FORMER Manchester United star Wayne Rooney has opened up on the moment he ‘lost it’ with a coach and was hauled into Sir Alex Ferguson’s office.
The 38-year-old, who is the Red Devils’ all-time leading scorer with 253 goals, spoke on Gary Neville’s podcast, ‘The Overlap’ about the bust-up during his time at Old Trafford.
He told his ex-team-mate that a disagreement with Rene Meulensteen was so volatile that he was sent to Sir Alex Ferguson’s office.
Speaking on the episode that was uploaded to YouTube on May 30, he said: “I wanted to win so much that it would boil over at times [in training].
“[On challenging players and coaches] There are times it goes too far, 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.
“There were a few bad [occasions].
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“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.
“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, who was recently named new manager of Plymouth, also spoke about how ‘physical’ the club’s ‘Friday games’ would be before United’s Saturday fixtures.
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The kick-abouts would get so competitive that the matches were often ‘stopped’.
He recounted the occasion that he suffered an injury in one session, which occurred on the same day he announced his intention to leave the club during the 2010/11 season.
He continued: “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.
“The gaffer had done a press conference on the day that I wanted to leave.”
He then jokingly inferred that Sir Alex Ferguson ‘had a word with Scholes’ before training had started.
Speaking on the competitiveness in training sessions in the modern game, Rooney admitted that the intensity has decreased.
He said: “From a sports science point of view, there’s a lot more to look at.
“But sometimes, actually being there and competing, whether you go too far from a physical point of view, sometimes, that gets overlooked now.
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“What that brings to you as a player and as a teammate, can mean more than a number saying you’ve run this much.”
Wayne Rooney was speaking on The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
