Wayne Rooney was furious after he was substituted on Saturday afternoon.
Rooney was taken off before the hour mark during the goalless draw between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park. It was the second game in a row where the former Manchester United and England captain was substituted after 57 minutes, after struggling the week before against Manchester City.
Rooney was noticeably frustrated when substituted against Liverpool. He stormed past manager Sam Allardyce on the sidelines and appeared to call the decision to take him off “bullshit.”
Rooney’s frustration was understandable. He’s an Evertonian and would have loved nothing more than to score the winning goal to give the Toffees their first victory against Liverpool since 2010. However, Allardyce’s decision to remove him from the match was also understandable.
The 32-year-old was poor in the game, struggling to influence proceedings from central midfield. Rooney completed just 12 passes in the game, after registering only five successful passes in the previous game against City. He also appeared to tire as the match wore on and was arguably lucky to last as long as he did.
Allardyce didn’t spare the feelings of his most famous player following the match. The former England manager said that Rooney “struggles” in matches against elite opponents.
Here's something @RobRedmond10 wrote last summer when Rooney joined Everton https://t.co/Gu9fu9mNoU
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 7, 2018
“I can agree with you, to a certain degree, that Wayne struggles against the very best opposition,” Allardyce told reporters following the Merseyside derby on Saturday.
“He didn’t play very well in the first half against Manchester City but, before that, he had been outstanding and we had been a little bit short in Âmidfield in recent weeks anyway.”
Allardyce said he brought Idrissa Gana Gueye on to replace Rooney because “our passing sometimes got a bit woeful” and that the player should have waited until they were in a private setting to express his frustrations.
You don't need to be a lipreader to work out what he said https://t.co/uWlX5ZNQ19
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 7, 2018
“He can say whatever he wants to me in the office but it has to be done between the four walls of the office between me and him,” the former Sunderland coach said.
“He’s an Evertonian through and through and he’s been brought off in a derby game. I’d expect a reaction because that’s how much he cares. That’s fine by me. I wouldn’t expect him to smile and say, ‘All right gaffer, well done’. The three substitutions, no matter how disappointed anyone is when they are substituted, made a big impact and almost helped us win the game. I understand the ones who get brought off are disappointed but I made those decisions for the benefit of the team and they benefited the team today. Nobody is too big to be hooked.”
Allardyce has a point about Rooney struggling against elite opponents. He has had a brilliant career, and no-one can ever deny that he was a wonderful player who has achieved fantastic feats, winning every trophy possible at club level and becoming the record goalscorer for England and Manchester United. However, the days of him making a difference at the top level of the sport appear to be over, and he has been in decline for several seasons.
He can probably still play a part for Everton against lesser opponents, but he may need to adjust his expectations and that means accepting that he won’t always play 90 minutes.
