England manager Gareth Southgate’s treatment of Wayne Rooney was ‘a disgrace’ says Dwight Yorke
Manchester United legend hits out at the way England handled the dropping of their captain for Slovenia game
DWIGHT YORKE has blasted Gareth Southgate and claimed the England manager's treatment of Wayne Rooney is 'a disgrace'.
England captain Rooney was axed by Southgate for the World Cup qualifying clash with Slovenia as the Three Lions boss made the big call his predecessors failed to.
But Manchester United legend Yorke has been left fuming at the way the interim manager and the Football Association then wheeled Rooney out to face the media.
Keep up to date with ALL the Manchester United news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary by clicking HERE
And he didn't hold back in his criticism of Southgate, who was a teammate of Yorke's at Aston Villa.
Speaking exclusively to 888sport, Yorke said: "People forget he’s the greatest English player and the goals he has scored.
"We’ve all gone through spells where you’re not playing well and it’s a real battle but the way people have talked about him is really disrespectful.
"It’s a real difficult time because he’s asked to play all these different positions and gets all the flak he does yet he tries his hardest every single game.
"Then you get people like Gareth Southgate taking him out of the team because of the pressure from the media and I think that’s wrong especially coming off the back of a positive result.
"Sometimes you have to show people a little faith and for Gareth Southgate to make that call, well I thought that was a little strange.
"To then put him in front of the media to face the music and say he isn’t going to play was disrespectful and a disgrace in my opinion."
Rooney's relegation to the bench for England comes in the wake of similar problems at Old Trafford when Jose Mourinho has omitted him from his starting line-up for the last three matches.
Related Stories
But Yorke believes his treatment at club level is different from the way England have handled the situation.
He added: "It’s a different situation at club level. His England performances have been stronger than his performances for Manchester United.
"Anyone can see that he’s struggled there this season and sometimes it’s not a bad thing to take a back seat.
"But where England are concerned he has not been the worst player on the pitch by any standards and you have a young manager like Southgate trying to make an impression but you need someone like Wazza around to keep things in check."
Read the full 888sport interview with , including his thoughts that Liverpool can win the league this year