Wayne Rooney has insisted that one former Manchester United teammate tried getting away with something in the same way as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 40-year-old legendary former Manchester United striker shared the pitch with Cristiano Ronaldo during the Portuguese icon’s explosive first spell at Old Trafford.
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Wayne Rooney was brought to the Red Devils from Everton in 2004, following on from Sir Alex Ferguson signing United legend Ronaldo from Sporting CP in 2003.
Rooney and Ronaldo linked up with Carlos Tevez later in their respective United spells to forge one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s best attacking front threes of all time.
United’s all-time leading scorer also encountered Barcelona icon Lionel Messi in his legendary playing career and he holds the Argentine superstar in incredibly high regard.
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Wayne Rooney celebrates with teammate Cristiano Ronaldo during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford in 2008 in Manchester, England.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Man Utd legend Wayne Rooney compares Dimitar Berbatov to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for one reason
Speaking on BBC Sport’s The Wayne Rooney Show, the England icon suggested that Dimitar Berbatov was “lazy” for not running around and putting in the effort to defend.
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“I think he’s [Berbatov] just lazy, though,” Wayne Rooney said, before adding: “He didn’t run.”
Dimitar Berbatov arrived at Old Trafford in 2008 from Tottenham in a deal worth £30.75m and he played alongside Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo at the Red Devils.
The 44-year-old former Manchester United striker’s ‘walking football’ style often saw him labelled ‘lazy,’ despite impressing under Sir Alex Ferguson at the club.
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Rooney said that Ronaldo and Lionel Messi ended up ‘getting away’ with not tracking back and he singled out Berbatov for trying to do the same on the pitch.
“No, I think it’s, unless you’re Messi or Ronaldo, then you don’t really get away with it and your teammates don’t let you get away with that,” he continued.
“But I think it’s just a basic rule in any team, really, is when you lose the ball, get back and defend and try not to concede. So, the best way to do that is to work.
“And yeah, so Berba definitely didn’t do that.”
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Wayne Rooney saw Dimitar Berbatov repeat his walking football approach again in their post-Man Utd careers
Rooney reunited with ex-United teammate Dimitar Berbatov in 2024 for a ‘legends match’ against Celtic at Old Trafford, which ended in defeat for the Red Devils.
The former United captain admitted that Berbatov was up to his old tricks when Rooney asked the ex-Bulgaria striker to swap positions with him briefly.
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“No, he is a nice, he’s a good lad, Berba,” Rooney said.
“But yeah, we used to, you had to stick on him. Even when we played in that legends game at United last year, he was up front and I was playing off the left.
“So now obviously I’m not fit. I said to him, I said, ‘Berba, swap for five minutes, let me go out. Let me stay up front and you go on the left.’”
Rooney continued: “And literally within 30 seconds, he was back up front.
“That’s what I was saying before. Sorry to keep going back to it. When he never used to do that, we used to scream at him.
“You’d be like, ‘Bebba, get back in. I’m not running the game for you. You need to get back in, defend.’ And then he’d go and defend.
“But you had to keep on him throughout the game. You had to keep, stay on him.”
Berbatov lifted two Premier League titles and a League Cup at the Red Devils before the ex-United and Tottenham striker left Old Trafford and signed for Fulham in 2012.