Sir Alex Ferguson contacted Wayne Rooney over England disharmony

Rooney apologised to England’s supporters following his televised condemnation of the boos that greeted the final whistle of Friday’s World Cup stalemate.
The Manchester United player’s furious reaction to the supporters’ jeers, followed by John Terry’s revelation of a players’ meeting with Capello, have combined to portray a sense of disharmony within the England camp.

And United manager Ferguson, speaking to Sirius XM, a New York radio station, claims he spoke to Rooney after sensing problems among the England party.
Ferguson said: “I didn’t watch the Algeria game, I was out with friends, but I just get a feeling that the expectation is affecting the England team.
“Sometimes the expectation can be debilitating in terms of getting the players to perform to the levels required to get through this group.
“I had that feeling. I spoke to Wayne Rooney last week and just said, ‘relax and enjoy it.’ I just sensed there was a tension in and around the camp from what I was hearing.
“You won’t get the same harmony (in international squads) because coaches don’t have the players every day.
“With a club, you live with them, you see them every day and you get to know their personalities.
“International managers don’t have that and that is the handicap they have.”
Ferguson, a long-term advocate of a winter break in the Premier League, believes England’s poor showing in South Africa can also be attributed to fatigue following a draining domestic campaign.
He said: “The season we have in Europe, particularly in England, is tough.
“The (England) players all met up about 3-4 days after the season finished and they have been together for most of that time, after a long, hard season.
“It’s a real task to ask players to perform at the best level they can achieve after the season in England.
“Germany always take that month-long break in January and they always seem to do better in World Cups than anyone ever expects.
“Even though they are not as strong as German teams in the past, they still manage to do something in World Cups.
“It’s been a disappointing World Cup, but I had a feeling it would be. I have been disappointed with the quality levels, I have to say.”
England’s problems have been overshadowed by the chaos of the France squad, with the expulsion of Nicolas Anelka sparking a player revolt on Sunday.
Ferguson said: “There seems to be a lot of disharmony in their camp, but it was bad preparation for the players to know that Raymond Domenech was leaving, knowing that Laurent Blanc is going to be coming in as coach after the World Cup.
“I thought they should have brought Blanc along as an overseer or assistant. Maybe he would have had a calming influence and brought a bit of harmony into the squad.
“They have been terrible. I didn’t expect them to do well, but I expected better than what we have seen.”