Wayne Rooney slams previous England managers for omitting Michael Carrick from National squad

Wayne Rooney has accused successive England managers of taking the easy option by snubbing Michael Carrick and favouring ‘big names’.

Manchester United midfielder Carrick won only his 33rd cap in the 14 years since his full Three Lions debut when he arrived as a sub against Italy on Tuesday and turned the tide to earn Roy Hodgson’s side a 1-1 draw.

Carrick was the forgotten man of the ‘golden generation’ - consistently overlooked by Sven Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren and Fabio Capello as fellow midfielder Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and David Beckham all clocked up more than 100 caps.

Eriksson, in particular, often seemed starstruck by those stellar names.

But current England captain Rooney says Carrick – who was left out of last summer’s World Cup squad by Hodgson – is not under-estimated at Manchester United, where he has won five Premier League titles and a European Cup.

Now, at the age of 33, Carrick could finally become a nailed-on international starter.

Remarkably, he will become the longest-serving England outfield player since Sir Stanley Matthews if he makes it to the Euro 2016 finals in France next summer.

Club and country colleague Rooney said: “I think Michael is ready to be an integral part of the team. I think he was probably more of an easy choice to leave out of the England team when we had big-name players in the squad – unfortunately, that’s how it’s been for Michael.

“But I always felt he should be in the team and certainly in these past two performances (against Lithuania and Italy over the past week) he has done himself no harm.

“He is certainly not under-estimated by me, and certainly not by Manchester United fans either. I think he is a fantastic player, he has been a big reason why United have won so many trophies. So from myself and his team-mates, he has not been under-estimated.”

The assured Geordie playmaker has always looked ideally suited to the slower, more tactical nature of international football.

Yet in a career which has spanned four World Cups, Carrick has played only ONE match on football’s grandest stage – against Ecuador in the last 16 of Germany 2006.

And Rooney acknowledged England’s performance in Turin was transformed when Carrick replaced the ill Chris Smalling before half-time, with Phil Jones dropping back from a midfield holding role into central defence.

The Jones experiment was part of an unusual starting line-up which failed against Italy – Rooney also started off in midfield but only impressed once he was moved up alongside Harry Kane in attack.

Rooney said: “I felt Michael was the best player on the pitch by a mile. He gave us great composure, he slowed the game down when we needed to and started our attacks really well.

“At half-time, we were all disappointed with the way we’d played. Even though we had a lot of changes we know we are better than that.

“Our preparations weren’t reflected in what we showed in the first 45 minutes. We showed good character in the second half, we dominated, created the best chances and were unlucky not to win.

“We were trying a few different things out because you never know with injuries and suspensions when it comes to tournament football and the best time to experiment is in friendlies.

 “You could clearly see in the first half that it didn’t work, so I think the manager made good changes which helped us back into the game. I hadn’t played in midfield for a few weeks and sometimes it is difficult to go from up front to midfield or from midfield to up front. I had a few chances and could have scored, so I felt I played better when I went up front.

“I’m not making excuses. In midfield, I didn’t perform at all well. I know I can play that position. But in the second half we dominated and showed that we are, I think, a better footballing side than Italy.

“When they have gone in front, they can be really good at trying to kill the game. We didn’t let them do that. I don’t think they coped well physically. They tired in the last 10 or 15 minutes and we should have punished them.”

Rooney is close to returning to Champions League football next season, after a 2-1 win at Liverpool before the international break left United five points clear of their bitter rivals in the fight for fourth place.

He said: “We are in a good position, it’s in our own hands, so we have to make sure we do it.

“It was an important win (at Liverpool) but that means nothing if we don’t beat Aston Villa on Saturday.

"With Arsenal playing Liverpool the same day, if we can get the win against Villa it would be an even better result than the Liverpool one was for us.”