Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says captain Wayne Rooney is likely to have found the criticism of him this week tough to deal with.
Rooney apologised over “inappropriate” pictures that emerged of him at a wedding at the England team hotel.
Mourinho said: “Even if you build a wall around you to protect you from what people write or think, it always has points of fragility.
“We are flesh and blood, so I think it has an effect.”
United return to Premier League action this weekend and host Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday (12:30 GMT kick-off), with the fourth-placed Gunners six points and two spots above the Red Devils in the table.
Rooney, 31, has trained this week after recovering from the knee injury that led to him being released from the England camp prior to Tuesday’s 2-2 friendly draw against Spain at Wembley.
Mourinho refused to respond to questions about whether it was appropriate for his and the national team’s captain to have been in a hotel bar drinking in the early hours of Sunday after England’s 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Scotland on Friday.
There have been reports a number of Rooney’s England team-mates were out late themselves after being given the night off by interim manager Gareth Southgate.
Mourinho said: “If you go one by one, to see where these 23 players were, some of them were in worse places than the hotel bar.”
The Football Association has refused to say where the rest of the squad were, although Everton defender Phil Jagielka was pictured with Rooney.
Mourinho, 53, said the FA should examine how it looks after England players in future.
“I learned since I was a kid, if someone lends me something, I have to take care of it even better than if it was mine,” he said.
“You have to build something to protect what is not yours.”
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Source: BBC