Stop asking Rooney to be an angel, pleads Allardyce

Everton manager Sam Allardyce insists Wayne Rooney should be allowed to show his frustrations.

Published : Apr 13, 2018 16:21 IST

Wayne Rooney is being asked to be an "angel" by a "politically correct world", according to Sam Allardyce, who has no issue with the Everton man's reaction to being substituted against Liverpool.

Rooney was clearly angered by his withdrawal in last week's Merseyside derby draw, with Allardyce's post-match comments fanning the flames as he stated that no player is too big to be substituted and claimed the former England captain "struggles against the very best opposition".

But the Toffees boss was then frustrated when asked ahead of the Premier League trip to Swansea City if he needed to remind Rooney of his responsibilities.

"You're asking players to be angels again – stop it," he said. "We live in a politically correct world as it is. It'll not be long before where if somebody stamps their feet, we'll be saying they can't do that.

"A reaction from a player, when he comes off, of disappointment is to be expected. One would ask him not to do it in the public eye, but sometimes that can't be helped.

"With a man as proud of being an Everton fan as him, and playing for Everton, that's where the reaction came from."

And Allardyce believes Rooney to be content with his role at the club, adding that they have been on good terms this week.

"We speak every week – I think he said he had a really good week of golf this week, as well," he said. "We're alright.

"There's no problem – like there's no problem with Yannick Bolasie and no problem with Tom Davies, there's no problem with Wayne Rooney. I substituted all three of those players last week, by the way.

"This is the role he wants to play.

"Our tactical change was for the benefit of the team on Saturday. It's a team game and you make a decision on the day to try to help the team to get a victory. We did that with three substitutions."

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