Gary Neville, Ian Wright and Roy Keane all felt the same way about one ‘underrated’ Manchester United hero during a conversation with golfing legend Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy, who is a United fan, appeared on The Overlap’s Stick to Football show alongside punditry quartet Neville, Wright, Keane and Jamie Carragher.
The 34-year-old former world No 1 recalled his encounter with Keane when he was a child and the United legend’s blunt response when he asked him for an autograph.
McIlroy also shared his thoughts on United’s struggles post-Sir Alex Ferguson and his experience of being able to watch the Red Devils when he was growing up.
The four-time major champion was in awe at club legends like Keane, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney, with McIlroy a big fan of the latter.
McIlroy admitted that he “loved” watching Rooney at Old Trafford and praised the former United and England striker for how “he worked so hard and ran everywhere.”
Neville on fellow United legend Rooney
Rooney, who was sacked as Birmingham City manager on Tuesday, enjoyed a prolific playing career at Old Trafford and hoovered up major silverware at United.
The 38-year-old former United striker lifted five Premier League titles, a Champions League, a Europa League, an FA Cup and three League Cups with the Red Devils.
Rooney would also break Sir Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring record for United and England, with Harry Kane later eclipsing Rooney’s feat for the Three Lions.
Despite an accomplished career on the pitch, United’s all-time scorer can sometimes be overlooked in conversations and can even be ‘disrespected’ by some fans.
Speaking on The Overlap, Neville insisted that Rooney is “always the No 1 centre-forward” in his best United XI and praised him for his ability on the pitch.
“He’s to be fair… you get asked sometimes about [an] underrated player because he’s [Rooney] not normally in the conversation when you think about best United players,” he said.
“But in terms of when I get asked about my best United XI, he’s always the No 1 centre-forward.
“He’s the best by a mile that I played with. The best by a mile in terms of goals, effort, everything, assists.”
Wright and Keane talk up Rooney
Wright added that Rooney played at the “very, very top” from a young age and argued that there weren’t many matches where the former United star was ‘poor.’
“His level from the age of 16, he never dropped his level. When he came on the scene with the goal against Arsenal, his trajectory was just up all the time,” he said.
“For all [of] his career [it] was at the very, very top. You don’t see many games where Wayne Rooney was poor. You don’t see many. You can’t remember too many of those.”
Responding to Wright, Keane added: “Maybe because he finished a bit early, didn’t he? Of course, I get it, I get it.
“And people look at Ronaldo and these boys and how they look and maybe Wayne didn’t look [like them] and maybe people just kind of judge him on that side, maybe, when they don’t talk about him being one of the greats.
“Brilliant player without a doubt.”
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