Wayne Rooney has revealed that he “went too far” in an argument with Sir Alex Ferguson during a half-time row while he was playing for Manchester United, per The Sunday Times.
What’s the word?
Rooney scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Portsmouth in 2009, but the two sides were level at 1-1 at the interval.
While the Derby County star admits that he prefers to be motivated by confrontation, he has admitted that he gave too much back to the legendary Scotsman at half-time of the game.
Rooney had scored the first goal of the game but, after his confrontation with Ferguson, netted another two in the second half as United sealed a thumping win.
He also claims that Ferguson would deliberately look to wind him up in order to get the best out of him on the pitch.
He said: “The best way to motivate me? Confrontation. I’ve always been at my best when I’ve been a bit angrier.
“Fergie knew exactly what I needed. I’d say 90 per cent of the games I played under him we were arguing at half-time. I never got used to [Ferguson targeting him]. I used to think, ‘I’m playing well, he’ll have a go at someone else today.’ And it would be me again. Portsmouth was the worst one. It got really bad.
“This was at half-time. I went back out and scored a hat-trick. I remember sitting on the coach thinking, ‘I’ve gone too far there.’
“But the good thing about him [is] he’d go to the toilet in the coach or to get a coffee and walk past you on the way back and just, like, slap you on the back of the head. That was his way of saying, ‘The argument is gone.’ He never carried grudges.”
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Mark of a top manager
This is exactly why Ferguson was so good.
That he knew that he needed to target Rooney in order to bring the best out of him is a mark of just how exceptional a man-manager the Scotsman was.
He is, of course, the most successful boss in the history of the Premier League and he repeatedly allowed the England legend to thrive.
Rooney ended his United career with 253 goals and 146 assists to his name in 559 games, along with five Premier League trophies, the Champions League, four League Cups and the FA Cup.
Ferguson knew that fire would bring the best out of him; without the other, perhaps neither wouldn’t have reached such heights.
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