He said score more, Wayne, not swear more. Before Wednesday's friendly against the United States, Fabio Capello called on Wayne Rooney to raise his game for England. Perhaps this pressure indirectly contributed to the ranting seen by millions on television, the forward seeming to grow more frustrated as time ticked on. But tirades at officials are nothing unusual for the Croxteth Cusser.

Rooney averages one goal every three international games, but his curse ratio is probably more like one every three minutes. The forward escaped punishment after a reckless challenge on Ricardo Clark in the first half and was booked for a rash tackle on Frankie Hejduk after half-time. After his booking, he appeared to tell the referee, Kyros Vassaras, to “f*** off” then call him a “f***ing p***k” seconds later.

The BBC, which broadcast the match, did not receive any complaints, although the sort of viewers most likely to be offended by swearing were probably watching the drama showing on BBC Two at the same time: Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story.

With his wedding in a fortnight's time, Rooney could be forgiven for feeling stressed, but this was his fourteenth booking since last August and his youth is no longer an excuse for petulance: he will be 23 this year and has just completed his sixth full top-flight season. While those who meet him off the pitch often describe him as shy and quietly spoken, Rooney is notoriously unreserved at work.

In February 2005, when Manchester United met Arsenal, Rooney was caught on camera swearing at the referee, Graham Poll, at least 20 times. Later that year he flew to Spain to apologise to David Beckham, with Real Madrid at the time, for abusing the then England captain during England's defeat by Northern Ireland. Beckham had told him to calm down after a succession of fouls.

Rooney is far from the only potty-mouthed Barclays Premier League player, of course, being in an England side who are more likely to conjure images of Gordon Ramsay than Sir Alf Ramsey. John Terry, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves are among those to have shown dissent in high-profile club matches this season.

Capello helped to launch the FA's Respect strategy in March, a year after Richard Caborn, a former Sports Minister, castigated footballers for acting as role models - to the kind of people who think Eminem, the American rapper, is too polite. “Just as their skills and goals are copied on the playground, so is their violent conduct and antisocial behaviour,” Caborn said.

An FA spokesman said of Capello: “He sets high standards and is very much aware of the issue and on board with it. It's not about Wayne Rooney, it's about changing a general culture. There is no doubt that what happens at the top level has an impact all the way down to the grass roots.”

The FA chose first to focus on improving behaviour at amateur level and was pleased with the results of a ten-week pilot scheme in 20 leagues that featured measures such as a code of conduct and only the captain being allowed to speak to the referee - an idea adopted by Barnet in Coca-Cola League Two this season.

Meetings are planned with bodies such as the Premier League, Football League and Professional Footballers' Association to try to ensure that 2008-09 is not imbued with the same quantity of invective as the campaign just ended. As for Rooney, Capello will talk to him about his temperament in the hope that the striker will become a man England can swear by.

Brought to book

Rooney has received eight yellow cards and one red in 43 appearances for England and 37 bookings and one dismissal in 189 matches for United.

Rooney has been shown 65 yellow cards in the 309 competitive matches he has played for Everton, United and England at a rate of one every 4.75 games.

Excluding his dismissal in United's 3-1 victory over Porto in a friendly in August 2006, when he was sent off for violent conduct after catching Pepe Ferreira, the defender, with his arm, Rooney has been shown three red cards in his career, the equivalent of one every 103 competitive matches.

His first red card was for a late challenge on Steve Vickers, the former Birmingham City defender, during Everton's 1-1 draw at St Andrew's on Boxing Day 2002.

In September 2005, Rooney was sent off during United's goalless draw away to Villarreal for sarcastically applauding Kim Milton Nielsen, the referee, but it was at the World Cup finals the next year when he invited the greatest scrutiny after being dismissed for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho, the Chelsea defender, in England's quarter-final defeat on penalties by Portugal in Gelsenkirchen.

Rooney's discipline this season was worse than in his previous campaigns. He was booked on 14 occasions in 48 appearances for United and England, although in the 2005-06 season he earned two red cards and 11 bookings in 58 appearances for club and country.

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