Former Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney has aimed a not-so-subtle critique of Cristiano Ronaldo’s mindset on the pitch after opening up on his fellow Manchester United legend.
Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo both played alongside one another at Old Trafford under legendary former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ronaldo and Rooney enjoyed incredible success at the Premier League club, with the duo linking up superbly well with former United teammate Carlos Tevez in attack.
The attacking trident of Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez at United is still regarded as one of the best front threes in Premier League history.
Playing together under Ferguson, both Rooney and Ronaldo lifted three consecutive Premier League titles and a Champions League at the Red Devils.
Rooney, who was sacked as Birmingham City boss last month, was previously criticised by Ronaldo after the Al Nassr star made his second exit from Old Trafford.
Ronaldo took aim at United legends Rooney and Gary Neville during his interview with Piers Morgan in 2022, saying that his former teammates are “not my friends.”
Rooney played down a rivalry with Ronaldo and hailed him as a “fantastic player,” although he admitted some of his ex-teammate’s remarks were “strange.”
Rooney on Man Utd legend Ronaldo
Eden Hazard recently claimed he was better than Cristiano Ronaldo in “terms of pure football,” despite the Manchester United legend being a “bigger player” than him.
Speaking to YouTubers Lyes Bouzidi and CultureCams, Wayne Rooney dropped his two cents on the bold claim that former Chelsea star Hazard made about Ronaldo.
The United legend insisted that Ronaldo’s main focus is to score, which is different from the approach taken by Barcelona legend Lionel Messi on the field.
Rooney added that he “could have been a bit more selfish” by remaining as an outright striker rather than dropping deeper when his team needed him.
“So, for instance, Cristiano Ronaldo, his mindset is goals,” he said on Bouzidi’s YouTube channel.
“He doesn’t care about anything else, it’s goals, that’s all he wants. Whereas you look at Messi, he wants to play a bit more.
“I suppose that’s what Hazard is saying, he liked to play – exactly like myself. I saw something that Gary Neville said recently, that Alex Ferguson always used to have a go at me for coming too deep, but it was because I wanted to play football.
“And I could have been a bit more selfish and stayed up top, and maybe scored a few more goals, but I wanted to play.
“I wanted to enjoy the game and I imagine that’s what Hazard means.”
What did Gary Neville say about Rooney?
Speaking on the Stick to Football show this month, Gary Neville opened up about playing alongside former United teammate Rooney at Old Trafford in his career.
The Sky Sports pundit claimed that Ferguson would lose it at Rooney when the former England and United striker moved out of his main position in a match.
According to Neville, former United manager Ferguson wanted Rooney to “stay up front” and to “turn at players” with his ability to take the ball on the back foot.
“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,” he 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.”
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