Wayne Rooney spent her career playing alongside some of the best to play the game. The height of her career being part of a winning team from the Champions League which included tastes by Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic and Ryan Giggs.
Before playing in Manchester’s red, Rooney crossed a young Everton starlet. Making his first league debut at 16, he played in his hometown of Liverpool before being recovered by Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United two seasons later.
When Rooney entered the first team, Everton had a number of impressive players concerned with the attack he could model, including the winger of Wales Mark Pembridge and the late Kevin Campbell. However, there was a particular attacker that Rooney favored, and they would continue to play together 31 times.
Rooney’s “favorite player” growing up
Rooney’s rapid development as a youngster saw her first league beginnings at just 16 years old. Some players do not enter football from the first team before they were in their twenties, but being able to play at a high level at such a young age allowed Rooney to play alongside Duncan Ferguson.
During a match by Everton Legends in March, Rooney remembered the start of his career and his admiration for Ferguson, calling for the record of former 4 million pounds sterling sign his “favorite player”.
“My favorite was Duncan Ferguson. His passion and his fights, I liked to come and watch him play. Then, I had the chance to play too by his side, so he was probably my favorite player.”
While Rooney admired Ferguson for his striking abilities, many know the Scottish for his hard character and his disciplinary file less than harvested.
During his 319 career appearances, he received 44 yellow cards and six red cards, which means that he received a form of card on average just over once every six games.
Ferguson’s concise approach to deal with Rooney
Ferguson was clearly aware of his reputation and took him into consideration when he dealt with a young person and impressionable Rooney. Speaking of the Podcast Stick to Football, he said:
“Wayne was only young at the time, you know, coming to Everton. You could see where he was going to arrive; He was not quite there, but he was always a better high -level player; You could see what he was going to be.
“I sort of trying to turn away from Wayne. Wayne was younger than me, and I think he admired me. I was a little worried because I was not the best model, and he was just a young child. He was the biggest talent in Britain, and if he was in trouble, I was going to blame. So I tended to keep him.”
When Ferguson gave advice to Rooney, it seemed to be the best advice in his career because he advised him to move to Manchester United rather than Newcastle United. Ferguson said his advice to Rooney were: “Newcastle is a wonderful club with big fans, but if you are going to leave and Sir Alex Ferguson wants you, then you have to go”, and given its success in United, it was clearly the right decision.
