Frank Lampard has launched a staunch defence of
England team-mate Wayne Rooney, blasting critics
of the Manchester United star and dismissing as
"lazy" those who have labelled the striker "thick".
- Rooney won't be rushed back
Rooney is currently training in the United States in a
bid to regain top condition after a difficult few
weeks in England, in which he hit the front and
back pages thanks to his dramatic United contract
U-turn and lurid allegations about his private life.
But Chelsea midfielder Lampard believes recent
criticism of the former Everton forward is wholly
unjustified and insists the Rooney he knows is
nothing like the one painted by the media.
"People who call him thick, it's just a lazy thing to
say by looking at him and saying 'he's a footballer,
he looks quite tough because he's come from that
background' and all that kind of stuff and the way
he plays, but he is sharp," Lampard told BBC Radio
Five Live.
"I think the people who are calling him thick have
got a certain element of thickness about them,
because they haven't even invested the time to
speak to him. He doesn't speak to the press that
much for them to make that judgement of him.
"He's a confident boy, and he has a sensitive side
to him. During the World Cup we'd sit in a room
together and watch some of the other games and
stuff like that.
"If you read the headlines of the last few weeks
you can get an impression of someone but he's a
very sensitive lad, you can have a good
conversation with him about anything you want.
He's a very cute, worldly lad for how young he is.
He has no problem relating to older players, he
treats everyone the same.
"Some people like to align themselves to the bigger
names in the squad, to speak to certain players or
stick to their own little group. Wayne talks to David
Beckham the same as he would to a new player
who's just come into the squad from Stoke or
Bolton, and that's the beauty of him I think as a
person.
"He's got a great sense of humour. I love being
around people who will make me laugh, and he
makes you laugh constantly. When you're sat at a
dinner table with 20 people he can dominate the
conversation just through wit and the confidence
in the way he speaks.''
Lampard recalled Rooney made an instant
impression on him when he was first called up by
England.
"He looks like he has this bulldog way about him, a
little powerhouse, and then the first day he trained
you could see he had this touch and awareness
that was...like a genius touch,'' he said.
"I'd only seen three players in my career like that -
Paolo Di Canio, Gianfranco Zola and Paul Gascoigne
when I was a kid training with England - that had
this genius kind of thing about them, and Wayne
had that instantly as a 17-year-old.''
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