"Rooney is a brilliant footballer and, believe me, there is so much more to this game than scoring goals.
"I find it amazing, but not surprising, that one of the best players in the world is being criticised.
"There's nothing this lad cannot do. He can lead the line brilliantly, he has phenomenal strength and has a wonderful football brain.
"Rooney is quite simply sensational. He has the ability to win matches single-handedly.
"We saw for ourselves last season what he's capable of but people can say what they like about him because the only thing he will be interested in, is wanting to know if his manager has picked him. This applies to footballers across the board."