Rooney blames cell phones & social media for lack of leaders in English football

Wayne Rooney has blamed mobile phones and social media for the decline in leadership qualities among footballers in England.

The former Manchester United and England captain, now in charge of Championship club Birmingham, says dressing rooms are a quieter place than during his playing career and believes the increasing use of mobile devices holds the key to it.

He said: ‘I speak to players about it all the time – communication. Not just here but with every team, you see a real lack of people talking on the pitch and helping each other.

‘The amount of time you see people on their phones, social media… it’s so easy to have conversations on your phone and through those platforms rather than the most important one which is actually speaking to someone face to face. Certainly on a football pitch that has changed over the years, there is no doubt about that.

‘It’s trying to get the players to speak more. The more you speak the more you help your team-mate, the more you wake up your team-mate on the pitch, just by communicating.

‘When you’re a defender you need to be talking to your midfield players, whether you ask them to shuffle left, right, get to the ball.

‘When you’re a midfield player you need to be talking to your attacking players and that helps your team-mate. That’s how football works and how it’s always been.

‘As a defender you can see more that a midfielder can see from being at the back, same with your goalkeeper to the back four. Talking helps and that’s always been the way it’s been on the pitch.’

Rooney is still looking for his first win as Blues boss after four games in charge. On Saturday his team face Sunderland, who have Jobe Bellingham – the younger brother of Jude – in their squad.

Like Jude, Jobe progressed