Rooney DID NOT Criticise His Team-Mates

Fleet Street had a field day with Wayne Rooney's comments made immediately after our 3-2 win in Milan, when our finest player aired his belief that in the first half 'some people were not doing their job right'. Considering how badly some of the United players performed - take a bow Mr. Nani and all the back four - it could be easily interpreted as a dig at his team-mates.

However, his comments can only be regarded as a criticism of his colleagues if they are taken out of context. Below you can read the transcript of the relevant part of his interview.

Shreeves: Were you getting frustrated in the first half because you seemed to only have scraps to feed on?

Rooney: No, probably more with.....erm....a lot of things really. I don't really want to say, but...some people were not doing their job right.

Shreeves: Did you let your feelings be known?

Rooney: Yeah, of course. It's...erm...everyone gets frustrated now and again but ...you know, erm...I got the booking and then learned from it and went on and managed to help us win the game, which I'm delighted with.

He's talking about getting frustrated and letting his feelings known AND getting a yellow card for it! Which means he was frustrated with the referee and it is him and his two linesmen who were not doing their job right, according to Rooney, who surely felt that he did not get enough protection.

It is in no way a criticism of his team-mates, indeed, he responds with a 'no' when prompted that he might have been frustrated because of the inadequate service he was receiving. So please let's put an end to it. He just stopped short of saying 'the referees weren't doing their job properly', simply because he must have known he would have been in hot water with the UEFA if he said that.

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