He came in and showed that enthusiasm to the players.
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Gareth has been with the England set-up for quite a few years, he has had a stint at Middlesbrough as a manager.
“I think you have to have leaders who aren’t in the team. I have been able to enjoy it a lot more”, he said. He now wants to play in midfield – if he was a midfield player he would have played there. I’ve never really been at this stage of my career. He is a fantastic player with a great attitude and he has got all of the ability he needs, so I don’t see any reason why he can’t.
“In terms of starting again, I’m not sure”.
“Does it gee you up?”
“You have got to have a culture and an environment that people buy into”.
Coming back is one thing, where Rooney is best suited is another.
Rashford was a surprising omission from Sam Allardyce’s first squad, after impressing at Euro 2016, and went on to score a brilliant hat-trick for Southgate’s U21 side against Norway.
“And also, another question for England about where I play – it’s getting a bit exhausted, the questions about whether I play striker, midfield, number 10”.
“The most important thing at this time is leadership and, on and off the field, Wayne has provided that and matured into that”. “That’s had a bearing on the squad and a couple of players I’ve worked with, with Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, in the Under-21s who we think are exciting players and we wanted to put in this squad”.
“Sam knew he made a mistake”, Rooney said. That’s part of being involved at this level.
Allardyce apologised to Rooney on the plane home from Slovakia for what was one of several ill-judged comments of late. The Manchester United captain believes he paid a heavy price as a result of Allardyce’s remarks moments after the game in Trnava, when Rooney performed three different midfield roles during the 90 minutes.
Rooney is set to lead England in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Malta at Wembley and the 30-year-old is eager to focus on football after a hard period for the national side.
“I’ve got to say, without being disrespectful, that the character I saw in front of me last week was a stark contrast”, he explained.
“I felt best placed to do that”. I played exactly to instructions, and what was asked of me.
“Last week I was basically in a bunker at St George’s Park, trying to prepare everything”.
“Whether it happens now or in a year or two’s time, time will tell”.
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There has always been a strong suspicion that successive England managers have picked players on reputation and “big club” status, rather than actual form. “Good players won’t be happy if they aren’t selected because they all want to play”.
