Graeme Souness has admitted turning the sound down when listening to some pundits involved in football, but has offered praise for Wayne Rooney’s transition into broadcasting.
Souness had worked as a pundit on Sky Sports over 15 years, before opting to step down at the end of the 2022-23 Premier League season.
The 72-year-old, who starred for Liverpool during his playing career, offered praise for ex-Man United and England star Rooney’s move into punditry.
Rooney has become a regular on the BBC’s flagship Match of the Day highlights show this season, after reportedly landing a £800,000-a-year deal.
Man United’s record goalscorer has also offered his views on the Wayne Rooney Show, while he has worked on Amazon Prime’s coverage of the Champions League.
Rooney’s move into punditry has followed underwhelming recent spells as manager, having had short stints in charge of Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle in the past two years.
Graeme Souness has praised Wayne Rooney’s transition into becoming a football pundit
The former Man United star has offered bold opinions since moving into a punditry role
Souness has praised Rooney’s work as a pundit to date, with the Scotsman noting Rooney’s ‘common sense’ and authority when analysing games.
By contrast, Souness revealed he has to turn sound down when listening to some other pundits contributions.
‘I like listening to Wayne Rooney as a pundit because he talks common sense,’ Souness said, courtesy of Sky Bet.
‘If you’re putting together an all-time Manchester United team, Wayne Rooney is one of the first names on the sheet – he was a real warrior.
‘I love Wayne Rooney as a player, and I like to listen to him – he has got authority so I can listen to him.
‘Some of the other pundits, I turn the sound down.’
Rooney had last week gone head-to-head with Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk in a pitchside exchange after their 1-0 victory over Real Madrid.
The former Man United forward had taken aim at Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah’s approach to leading Liverpool during their recent slump in form, while labelling their mannerisms as a ‘big concern’.
Rooney was last week involved in a tense live interview with Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk
It followed Rooney’s criticism of the Liverpool captain’s leadership of his side amid a slump in form
Days after Van Dijk’s had labelled Rooney’s criticism as ‘lazy’ he joined the pundit post-match on Amazon Prime.
Van Dijk referenced the criticism his team have been putting up with, saying: ‘In a world of chaos you have to try to stay calm and take the perspective of things. There’s so much football to be played, so many twists and turns can happen. At the time the noise was a lot…’
‘I think it’s very important to put things in perspective, keep your head down to work and get out of the situation, because we have quality that’s not the issue.’
Van Dijk continued: ‘I think all of you know you’re dealing with a squad of 25 player a lot of young players and a couple of older players like myself, everyone lives a different life.
‘Me personally, it doesn’t affect me but I’m dealing with some players who might be.’
‘If you lose games as a Liverpool player, four or five in a row, it’s a fair criticism, but I think its over the top at times as well. But that’s because we live in a world where there’s so many platforms, so many people can say stuff and will be picked up and made bigger.
‘I think it’s good that when ex-players who’ve played at the highest level, who dealt with difficult moments, put a lot of things in perspective…’
Rooney made light of the awkward situation and addressed the elephant in the room.
Souness, who worked as a pundit for Sky Sports for 15 years, admits he turns the sound down when some offer their opinions on matches
He joked: ‘I’m not saying anything any more, I think I’ve spurred them on and put them on a winning streak!’
Rooney then defended his previous criticism, saying: ‘What I’ve said was fair, when you win the Premier League and go on a run where you lose games in a row that you don’t expect of the Liverpool of the last few years…
‘Virgil as captain that’s your opportunity to go and lead the players, and that’s what I was saying. I think that happens in football, I think the response has been great from Virgil and from the team.’
Van Dijk responded: ‘I think if you watch games, I definitely take responsibility! I think the comment that I signed the new deal and then it’s like “that’s it” and “I’ll let it slide”, I think that’s a bit… but that’s my personal opinion.’
Rooney had also given his views recently on Enzo Maresca’s rotation of his Chelsea side, suggesting star names should ‘privately question’ the Blues boss.
Maresca defended his rotation policy by saying criticism of his changes only emerges when his side do not win, while stressing it will benefit his side in the long-term.
