Ekun Samuel, 9 September 2016
Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney has come under heavy criticism off late with his lackluster performances for both club and country.
The 30 year old has been benched for three consecutive United games which has seen Paul Pogba showing glimpse of good performances in his absence. In the World Cup qualifying match against Malta, he played alongside Jordan Henderson and yet could not find his form on the pitch, and was booed during the game and after the game by some sections of the England fans.
Caretaker Boss Gareth Southgate who recorded his first win 2-0 against Malta in charge of the Three Lions, has come out to back his England captain. Speaking after the match he said;
"The criticism of him is unfair at times.
"He ploughs on and plays with pride and captains his country with pride.
"I look back to John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole. In their time with England they took an enormous amount of criticism and yet when you look at the number of caps they got they were the guys that kept turning out.
"They were the ones that really put themselves on the line when some other players would not put themselves forward in those moments and withdrew from squads when the going got tough.
"Those guys are the ones that desperately wanted to play for England again and again and put their neck on the block. I think Wayne falls into that category.
"The booing? I don't understand it but that seems to be the landscape and I have no idea how that's expected to help him."
Even his teammate Jesse Lingard, who had his first appearance for his country has defended his captain as well.
"I can't really remember that to be honest," Lingard told Sky Sports.
"It's a shame and I don't think he deserves that. He's done really well tonight and hopefully he'll get his confidence back now and move on to the next game.
"I think he likes that role a lot. He dictates the play and everything goes through the midfield. I thought Henderson did very well tonight as well. They controlled the game and we got three points."
He has backed Wayne Rooney to bounce in their next game, in Tuesday's visit to Slovenia.
Would Wayne Rooney be prepared to call for an early retirement sooner rather than later?
