Wayne Rooney Reveals Sam Allardyce Apology for Remark After Slovakia vs. England

Wayne Rooney has revealed that Sam Allardyce apologised to him for declaring it was "not for me to say" where the Manchester United star should play, a claim for which the England captain feels he was "slaughtered." 

Allardyce, now the former England manager, made the comments following his first game in charge of the Three Lions in September—a 1-0 win over Slovakia—after which Rooney received a lot of criticism for dropping too deep in a midfield role, per BBC Sport.

Ahead of England's first game under interim manager Gareth Southgate—against Malta at Wembley on Saturday—Rooney insisted there has never been any truth in the claim he plays where he wants for the national side, per Sky Sports' Michael Kelleher:

"

Sam came out and said I play where I want but it couldn't be further from the truth, I play to instructions.

I got battered in many different ways for my performance, which I felt was actually a decent performance.

I don't pick myself, I haven't ever picked myself. I didn't come in and say: "I want to play here or there." I played where I was asked to play. That was a big misunderstanding and I seemed to get slaughtered for it. I suffered from that.

He knew he had made a mistake. He said that to me on the plane home. That's part of being involved at this level. He understood that quite early and unfortunately he doesn't have the chance to rectify that now.

"

Rooney has endured a tricky 2016-17 season at United and recently lost his place in manager Jose Mourinho's starting XI—he has not started any of the Red Devils' last three matches.

However, Southgate has kept faith with the 30-year-old and confirmed soon after he was appointed in his interim role that the United star would remain as England captain.

As discussed by a Bleacher Report panel, calls for Rooney to be benched at Old Trafford came long before Mourinho actually took the decision to remove him from the starting lineup:

And, given his relatively poor form this season, there are many who believe he should no longer be a guaranteed starter for the national team, including seven writers for the Times.

Despite keeping him as captain, Southgate has made no guarantees that Rooney will start in England's two upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers—after Malta, England face Slovenia on Oct. 11.

The former Middlesbrough boss refused to confirm on Tuesday whether Rooney will start against Malta, indicating holding the captaincy does not mean he will necessarily be picked, per Mark Ogden in The Independent: "I think people can lead without being on the pitch, but I'm not saying that will be the case this weekend. I think you have to have leaders who aren't in the team because if you base your leadership group on those who are playing, then it’s a bit of a weakness."

Clearly, though, Rooney will be desperate to prove he is worthy of a starting spot, especially given how little he has played recently for United.

Despite the recent upheaval over the managerial situation, England are still expected to beat Malta comfortably at home, and Rooney will be eager to find the back of the net and show he can still make key contributions for the national side.