“When he first came on the scene he was a joke” - England star duo deliver confident assessment of Wayne Rooney at Euro 2024 camp

England duo Luke Shaw and Jordan Pickford are with the Three Lions squad for Euro 2024. However, they took some time out for a quick game, where they delivered a confident assessment of Wayne Rooney, who burst onto the scene at Euro 2004.

The former Manchester United superstar went on to have a legendary career, and both Shaw and Pickford "agree" he is the greatest England player of all time.

It was a game where the two players had to pick between "Strongly Agree", "Agree", "Disagree", and "Strongly Disagree". Jarrod Bowen provided the statement, "Wayne Rooney is the greatest England player of all time", to which Jordan Pickford said (via SportBible):

"Oh my God. I'm gonna agree, but not strongly agree, [because] when he first came on the scene at 17, 18, he was a joke. But then he got a few injuries after that."

Luke Shaw agreed with Pickford, adding:

"Nah, he was so good, man. [I] just don't think people realize how good he actually was."

Pickford reminisced about his time in the England squad with Wayne Rooney, explaining why he had picked the legendary forward as the greatest.

"My first squad was Wazza [Wayne Rooney], to be fair. I didn't play but I was involved in the squad, and just being around him, it was like, 'Wow, I'm with Wayne Rooney,'" he elaborated.

Rooney never won a trophy with his country, but Pickford and his teammates will be hoping to do so at EURO 2024.

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England stumble against Denmark at Euro 2024

Although England beat Serbia 1-0 in their Euro 2024 opener, it was a rather drab affair that might have ended in a draw without Jude Bellingham's input. The Three Lions were nowhere near their best, and there were concerns that the same would occur against Denmark.

It did, but only worse. England needed a win against the Danes to reach the knockout stages of Euro 2024 with a group game to spare. They started well with Harry Kane breaking the deadlock in the 18th minute.

However, the Three Lions essentially began playing a defensive game that let their opponents back in, with Denmark scoring the equalizer through Morten Hjulmand in the 34th minute.