Gary Neville: Wayne Rooney is a very important player for England
Gary Neville today insisted that England are happy with Wayne Rooney – and even said he could have been man of the match against Italy.
The Manchester United flop came under fire for a poor performance in Saturday's 2-1 defeat in Manaus.
Rooney set up Daniel Sturridge for England's equaliser, but he missed two good chances in the second half.
Neville, a former team-mate of Rooney, claims the England hierarchy have had no complaints about the 28-year-old, who he believes is still an important part of the national side.
"My opinion is that Wayne Rooney, after seeing him every day in training, is a very important player," said Neville, now an England coach.
"He is our top goal scorer under Roy, he is our main assist man and probably but for a yard he would have been man of the match if he had scored that goal.
"We had our coaching debrief with Roy, Ray (Lewington), Dave (Watson) and myself and there was no other suggestion that Wayne Rooney had played pretty well for us, that he had done everything we asked for."
Paul Scholes, a former team-mate of Rooney and Neville, sparked controversy when he suggested the England striker may be past his best.
Neville refused to get drawn into a row with the former Manchester United and England midfielder.
"Paul is a great friend of mine but I am coaching Wayne Rooney, I am of the opinion that when you get to a player like Wayne Rooney, you have to cope with everything that is thrown your way," Neville added on BBC Radio 5 Live.
"It wasn't just Paul Scholes talking about Wayne Rooney. The fact of the matter is that it is one man's opinion, it's Paul's opinion and everyone else will have their opinion."
Neville concurred with Hodgson's assertion that the nation has an "obsession" with Rooney.
"You can call it a debate or an obsession (about Rooney)," he added.
"I don't think either are wrong because every time I have been part of a tournament I have seen this with a player, whether it be (Paul) Gascoigne, (Michael) Owen, (David) Beckham or Rooney.
"We love it. The whole country loves creating a drama around one player."
