Rooney disagrees with Gerrard's England take

""Obviously, we didn't win anything," Rooney said. "I wouldn't quite put it that way but I know what he's saying. There was a lot of big characters in the dressing room.""

""I wouldn't say [current England squads have a] better attitude. That's disrespectful to us as players because we worked hard, we tried. We didn't quite manage to do it.""

""What you have now is [rival] players training together before they go back to preseason together -- Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford for instance. It's a different generation. The big thing is the media coverage of it is much better. The players get on better with the media. From the outside that gives a better feeling.""

Wayne Rooney said he does not believe current England squads possess a better attitude than his generation and defended the effort and work ethic of his teammates. Steven Gerrard described that era as lacking silverware due to key players being "egotistical losers" and said "we weren't a team." Rooney acknowledged many big characters in the dressing room and said the team simply did not manage to convert talent into trophies. Rooney noted improved relationships among rival-club players today and better media coverage, citing Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford as examples of closer training and preseason bonds.

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