19 December 2023 , 12:44
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Wayne Rooney has accused his Birmingham City players of being "naive" after their 3-2 home defeat to Leicester on Monday.
Rooney is under huge pressure at St Andrew's after his questionable appointment in October. Birmingham, who are co-owned by NFL icon Tom Brady, gambled when they sacked John Eustace to make room for Rooney. They were sixth in the table at the time.
Birmingham are now 17th in the Championship and just six points above the relegation zone, with Rooney winning just two of his 11 games in charge. Monday's defeat was particularly embarrassing, as off-pitch rival Jamie Vardy plays for Leicester.
Rooney's wife Coleen and Vardy's wife Rebekah were embroiled in a long legal battle after the former accused the latter of leaking private stories about her to the press. A libel case ended up at the High Court in 2022, with Rebekah on the losing side.
Vardy didn't feature on Monday due to injury. Leicester opened the scoring in the 10th minute when Stephy Mavididi completed a blistering counter attack. Birmingham hit the post just seconds before that goal, adding to Rooney's despair.
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Jordan James equalised moments later, but Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall converted another breakaway attack to restore Leicester's lead before Mavididi scored just after half-time. James completed his brace before half-time, but the visitors held on for the victory.
"I’m very disappointed to lose the game," Rooney told Sky Sports at full-time. "I thought for 30 minutes we were really good and had good control of the game. We pressed really well and created chances, then something we spoke about (happened)."
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Rooney was disappointed with his players for failing to stop Leicester's counter attacks. The former England and Manchester United captain added: "Leicester are very good on transition. Sometimes you have to take a yellow card. Bit naivety in that.
"Then for the last 10 minutes of the first half, for some reason, we didn’t sit back but we stopped getting pressure on the ball and allowed them to have control. That carried on into the second half and we were a little bit sloppy.
"I said to the lads at half-time, 'If we don’t secure the ball in the middle of the pitch, they will punish us'. And that’s exactly what happened for the third goal. We kept pushing. I brought attacking lads on with energy.
"Ultimately, it ended up with every attacking player I’ve got on the pitch, but we fell a bit short. The character of the players was really good. Let’s not forget, there’s a reason Leicester are top of the league. We competed and at times showed real quality as well."