’t say [England squads now have a] better attitude. That’s disrespectful to us as players because we worked hard, we tried. We didn’t quite manage to do it.
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“Even when you look back with the players we had could we have done better? We could have but it wasn’t to be,” Rooney said on the BBC Podcast, “The Wayne Rooney Show”.
Rooney admitted that it was tough to have a healthy relationship with rival Premier League players when they turned up to play for England during his playing days. He added that it was easier for the current generation of players to keep their league rivalry aside and play as a team for the Three Lions.
“What you have now is [rival teams’] players training [together] before they go back to pre-season together – Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford for instance. It’s a different generation. The big thing is the media coverage of it is much better. The players get on better with the media. From the outside that gives a better feeling.”
“I didn’t feel part of a team. I didn’t feel connected with my team-mates, with England. It [was] difficult to have that relationship with Liverpool and Man Utd players. It’s easier now. I speak to Steven all the time [now]. You can have better relationships now because you can have a beer together and relax more,” the 2008 Champions League winner said.
‘That’s disrespectful to us as players’: Rooney reacts to Gerrard’s comments about England’s golden generation underperforming during his playing days | Football News
Former Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has defended the England team he was part of, saying that the current squad did not have a better attitude in comparison to the teams he played in. The 39-year-old said that it was “disrespectful” to say that previous generation squads had a worse attitude than the present generation, admitting that they worked equally hard as the current lot of players.
Rooney was responding to comments made by his former England teammate Steven Gerrard, who recently said that England’s Golden Generation were a bunch of “egotistical losers”.
“I wouldn’t quite put it that way but I know what he’s saying. There was a lot of big characters in the dressing room. I wouldn’t say [England squads now have a] better attitude. That’s disrespectful to us as players because we worked hard, we tried. We didn’t quite manage to do it.
Story continues below this ad
“Even when you look back with the players we had could we have done better? We could have but it wasn’t to be,” Rooney said on the BBC Podcast, “The Wayne Rooney Show”.
Rooney admitted that it was tough to have a healthy relationship with rival Premier League players when they turned up to play for England during his playing days. He added that it was easier for the current generation of players to keep their league rivalry aside and play as a team for the Three Lions.
“What you have now is [rival teams’] players training [together] before they go back to pre-season together – Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford for instance. It’s a different generation. The big thing is the media coverage of it is much better. The players get on better with the media. From the outside that gives a better feeling.”
“I didn’t feel part of a team. I didn’t feel connected with my team-mates, with England. It [was] difficult to have that relationship with Liverpool and Man Utd players. It’s easier now. I speak to Steven all the time [now]. You can have better relationships now because you can have a beer together and relax more,” the 2008 Champions League winner said.
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