• Euro 2012

Gerrard: Unfair expectation on Rooney

ESPN staff
July 1, 2012
Steven Gerrard's England team were knocked out of Euro 2012 at the quarter-final stage © Getty Images
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England captain Steven Gerrard believes Wayne Rooney gets weighed down by public expectation at major tournaments, causing his performances to suffer.

Rooney was banned for the first two matches of Euro 2012, then failed to shine in contests against Ukraine and Italy.

He has subsequently been criticised for under-performing, with some questioning his fitness level - but Gerrard feels such talk is unnecessarily harsh.

"I just think that ever since Wayne has been around, and because of his performances in Euro 2004, there is an expectation that he comes to these tournaments and wins them all on his own," Gerrard told the Sun on Sunday.

"I just think that's unfair - especially when it goes wrong and people then point to Wayne and his performances and blame him.

"But the responsibility has to be on all 23 players. It's unfair to look at Wayne and say because he didn't play well it's the reason why we haven't won.

"I've mentioned on many occasions that at this level the biggest thing is to play without expectation, without fear. So it's only normal that at times Wayne is brought down because of that expectation, because everyone expects and wants him to do well."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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