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Wayne Rooney Christmas schedule complaints are 'utterly disrespectful', says former Manchester United right-back Paul Parker
Former United man has blasted club captain after he said there were too many games over the Christmas period
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Your support makes all the difference.Paul Parker must not like Wayne Rooney very much.
The former Manchester United defender has, again, gone on a sensational rant about the England man after he complained that the hectic Christmas period should be scrapped because it could cause injury.
With leagues across Europe currently enjoying their winter break, Premier League teams have to play three matches in less than a week.
"It is not easy playing two games in two days and you do lose a lot of the quality from both teams," said Rooney. "It is difficult. We started so well in the first half but in the second half it was tough and hopefully in the future it has to change.
"It will probably take someone getting a really bad injury from doing it (playing twice in two days), which no-one wants to see, but it is very demanding and I think it does need looking at.
But Parker was not impressed by Rooney's complaints.
Writing on his Eurosport blog, the former right-back said: "It was insensitive and utterly disrespectful to the people who pay his wages. The festive fixture list is one of the greatest football customs in this country, and it makes me wonder if he has lost touch with his roots.
"He says it will take a serious injury for things to change - what an inappropriate thing to say.
"It's particularly disappointing to hear it from the England captain. At times it seems that foreigners respect English football's traditions more than we do ourselves."
It's not the first time this season that Rooney has infuriated the 50-year-old; back in September Parker called for the striker to be dropped after the 0-0 draw with Burnley.
"As for Wayne Rooney, he's been awful," Parker said. "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."
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