Wayne Rooney credits Sir Alex Ferguson for making him a deadly striking
According to the Sunday Times (h/t Mirror), Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has revealed how a chat with former manager Sir Alex Ferguson turned him into a deadly goalscoring machine.
Writing in his column on the Times, the 34-year-old revealed that he never felt like a natural striker in spite of putting up impressive numbers throughout his career.
“You learn little things along the way”
The record goalscorer for both club and country, Rooney has 253 goals in 559 matches for the former and 53 goals in 120 appearances for the latter.
The striker initially dropped back into deeper areas, which affected his ability to be at the scoring end. It was only after Ferguson told him to take it easy that he started hitting the numbers we have gotten used to seeing.
Ferguson told Rooney that he was working himself too hard, a statement that left the player confused. Such a physical exertion ensured that the striker was tired towards the end of the game. This meant he was unable to take advantage of an opportunity.
“The manager wanted his strikers to keep a little bit in the tank, because that match-winning chance might not arrive until the 90th minute.”
Preparation over luck!
The added legend of Fergie time was more by design rather than chance. In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Old Man and the Sea, it was said that “It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.”
Ferguson looks to be a proponent of the belief. He ensured the striker has enough in his tank to make it count when an opportunity presented itself. It is this attention to detail that helped the legendary Scotsman consistently get one over his rivals.
In order to keep up his sharpness, Rooney went on to practice finishing at the end of a training session. He would get together with a keeper and goalkeeping coach Eric Steele. They would then do five sets of six: a little sprint followed by a shot.
“If you learn to finish when you’re tired, it’s so much easier when you get a chance and you’re normal.”
Doing so helped transform the Englishman into the clinical goalscoring machine we have all come to love and admire.
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We personally find it hard to believe that Rooney does not consider himself to be a natural goalscorer. It is because he sets himself such high standards that he has been able to immortalize himself in United and England history.
