Captain Fatso! Manchester United and England's Wayne Rooney BLASTED by Norway skipper

Posted Wednesday, September 03, 2014 by Dailystar.co.uk

Captain Fatso! Manchester United and England's Wayne Rooney BLASTED by Norway skipper
WAYNE ROONEY was yesterday branded England's 'captain fatso'.

OUT OF ORDER: Forren slates Rooney

And Rooney was also subjected to an astonishing blast from former Manchester United and England defender Paul Parker.

Rooney will lead England out at Wembley for the first time as permanent skipper tonight against Norway.

But opposing captain Vegard Forren has stoked things up before the friendly by claiming England's star man is out of shape.

Asked whether he was worried about the pace of the Three Lions at Wembley, Southampton flop Forren said: "No, Rooney looks a bit chubby."

Diplomatic Rooney refused to be drawn into a row and said: "To be honest I'm not really too interested." Captain Fatso! Manchester United and England's Wayne Rooney BLASTED by Norway skipper

But boss Roy Hodgson came to the defence of his skipper and said: "I think Wayne is in fantastic physical condition."

Rooney struggled to name any Norway players when quizzed yesterday, but will now be aware of the Molde centre-half after his surprising outburst.

Rooney looked in good shape yesterday but it is not the first time his weight has been called into question.

Former Arsenal boss George Graham said a year ago he felt the striker is "liable to put on weight".

And in his 2012 book, 'My Decade in the Premier League', Rooney himself revealed he turned up for training prior to the start of the 2009-10 season seven pounds overweight.

"Coming back for pre-season after a few bevvies and a few weeks away from a ball is physically tough," he wrote.

"I'm stocky. I gain weight quite easily. It's not a problem though."

But despite his efforts to get in shape after the summer lay-off, Parker pulled no punches in his assessment of Rooney's start to the campaign and his suitably to skipper United.

Parker, now a television pundit, said: "He's been awful. There he was at Burnley this weekend, supposedly captaining the team - but I saw a player interested only in himself, doing nothing to try and lift his game or inspire his team-mates.

"The only thing in any way remarkable about his performance is that he collects £300,000 a week to play that badly.

"Once Robin van Persie is fully-fit again, Rooney must be the person to be dropped from United's new attacking line-up: for me, it'll be RVP and Falcao every time.

"And though there's lots of talk about him playing in the hole behind that front two, I think that'd be a huge mistake - why would you have Rooney there when Juan Mata or Angel Di Maria would do the job so much better?

"That'll leave Louis Van Gaal with a big call to make: dropping Wayne Rooney. He's always shown in his career that he's not afraid of the big decisions."

Rooney and his England team-mates kick-off their efforts to win back the hearts and minds of England fans tonight at Wembley, following the World Cup disaster in Brazil.

Only 40,000 - a record low at the new stadium - are expected for the game, which comes five days before a crunch Euro 2016 qualifier in Switzerland.

Everton's John Stones, 20, will make his first start for his country, while Jack Colback and Danny Welbeck are set to miss out after picking up injuries in training.

BIT CHUBBY? Forren slates Rooney ahead of friendly