Roy Hodgson: 'I'm worried how England captaincy may affect Wayne Rooney'

By Kristian Johnson, Reporter | 09 November 2014

Roy Hodgson says that he is worried how the weight of responsibility that comes with the England captaincy may affect Wayne Rooney.

Roy Hodgson has admitted that he is worried that the weight of responsibility that comes with the England captaincy could negatively affect Wayne Rooney.

The 29-year-old was appointed England captain in the summer following Steven Gerrard's retirement from international football and was also named as the new Manchester United skipper under Louis van Gaal.

Although Hodgson believes that Rooney is "coping with it well", the England boss has voiced his concern that the weight of responsibility may burden his captain.

"I worry that the responsibility is going to weigh him down," Hodgson told BBC Sport. "We do all we can, myself and the coaching staff, to ensure that won't happen with us.

"At the moment I think he's coping with it well, but we'll have to keep an eye on the situation, as will Louis [van Gaal], to make sure it doesn't weigh him down.

"I remember making the point fairly recently that he's really taken on this job as captain with enormous seriousness.

"He's studied and talked a lot with Steven Gerrard. He spends a lot of time with the younger players. And obviously with me he's very good. If there's anything he thinks I should be made aware of, he makes me aware of it."

Rooney will win his 100th England cap when he leads out the Three Lions against Slovenia in next Saturday's Group E Euro 2016 qualifier.