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The BBC punditry trio Wayne Rooney, Micah Richards and Joe Hart are fresh off a boat on New York’s Hudson River after an attempt to honour Rooney’s declaration that he would “row the River Mersey” if Norway reached the World Cup quarter-final. They did, prompting Erling Haaland to tease Rooney, saying: “I’m looking forward to seeing you, Wayney boy.”
How was it?
Wayne Rooney: “It was more relaxing than I thought. Once we got into a nice little rhythm, we were OK. A couple of other times we came out of the rhythm and Micah nearly killed my back. But no, it was good. Harty looks like he’s been doing it for years. So it was actually enjoyable.”
Micah Richards: “It was good fun. I wouldn’t pick it to do it again, but I enjoyed it – there for the lads.”
Joe Hart: “It sums up how we’ve been the whole World Cup, as a trio. None of us were so comfy doing it but no one cared, we all got on with it and it was a good laugh. And Wazza said he was going to do it and he has done it, so he’s a man of his word.”
Their first time working together at the World Cup was England’s second group game, the goalless draw with Ghana on 23 June, but it revealed an instant chemistry between the three.
JH: “It’s gone well because, while we’re all very professional in what we’re doing, we also go way back – like a long way back – and that’s important. It means that we’re ourselves and feel comfortable around each other. Gabby [Logan], Kelly [Cates] and Chappers [Mark Chapman] have been unreal as presenters in getting the best out of us. As a group we’ve really found something.”
WR: “It’s strange in a way, but it’s very similar to when you’re playing on the pitch. We all have our bits of analysis to do but in terms of when we’re talking, you don’t want to speak over someone else, so it’s about eye contact and understanding when you’re coming in next. It’s really good chemistry.”
How far do you go back?
MR: “Harty – for me, it would have been when you arrived [at Manchester City] from Shrewsbury [in 2006], wouldn’t it?”
JH: “I met Micah when I was 19, he was 18 – so over 20 years ago. And then obviously Wayne was in the England team from when he was like 12 [laughs].”
WR: “I met you, Micah, the first time you were in the England squad [November 2006] and I remember thinking: ‘Who’s this loud lad coming in?’ So we’ve played with and against each other, we enjoy each other’s company and we’ve all had different careers in different ways and are very respectful of what we’ve achieved and, most importantly, now what we’re doing.
“We’re respectful of each other’s opinions. And what helps, too, is that before the show there’s a lot of preparation – we try to talk and help each other out alongside the producers, who do it so well.”
How easy is it to be as honest as you all are when offering opinions?
JH: “I find it easy because no one’s right. You may say your opinion isn’t as valid as mine because you haven’t played the game. But I don’t think it matters – as long as you’re being fair, then fine. I’ll die on my sword for this but I’ll always represent the players because I feel like you can’t forget what it’s like to be out there. That’s not giving them excuses, but explaining why certain things happen because, especially at the World Cup, the level is unbelievable. So it’d be lazy to say someone’s not a good player. But there’s reasons why they may have difficult games and usually it’s down to the opposition or circumstances. So it’s just about trying to paint that picture as best you can from a professional point of view.”
MR: “From my point of view, Joe and Wayne deserve huge credit for the way they’ve applied themselves and performed because with the BBC, there have been as many as 24 million viewers. This is your first tournament Wayne, I believe?
WR: “Well, I’ve done a couple of games before.”
MR: “Your first when you’re doing it properly, then, and you’re on every single time. And Joe as well – you did a little bit of the last Euros, didn’t you?”
JH: “I’ve done pitch-side stuff before.”
MR: “So for them to be in the studio and perform the way they are, I think it’s sensational. It’s very hard, especially when you’re in Salford and we all see ITV’s fancy studio [in New York] – we have to work a little bit harder to keep the audience engaged.”
WR: “Just on that – ITV [their experts] haven’t been to a game, have they? We’ve been here for three days and already been to more than them [England’s semi-final]!”
MR: “Our chemistry – we’ve just come out of the dressing room, haven’t we? We’ve still got that banter and we want to be relatable on air. We know broadcasting can be difficult at times but going back to your question about honesty: we’re just honest, you know, the same on air as off.”
WR: “There’s a good blend between us. Joe’s completely right about defending the players as well. There’s times where we’ve all been criticised when we were players and it’s not nice. But from my point of view I don’t mind criticising but as long as it’s constructive and it’s in the right way. Like when I’ve said a player has not had a good game: I’ll say that if I feel the player will know he has not had a good game.
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“Like after the last game [England’s 2-1 defeat by Argentina] – I felt it was a mistake by Thomas Tuchel to go defensive. It’s important to say that because if you are sitting at home and you say the players were brilliant when they were not or Tuchel was brilliant when he wasn’t, then you know you’re not going to listen to what we say.”
You were certainly relatable after Harry Kane’s voice went squeaky following England’s 3-2 last-16 win over Mexico
JH: “I had to strap in because they’d fully gone and I thought: ‘They’re going to come back to us here.’ So I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d like to have.”
WR: “I was looking for Kermit the Frog! No, I thought it was brilliant. Kelly [Somers] was interviewing him and Harry could have stopped the interview a bit earlier but fair play, he didn’t – it was so funny.”
JH: “That night was special. The fact there was an hour delay [because of the weather] and we ended up kicking off at 2am UK time and that could have been a difficult slog, couldn’t it?”
WR: “But even that – we planned for a delay as well, actually planned for more than two hours.”
Your sense of humour, Wayne, was also evident in you taking Haaland’s “Wayney boy” in good spirit
WR: “We had good fun doing it and we just sent a message to Haaland, saying ‘Enjoy your time in Marbella’ and obviously, too, that we hope he enjoys the boat. I said I’d do it and straight away I was thinking, ‘I’m in trouble here’ but Micah and Harty helped me out. We just enjoy each other’s company. We’re going to play padel now together and so it’s important that the people you work with you like.”
England play France in Saturday’s bronze-medal game. How hard would it be to stay motivated for a game like that?
JH: “If I was going for a Golden Boot like Harry then I’d definitely [be motivated]. You’ve got to create a narrative. It’s obviously easy for us to joke and say it’s a pointless game, but if you’re in that England camp and representing your country on the biggest stage, then do it. That’s where Tuchel has still got to be a top manager, a top motivator.”
Should Tuchel remain in the job?
MR: “Yes – though I would have liked to see him go for it more against Argentina.”
JH: “I’m going to reserve my opinion – I want to hear his verdict. We were there that night and it got really wild. England were toe-to-toe with the best team in the world with the medals to prove it and the best player to ever play the game [Lionel Messi]. Then I felt like it was drifting away - Tuchel may have got caught up in the moment as a human and just thought: ‘Revert to type to what got us through [against Mexico].’ I think that’s something he’ll reflect on.”
WR: “It was there for us to win with 15, 20 minutes to go, whatever it was. He made a big mistake in not allowing us the opportunity to get more pressure on the ball and surrender possession. But if Tuchel gets sacked who are we going to bring in? You could get Pep [Guardiola] but is that going to work? Tuchel will learn from his mistakes so I would keep him.”
MR: “I agree with Wayne in terms of the manager and the negative moves he made on the day [but] Argentina were the better team. The players showed pride but I watched that second half again and they absolutely battered us.”
Rooney, Hart and Richards will cover the World Cup final live on BBC One and iPlayer on Sunday.
