England head coach Sam Allardyce has urged his captain Wayne Rooney to follow the leadership example set by Jay-Jay Okocha during his time in charge of Bolton Wanderers.
Okocha is one the Premier League’s biggest icons having shown an array of incredible skills during his time in England with Bolton as Big Sam put together a brilliant team of former world beaters.
The England manager once had the likes of Ivan Campo, Fernando Hierro and Youri Djorkaeff in his team that surprised many to finish in the top six on a couple of occasions.
There were rumours over Rooney’s future as captain but Allardyce confirmed his intentions to keep the Manchester United skipper wearing the armband, but he’s urged him to follow a certain path.
“On and off the field, Jay Jay was the captain you looked for,” Allardyce said. “In a multi-national side from all over the world, he could speak four different languages and communicate very well with some of the players who couldn’t speak quite as good English.
“He sorted the odd scuffle out in the dressing room, talked to the players about how we had to go out and win. He’d take the manager’s instructions and apply them in the right way.
“Then there was outstanding ability on the field, leading by example and showing everybody he wasn’t a mercenary which was suggested in the beginning, that he’d only come for the money.”
Rooney has been England’s captain since the summer of 2014 when Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard hung up their boots at international level.With no Rio Ferdinand or John Terry around, it was Rooney – who made his debut 11 years earlier – who would take on the mantle of being his country’s captain.
A year later he became England’s all-time top scorer by netting his 50th goal against Switzerland, and the attacker has since added three more, with his most recent coming in the Three Lions’ 2-1 defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016.
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