Wayne Rooney says he "didn't enjoy playing" when he was deployed in a more advanced role for Manchester United. You can the clip of him explaining why below.
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England's all-time record goalscorer netted 253 times for Manchester United during a trophy-laden 13 year spell at Old Trafford, where he picked up 13 major trophies including five league titles, the FA Cup and a Champions League.
For the majority of his time at Old Trafford, he was highly influential when dropping into deeper positions but during the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons, Sir Alex Ferguson asked Rooney to lead the line.
That decision paid off. Rooney scored 54 goals in 93 matches during those two campaigns, including 34 in the latter.
Wayne Rooney 2009/2010:
— Big H. (@Hxnz99) June 6, 2021
- PFA TOTY.
- PFA POTY.
- PFA Fans' POTY.
- Sir Matt Busby POTY.
- PL Player Of The Season.
- FWA Footballer Of The Year.
- Manchester United Players' POTY.
Undisputed best. #mufc pic.twitter.com/1XpiQgKHGq
In fact, in that 2009/10 season, the former Everton forward netted 26 goals in the Premier League before deservedly scooping the PFA Player of the Year.
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba was the only player to score more but Rooney says he wasn't a fan of playing further forward.
In a chat with SPORTbible ahead of the release of his upcoming Amazon documentary, the Derby County manager reacted when he was shown a picture of himself from United's Champions League campiagn in 2010.
He said: "That was the Milan game. I scored two goals away in the white kit and then two at home.
"You know what, I didn't enjoy playing. I played as a number nine, twice on my own, for two seasons and scored 34 goals in the last. I was scoring but I wasn't enjoying it.
"I'm more of a footballer - not a natural goalscorer," he added. "I remember coming off thinking 'I didn't play well there' but I'd have scored two goals."
Wayne Rooney in his prime was absolutely unstoppable for Manchester United. Here he is destroying prime AC Milan over two legs in the Champions League. What a player.#mufc pic.twitter.com/ijbzfa2vFh
— Luke (@UtdLuke3) October 10, 2020
Former teammate Rio Ferdinand recalled Rooney asking Sir Alex Ferguson to change his position going into the next campaign.
"We spoke when we came back to pre-season," Ferdinand said in a conversation with former teammates Rooney and Marcus Rashford as part of the 'Between The Lines' feature on BT Sport.
"I remember speaking to you and you said, 'I'm going to speak to the manager and say I want to play as a number ten.'
"I was sitting there going, 'But you scored 30-odd goals this season Wazza.' But you weren't enjoying your football and I couldn't get my head around that."
What position did you like to see Rooney play in for Manchester United?
Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, AC Milan, Champions League, Sir Alex Ferguson
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