Robson hits back at Rooney critics

Bryan Robson has defended Wayne Rooney against critics who claimed the England striker was partly at fault for their Euro 2012 exit.

After scoring the only goal in the 1-0 win over Ukraine on his return after a two-match suspension, the striker, along with several of his international team-mates, struggled to make an impact against Italy, who progressed on penalties in the quarter-final.

But Former Manchester United midfielder Robson feels that the media’s treatment of the Red Devils frontman has been unfair, and believes they are just looking for someone to blame.

“The media always find scapegoats,” Robson told the club’s official website. “It’s easy just writing to criticise all the time. I notice the media have picked up on Wayne and he’s the one this time but it’s a group thing.

“For a forward like Wayne to get into a game, he needs good play from midfield. I just don’t see where we keep the ball well enough to be able to bring Wayne to his best.

“Manchester United do that but I don’t expect the media to pick up on that because they just want to have a go at someone like Wayne or whoever else it is. They just want to have a go all the time.”

Instead of criticising individuals, Robson feels that it would be better for fans and pundits alike to simply accept that England do not have the collective talent required to win major international tournaments.

“I just don’t think we’re good enough. It’s as simple as that. We don’t have enough top quality players. We have got a couple of players who have proven themselves as world-class at certain stages,” he said.

“I thought Steven Gerrard had a good, solid competition, but other than that everyone else did okay. It was just exactly what we thought: getting through the group stages and coming up against an Italy or a Spain, who are going to knock us out.

“Unfortunately, that’s what happened. I know we can say it was a little unfortunate to lose on penalties but Italy were by far the better team anyway.”