England striker Wayne Rooney has slammed the press for giving out a different view after the Manchester United star was seen doing overtime during the training.
The Daily Mirror‘s John Cross reported the 28-year-old’s place in the Three Lions’ starting lineup against Uruguay on Thursday is doubtful. Rooney took on the social media to claim that he has done extra training even before the start of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
“Sometimes wonder what the press are getting at. I said from the start I want to do everything I can to make sure I’m ready for these World Cup games and as part of that I was doing extra training a week before the squad joined up,” Rooney wrote on his official Facebook page.
“That’s exactly what I did yesterday, my own extra training because that’s what I wanted to do,” the England striker added.
Rooney was played out of position on the left-wing during England’s 2-1 defeat to Italy in their opening fixture of the ongoing tournament in Brazil. The United striker received a lot of criticism for his performance against the Azzurri’s and few former players and pundits have suggested that he needs to be dropped for the tie against Uruguay.
However, the former Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish believes Rooney should lead England’s attack even if he is going through a rough patch.
“I don’t think he is England’s best player, certainly on current form, but I do believe he should be playing up front rather than in a wide area,” McLeish told Sky Sports World Cup Verdict.
“England don’t have to capacity to play him there, like Real Madrid do with Cristiano Ronaldo for example, he does a lot of work in terms of helping his full-back out. There definitely should be a change of position for him if Roy decides to keep him in the team.
“He’s a superb player but I don’t think he’s immune to being dropped and Wayne himself admitted that.”
“I don’t know if that will inspire him; he is working very hard for the team and in that wide area you have to sacrifice some of the defensive aspects because he has to reserve his energy for the attacking work he does,” he added.
Rooney has not scored for England in the World Cup and the striker would be hoping to score his first ever goal for his country against Uruguay, if Hodgson decides to hand him a place in the starting role against the South American giants.
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