Topics: Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, Premier League, Gary Neville
Wayne Rooney has recalled being pulled into Sir Alex Ferguson's office following a heated training ground incident involving a staff member at Manchester United.
The 38-year-old former England international, who spent 13 years at United between 2004 and 2017, was renowned for his aggressive style of play, especially in the early years.
His relentless work rate and determination to be the best was never in doubt.
But his temper would sometimes get the better of him, as he explained to former teammate Gary Neville in the latest episode of The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet.
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“I wanted to win so much that it would boil over at times [in training]," he said.
“There are times it goes too far [when challenging players and coaches], and when you look back at some of the stuff I said to coaches on the training pitch, looking back and being on that side now, you hope a player doesn’t do that."
Rooney opened up one particular incident involving former first-team coach Rene Meulensteen, who enjoyed a six-year stint at United under Sir Alex Ferguson.
“There were a few bad [occasions]. There was one with Rene [Meulensteen], where I’ve gone for him big time and the manager pulled me into his office after the session," the former Everton striker continued.
“It was to do with a refereeing decision. There were a few people watching in training, it was Rene’s wife and kids – I had no idea and I felt so bad.”
Rooney also opened up on how physical the club’s ‘Friday games’ would be ahead of a typical Saturday fixture.
“You wanted to win those games but some of the tackles that went in…Scholesy [Paul Scholes] put me out for eight weeks in one of those [Friday] games," he added.
Earlier this year, Gary Neville explained why Ferguson would repeatedly 'have a go' at Rooney for doing the same thing in training.
"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.
"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."
