Colin Sheridan: Tom Brady questions Wayne Rooney’s work ethic – but Rooney hits back with class

Tom Brady’s critique of Wayne Rooney’s training methods revealed more about a clash of sporting cultures than actual work ethic

CLASH OF CULTURES: Was Tom Brady's criticism of Wayne Rooney's work ethic a simple clash of cultures

Sport does funny things. It makes children cry, it makes adults cry harder, and it occasionally makes Tom Brady watch Wayne Rooney take training at Birmingham City and conclude: “I’m a little worried about our head coach’s work ethic.” That’s right. Tom Brady, a man who hasn’t eaten a tomato since the Clinton administration, accused Wayne Rooney - the lad who once scored a 25-yard volley against Newcastle at 18 - of being a bit of a slacker. It’s like Gwyneth Paltrow criticising Del Boy for not having enough energy crystals in his flat.

The offending line came via Built in Birmingham: Brady & the Blues, a documentary chronicling Brady’s brief but eventful love affair with England’s most reluctant super-club. Brady, coiffed, chiselled, leaning on his billionaire aura, peers into a training session and decides that Rooney, a man who looks permanently two minutes away from a pie and pint, isn’t quite grinding hard enough.