Levi Rothermund
Rooney: “We tried” — defends England generation after Gerrard critique
Wayne Rooney has pushed back on Steven Gerrard’s claim that their England sides lacked unity, insisting his teams worked hard and simply fell short at key moments.
Gerrard, who won 114 caps for England between 2000 and 2014, caused a stir this week on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast when he described some former team-mates as “egotistical losers” and said “we weren’t a team.” The remark reopened a debate about dressing-room relationships from that era.
The response came from Rooney on his BBC podcast The Wayne Rooney Show. Rooney, capped 120 times and England’s record scorer for a time with 53 goals, said the criticism understates the effort of those squads.
“Obviously, we didn’t win anything. 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.”
Rooney said the current generation looks different because of how players socialise and train outside the international setup. He pointed to modern habits such as club-mates from rival teams keeping in touch and training together before pre-season.
“What you have now is players training 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.”
He accepted it was once harder for Manchester United and Liverpool players to form close off-field bonds but rejected the idea that his teams lacked commitment.
“I was fine with everyone, I got on with everyone. I was aware Becks and Gary Neville and Scholesy, you could see they weren’t going to be close to the Liverpool players. But one thing for sure is everyone worked hard for each other. I don’t think that was an issue. We just didn’t manage to get over the line.”
Both Rooney and Gerrard took part in six major international tournaments for England but never progressed past the quarter-finals. England, by contrast, have since reached two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final.
Rooney closed by stressing the players’ belief in their own ability.
“We 100% believed we could win. For sure.”