Rooney’s done NOTHING wrong... pity Southgate has hung him out to dry
YOU don’t have to tell me how bad it would look, Robbie Fowler lecturing anyone about their drinking....
It’s all right, I’m ready for the inevitable social media messages – though I would say, this isn’t fat, it’s muscle!
The fact is, though, that these are different days for footballers when it comes to how they live their life and how they unwind after matches, and I’m inclined to agree with Jurgen Klopp that this is the most professional generation in history.
They’re bloody fitter for a start. And they have the advantage of a scientific approach to all aspects of their fitness and health that previous generations didn’t, including diet and fuelling.
I’m the first to admit I didn’t look after myself the way they do now, and I wouldn’t argue with anyone who suggests I could have played longer, had I not been part of the drinking culture. I honestly don’t know.
The fact is, I was part of it. I arrived into a culture at Liverpool where they’d won just about every title and celebrated long and hard afterwards.
It was what they were used to and it damn well worked, so why wouldn’t I follow it, why wouldn’t I buy into it?
When it’s ingrained in you, then it’s harder to break that pattern.
I know, when Gerard Houllier arrived at Anfield, he immediately brought a different approach, when it came to looking after ourselves, and I was probably among the slower to adopt it, because I was brought up in the old-school way.
He used to talk about our bodies being like the most expensive cars, because we were the elite of sportsmen, and if you had the most expensive car, you’d put the most expensive fuel into it, to ensure it ran more smoothly.
Wayne Rooney could be classed as more of an old- school player and maybe he has struggled to adapt his way of thinking, like I did.
But if I had been a kid trying to get into football now and had to keep off the booze to succeed, then I would have done it.
So would Rooney, because we both had that incredible desire to get through and get to the top when we were kids – and the desire to stay there.
It’s nonsense to say he hasn’t got what it takes to become a footballer these days, because, of course, he has.
I’ve wondered if the old-school way of doing things at Liverpool contributed to injury problems I got later in my career – and that could be the same with him.
What is definitely true is that, as you get older, you need to look after yourself even more, and be ever more careful about your lifestyle. He knows that, but, again, I can’t point the finger at him for this latest fake controversy – for two reasons. First, it was pretty obvious he was never going to play against Spain, so what was wrong with him having a drink on the Saturday night, seven days before his next game? In fact, if Gareth Southgate (above left) had come out and supported Rooney, there’d be no argument and no false indignation.
He’d have put a stop to all these people getting offended because they can and, in that sense, Rooney may have been left hung out to dry.
Of course, if Southgate had ordered the players not to go out on the Saturday night and told Rooney he was playing on Tuesday, then it’s different.
But it strikes me, if there were 10 players out in London, then not only had the manager given everyone permission to have a night off and unwind, then it was Rooney who was being a little more responsible, because at least he didn’t leave the team hotel!
The second point I’d make is that these days, footballers get slaughtered because they’re so far removed from real people, they’re so detached from the fans who pay their wages. And what do we go and do when he mixes with these so called real people? Slaughter him for it.
In fact, it seems some of the people he mixed with were ready to dig him out for it. I’ve always been someone who wanted to mix with the fans, stay grounded and try to stay true to where I came from, even though football gave me a different life, so I believe passionately it’s wrong to criticise Rooney for doing the same.
One last point. People are saying he’s not the same player as he was and they’re now using one night out as an explanation for that.
But I’ve yet to see a footballer get better in his 30s.