Wayne Rooney doesn’t seem particularly bothered that Sam Allardyce is no longer England manager.
The England captain was asked on Tuesday if he has been in touch with Big Sam since the 61-year-old resigned, after being targeted by an undercover investigation by The Daily Telegraph.
He hasn’t, not even a text message, which is fair enough as the pair didn’t exactly have a lot of time to build a relationship. However, judging by what Rooney said ahead of England’s game against Malta, it didn’t bode well following comments Allardyce made about Rooney after his one and only game last month.
Don’t worry #BigSam, worse things happen at sea pic.twitter.com/zIdFyELbKi
— SportsJOE.ie (@SportsJOEdotie) September 28, 2016
Rooney started behind the main striker in England’s 1-0 win over Slovakia, but could be regularly seen playing in midfield and, at times, even collecting the ball off England’s central defenders.
“This is the most decorated outfield player in England,” Allardyce said following the game.
“I think that he holds a lot more experience at international football than me as an international manager. Using his experience with a team, and playing as a team member, it’s not for me to say where he’s going to play.”
Rooney revealed yesterday how unhappy he was with these comments.
“Sam came out and said I play where I want,” the Manchester United captain said.
“I played exactly to instructions, and what was asked of me. I’ll play wherever the manager wants me. 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’.”
WATCH: Wayne Rooney says Sam Allardyce apologised to him for playing him out of position for England. #SSNHQ https://t.co/LdraaMcibS
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) October 4, 2016
“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. I got battered in many different ways when I felt it was actually a decent performance.”
If Allardyce instructed Rooney beforehand that he had permission to drop into midfield, then the player has grounds to be annoyed with his former manager when he comes out and says Rooney was the one who decides his position.
However, Rooney’s assertion that he was “slaughtered” over allegedly picking where he plays doesn’t make a lot of sense. It was Allardyce who received criticism for appearing weak by caving to his star player’s demands.
Rooney was criticised for his poor performance, not because, according to Big Sam, he picks his position. There’s a big difference.
The 30-year-old might say he played well in the game, but he would be in the minority with that view.
Rooney was dropping deep, spraying long passes, of which just over half were successful, and only Eric Dier had more touches of the ball for England.
Maybe that was Allardyce’s plan, but England were disjointed and Harry Kane became isolated up-front on his own. Rooney had little positive effect on the game.
WhoscoredIf Rooney picked where he wants to play, and then played well, he would be praised, and Allardyce would’ve been also praised for having the courage to give his captain a free role.
Allardyce is gone now, so it doesn’t matter now what his relationship was like with Rooney.
But Rooney’s comments show he is arguably deaf to criticism of his performances. If he can’t honestly analyse how he has been playing, what chance does he have of arresting his slide in form and returning to the United starting XI?
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