Frank Lampard has expressed his dismay at what he perceives to be a "fixation" and "agenda" towards England teammate Wayne Rooney.
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The Manchester United striker has come under some scrutiny since England's 2-1 defeat against Italy in their World Cup opener last Saturday.
Despite providing the assist for Daniel Sturridge to score with an inch-perfect cross and being played out of position on the left wing, Rooney was criticised after a largely indifferent display.
Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson defended Rooney immediately after the game, but the 28-year-old has continued to be a hot topic of conversation among fans and the media.
Rooney has since responded to the debate on Facebook by revealing he is doing "extra training" to prepare himself for the group games, and v
"So I do think we need to drop the agenda and look at the team, whoever plays, because the manager will pick the best team that he sees fit and whoever plays we want to win the game."
Post by Wayne Rooney.
Lampard believes Hodgson's men can take heart from their performance against the Azzurri, but knows that it will count for nothing unless they win against Uruguay on Thursday and then Costa Rica next week.
"I thought we started very bright, some good attacking football, there were a lot of positives out of the game, the one negative was that we didn't win it,'' he said.
"Importantly now [we must] look forward, take those good points, try and keep them going and improve on them. We need to win games.
"[The younger players have had] a big impact. From the minute the manager picked the squad I think we were all quite excited by the youth.
"With England we've been crying out for some youthful exuberance and attacking play, and the lads have brought that. Not just in the game against Italy, but in training."