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Topics: Manchester United, Premier League, Liverpool, Wayne Rooney
Jack Kenmare
Topics: Manchester United, Premier League, Liverpool, Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney has recalled watching his then-Manchester United teammates "dancing around the dressing room" after a heavy defeat to Liverpool.
A decade ago, goals from Steven Gerrard [2] and Luis Suarez secured an emphatic 3-0 win over reigning Premier League champions United, who were struggling under David Moyes.
It was an embarrassing result that summed up their season. After the humbling defeat at Old Trafford, the Reds sat 18 points behind leaders Chelsea with just a handful of games remaining.
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"The job was always going to be hard," Moyes said in his post-match interview that day. "Harder? Yes I would say so yes."
Ten years on and United's all-time top goalscorer, Wayne Rooney, has given a fascinating insight into the post-match reaction after that day.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast – brought to you by Sky Bet – Rooney recalled what the atmosphere was like, both before and after the 3-0 defeat.
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"Firstly, we were losing the core of the team really," he said. "Giggsy [Ryan Giggs], Rio [Ferdinand], [Nemanja] Vidic, they were all on their last legs basically. We were losing that presence in the dressing room.
"There was literally me and Michael Carrick left still playing from that generation. Then you’re getting the likes of Jesse Lingard coming through, and [Danny] Welbeck, [Tom] Cleverley. They’ve had good careers but it was never the same."
Rooney added: "Football was changing. The behaviour of players, of course we’d misbehave or go out do whatever, but I think everything was changing around football and I think that was a big time.
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"I always remember coming in after the Liverpool game when we got beat (at Old Trafford in 2014 under Moyes). Lads were coming in, dancing around the dressing room the next day, hip hop music on.
"I remember taking the music out. You can try to control as much as possible, but in the end you can’t really."
Gary Neville, a regular on the podcast, then referred to a clip of Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba dancing in the dressing room.
"That [Lingard clip dancing with Paul Pogba] was another one after that," Rooney laughed. "You look at it and you just think it’s… (shrugs)."
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Several weeks after that result and David Moyes was sacked following a 10-month stint at Old Trafford.
Rooney says a lack of respect from United players played a huge part in Moyes' downfall.
“The players never gave David Moyes a chance at Manchester United," he added.
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"I think it was always going to be tough for him. I know David from when he was at Everton, and he was never the same person at Manchester United.
"Obviously, it was a massive change for him, so I don’t think he did as well as he would’ve liked, but I also think there was a lack of respect from the senior players towards him, and they weren’t having him which was tough for him."