Wayne Rooney has explained why he understands Phil Foden's 'frustration' during his time with the England squad at last summer's European Championships.

Foden spoke to the Manchester Evening News in an exclusive interview, where he reflected on his performances at Euro 2024. The Three Lions reached the final of the competition before losing to Spain, although Foden did not contribute a single goal or assist during the tournament.

The Manchester City star scored 27 goals during the 2023/24 season on the way to winning the Premier League title. However, Foden admitted that he was disappointed with his instructions when starring for his country last summer.

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"I feel frustrated I didn't get out what I wanted to get out of it," said Foden. "The position I was put in on the left was very difficult to influence the game.

"Coming off last season being the best player in the Premier League and playing centre-midfield, I do feel the position was quite difficult to get used to. I'm one who can play multiple positions and had to try to deal with it the best I could. I don't feel like England ever got going or performed to our potential."

Rooney, who scored 373 goals across his career for club and country, including 253 for Manchester United, has spoken about the recent comments from Foden. The United legend says he understands Foden's point of view, explaining why he would have struggled in a similar situation during his playing days.

“I look at it a way where if I was comfortable playing on the left, I could play on the left," said Rooney on the Stick to Football podcast from Sky Bet. "But I hated playing on the right, so I think I agree with him [Foden] in terms of being left-footed, it’s harder coming inside – which when I was right-footed playing off the right, I used to hate it.

“So I can half see it, but I think now the game's so much different. There's that much rotation in possession – in possession, he was never stuck on the left. He was never stuck out wide, he was coming inside.

“If anything, they had too many players. They had himself, Jude [Bellingham], Harry [Kane] dropping in, so they were actually clogging it up a bit. Sometimes you’ve just got to move on from it.

"But I agree – if he’s asked to get the ball, stay out wide, get a cross in the box, he can happily do that. But it is a lot harder.”