Fans accuse James Rodriguez of 'disrespecting' Wayne Rooney not once but twice on TikTok

James Rodriguez might well have failed to set the Premier League alight, but that hasn't stopped him from passing a harsh judgment - or two - on Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney.

Colombian midfielder Rodriguez announced himself to the world at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, as his performances earned him a summer move to Real Madrid.

The star struggled to consistently replicate his tournament form over a six-year stint in Madrid - which included two seasons on loan at Bayern Munich - and in 2020 he took the surprising step of joining Everton.

At first James impressed under Carlo Ancelotti, but in September 2021 he left for Qatari side Al-Rayyan, before joining Greek giants Olympiacos last year.

Some might say Rodriguez isn't qualified to pass judgment on some of the greatest players to have ever played the game, but that's exactly what he did on TikTok.

Earlier this month the 31-year-old posted a video of himself playing a game where he had to pick between players in a tournament-style knockout.

First up was Andrea Pirlo vs Wayne Rooney. After a few seconds of consideration, James sided with the former AC Milan, Internazionale and Juventus midfielder.

A few ties later, Rooney came up again, this time against Bayern Munich all-rounder Joshua Kimmich.

Now, Kimmich is probably a little underrated in the world of star footballers. However, you'd do well to make an argument to put him ahead of Rooney.

Regardless, that's exactly what James did, snubbing Rooney for a second time.

The final of the game came down to Lionel Messi vs Pele, and it was the former that took the crown.

While the right outcome was reached, some of James' followers thought Rooney was a little bit hard done by.

"The disrespect to Wayne Rooney," commented @xjoshua-davis, while @xjoshua-davis said: bro picked Kimmich over Rooney," followed by skull emojis.

@335 simply said: "No respect for Rooney!"

At the end of the day it was just a bit of fun, comparing players who play in completely different positions. Still, it wouldn't do James any harm to get on YouTube and watch some late 2000s Rooney compilations.