They called him some less than pleasant names. He's proven himself over the past few years, and he's right to be pissed off. I never rated him as a full back, but when he graduated to centre half, he became a really impressive player.
He's worked hard, been one of Liverpool's key players, and still gets to see someone like King - arguably his equal as a player, but someone who hadn't kicked a football all season through injury - picked ahead of him for a qualifier. He can't do any more, so he can choose to continue appearing as England's 4th Choice Full Back (TM), occasional defensive mid, and emergency 7th choice centre half, or he can pack it in and concentrate on adding a couple more CL medals to his collection (heck, he might even win the league some day). I'm with him.