Wayne Rooney has been getting a lot of stick this season for his lack of form and has been dropped from Manchester United and now England. With the fans of club and country calling for his head before this point, is it all justified?

Look, I’m an Arsenal fan and do I dislike Rooney? Of course. But I respect him as a player. His aggression, determination and motivation to succeed is something that Arsenal could have done with, especially in our barren spells pre-2014.

Yes, his form has dipped but does he deserve to be slated like he has done? He’s a player who has given his all to Manchester United and England for the best part of the decade. He’s never moaned or whined, and for me has been nothing but a team player.

He sacrificed his own glory to accommodate a certain Cristiano Ronaldo to flourish and for England he has always given 110%. Yes he’s lost a little pace but who doesn’t in their 30’s. This is a guy who has played in excess of 40 games per season and has played in major tournaments for his country.

Most of what I’ve heard from football fans and experts is that “Rooney should have been dropped a long time ago” and that “he’s well passed it”. Well for me that is disrespectful to a player who has always just gone on and given it his all on the football pitch.

Even when he was officially dropped by Gareth Southgate, did Wayne Rooney decide to sulk and miss the press conference? No he did not. He went out there and answered all the snide questions he knew he would get from the press, and faced the situation head on.

You talk about a lot of cowards in the game today, players who are over pampered and are out of touch with reality. Players who whinge and moan at the earliest opportunity, and those who demand to be in the starting eleven.

Has Wayne Rooney ever been like that? No he hasn’t and for that he deserves our respect.