Roy Hodgson comments on England's 'Wayne Rooney obsession' ahead of World Cup

Wayne Rooney again Peru in World Cup warm-up game

England manager Roy Hodgson has claimed that the country is “obsessed” with Wayne Rooney and has insisted that he prefers to concentrate on his squad as a whole.

Hodgson has faced calls to drop Rooney who, as arguably the squad’s most talented player, has come under heavy levels of scrutiny for his performances.

Questions have been raised over the existence of a system that would get the best out of both Rooney and Daniel Sturridge, with some suggesting that the Manchester United man should make way. However Hodgson has insisted that Rooney is a key member of his England World Cup squad and defended the forward.

Since bursting onto the scene at Euro 2004, Rooney has yet to have an impact at the highest level for England, with many believing that the United man is in need of a good major tournament to prove his doubters wrong.

However Hodgson defended Rooney, telling reporters: “It is a bit sad that the country is so Wayne Rooney-obsessed.

“I don’t think Wayne sets himself up to be anything other than a very important member of the squad, someone who does his best and tries his best at all times.

“Talk about combinations doesn’t interest me. All I want is for Wayne Rooney to play well and Daniel Sturridge to play well.

“We don’t share this obsession with Wayne, we also think that people like Danny Welbeck, Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley and Adam Lallana are in there to play well and help us score goals, too.

“That’s what a squad is about.”

However Hodgson refused to guarentee any player a place in his team, adding “ Obviously Daniel and Wayne would like to be the first two names on the list and to do that they’ll have to continue to do well.”

The England boss believes that he has a lot of competition for places in the offensive half of his team, stressing that only captain Steven Gerrard and the back five have their places set in stone.

“Once you get past Steven Gerrard in the midfield, there’s five positions to fill and I think there’s a lot of options there.

“[Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling are] two young players who have captured the public’s imagination.

“I’ll have to make decisions on whether to play them or not – I feel that we’re getting stronger as a team and a group all the time.”