Gary Neville has revealed the reason why Sir Alex Ferguson used to get more and more annoyed with Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney.
Wayne Rooney departed Manchester United in the summer of 2017 after breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring record for the Red Devils in the process.
The iconic English forward joined United back in 2004 and had 13 glorious years at Old Trafford before departing for a return to his boyhood club Everton, and then eventually moving to America with D.C United.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Rooney had a rather tetchy relationship towards the end of his career at United and Gary Neville has revealed the Scotsman used to constantly have a go at Rooney.
Neville on Rooney and Ferguson
Speaking on the latest episode of the Stick To Football Podcast, Neville has admitted that Ferguson used to have a go at Rooney 15-20 times a season.
“I remember Sir Alex and Wayne Rooney, towards the end of his Manchester United career when Wayne started to drop in a bit and he used to stop turning and running at people and stopped running behind,” Neville said. “He became more of a link player, playing the long passes.
“That was one of the last things I remember, and Sir Alex must have had a go at Rooney 15-20 times a season for the last few seasons about him dropping too deep.
“Sir Alex wanted Rooney to stay up front and turn at players and take the ball on the back foot, as those were the bits that made him more of a street footballer.”
Sir Alex and Rooney
The relationship was so tetchy in fact that it looked like had Ferguson remained in Manchester for another year, Rooney may well have been sold from the club.
Rooney was beginning to be linked with Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and the rumours would swirl for the entire summer but David Moyes and Ed Woodward handed him a long-term contract to stay at Old Trafford.
The English forward was a world-class striker and arguably one of the best the Premier League has ever seen. He will surely go down as one of the greats of the modern era.
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