Manchester City midfielder James Milner has praised his England colleague Wayne Rooney following the Manchester United star’s impressive showings against Switzerland and Bulgaria.
Despite being embroiled in some intense tabloid speculation regarding the 24-year-old’s private life, the Manchester United forward was instrumental in both victories, and although he only scored one goal, the aforementioned Manchester City player believes his Premier League counterpart brings far more to the table than merely goals.
Prior to Tuesday’s night’s victory over Switzerland several reports suggested Rooney may be rested for the match due to his mental state, but instead the striker scored his 26th international goal and his first for a year, but Milner believes the Old Trafford talisman should not be judged solely on goals.
Milner told ESPN: "He probably deserved to get a goal against Bulgaria the other night because he was outstanding and created a lot of goals.
“He is a world class player so, whenever he steps out onto a football pitch, he is going to cause problems and score goals.
"As a striker you are judged by goals and if you go a few games without a goal, people are going to say stuff.
“But he brings so much to the team anyway - work-rate, ability, setting up goals, the vision. It helps when he is scoring goals but he is bringing everything to the table anyway.''