Rooney: I Want To Be England's Cantona

On the opening day of the 1995-1996 season, Alan Hansen famously wrote off our title chances, claiming that you couldn’t win anything with kids.

A couple of months later, Eric Cantona returned from his suspension and went on to help lead our team of kids to winning the Double.

Wayne Rooney has today claimed that he wants to have the same effect on England’s younger players and help inspire them to success.

“I hope it is time for me to show I am a senior player and that I can lead the team,” he said. “I understand the scrutiny I’m under and I have no problems with that. Hopefully in the near future we will be coming out of a tournament and you will all be praising me because we have won a trophy. That would be great for everyone. It’s especially important now, when we have a lot of young players in the squad. I always try to speak to them and offer advice. I always remember what Sir Alex Ferguson says about how Eric Cantona was such a big help to the younger players at United. It is something I can look at and try do for England, to try to help them. Hopefully I can bring the best out of them and they can bring the best out of me as well.”