Wayne Rooney believes that he would have been ‘sacked’ for dressing room chat if he were in the current Manchester United squad, due to the change in culture at the club over the last decade.
Rooney, 39, spent 13 years at Old Trafford, during which he won 16 major trophies and captained the club for three seasons, before leaving in 2017.
Much of his time at the Red Devils was overseen by the club’s most successful ever manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and he was part of a squad that had the mentality of winning at all costs.
However, his final four years in Manchester were spent under three different managers — David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, and José Mourinho — and the club’s success slowly began to decline.
When speaking to former team-mate Rio Ferdinand on the defender’s podcast, Rooney was asked whether he, or fellow former captain Roy Keane, would be able to cope in the current United dressing room.
The United all-time record goalscorer gave a blunt but clear response. ‘No,’ he said. ‘We’d get sacked.’
Wayne Rooney believes the culture has changed dramatically at Manchester United since he left in 2017
The former United striker believes that he and Roy Keane (left) would have been ‘sacked’ if they were part of teh current squad
When asked to elaborate by Ferdinand, Rooney cited ‘some of the stuff which got said in the dressing room’, and how such conversations would not be acceptable in modern society.
‘That’s where now, and it is society as well, you can’t say this because you might upset this person,’ he added on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast. ‘You’re a bully, and you get accused of bullying and stuff.’
The former England captain made it abundantly clear that he is not a fan of the cultural shift, however. He believes players need to have difficult conversations to get the best out of themselves as a team.
Rooney continued: ‘What happened to speaking the truth and saying, like, “What are you doing?” Having a go, because when you used to have a go at me, [I’m thinking] “I’m not letting him do that again”. Or I’d have a go at you.
‘It wakes you up. It brings you alive. And it’s a responsibility. I have a responsibility to keep you, to keep him, to keep him on their toes. And you have a responsibility.
‘I couldn’t do what I want to do on the pitch if it didn’t come from you, or then Carras [Michael Carrick] or Scholsey [Paul Scholes] behind. It’s a collective.
Rooney has gone on to manage clubs such as Derby, Birmingham City, and Plymouth Argyle following retirement in 2021.
However, he has admitted that he struggled to adapt to modern dressing rooms, even needing to take a breather at times.
Rooney believes that his dressing room chat from when he was captain would not be tolerated in this day and age
‘I’ve walked out of dressing rooms as a manager because I’ll explode,’ Rooney said. ‘I’ve seen a player call another player out, not in a bad way, and it is what it is, it’s nothing.
‘And then I’ve seen another player saying, “You can’t do that. If you want to speak to him, do it one-on-one. This is bullying”.
‘And I’m stood there, waiting. I always let the players talk and I encourage them to talk to each other at half time, at full time. And then I’ll come in and say something.
‘And I heard that and I just looked. I was like, what am I going to say? “Just get a shower”. Walked out, didn’t say a word to them. And it’s mad, isn’t it? It’s society.
‘You don’t know what you can and can’t say as well. Got to be really careful in what you try and say, how you want to say it, how you project it, what tone of your voice you’re saying it in.
‘And so, it’s so many different things, but ultimately, you want to try and get the best from that person.’
Rooney also opened up about the struggles he faced during his career, which became particularly severe, in the interview.
He delved into his struggles with alcoholism while still a player, and how his wife, Coleen, ‘saved him’.
Rooney was speaking to his former team-mate, Rio Ferdinand, on the former defender’s podcast
Rooney also opened up on how wife Coleen ‘saved’ him from alcoholism (pictured in 2008 on their wedding day)
‘I honestly believe if she weren’t there I’d be dead,’ he admitted. ‘Coleen is massive. It’s bad because we’re two kids from Croxteth and then we grew up together and obviously we started dating and we got married and have kids.
‘But when I was 17 she could see, she knew my mind and she knew I was a bit out there. You know, I loved my football, obsessed with football but also I loved a night out or whatever going out.
‘She’s seen it very early on and she’s controlled that. Well, not controlled but helped me control that massively.’
