Wayne Rooney reveals he was ‘trusted’ to defend more than Cristiano Ronaldo while at Man United… as he opens up on playing with the forward two years on from their public fall-out

Wayne Rooney has revealed he had more ‘confidence’ to do the defensive job at Manchester United than Cristiano Ronaldo did during their time together at Old Trafford.

Rooney and Ronaldo spent five years together with the Red Devils from 2004 to 2009, winning numerous trophies, including three Premier League titles and the Champions League.

They appeared to fall out in 2022 when Ronaldo criticized his former teammate during an interview with Piers Morgan after Rooney branded the Portuguese star’s behavior during his second spell at United as ‘unacceptable’.

But those who recall their playing days together will have fond memories of the time they formed what was a formidable attack under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Now Rooney, speaking as a guest on the Stick with the football podcastis sponsored by Sky bethas discussed his time with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and explained how their partnership would often work at the club.

The pair played together for five seasons at Manchester United, winning three Premier League titles and a Champions League

Rooney spoke about the future on the Stick to Football Podcast, two years on from their public fallout

“(He) would win the game for you,” Rooney began. “From a defensive standpoint, there was just more confidence (in me).

‘Obviously if I played wide I would do my job. I would go back and help defensively where Cristiano probably wouldn’t.

“I wanted to play in my position (as a striker) but the manager was probably right about that in terms of the team winning and being successful, we probably needed that. I wasn’t really interested in individual prizes, I always wanted to win with the team, that was always my goal.

‘I wouldn’t say I was a natural goalscorer, I just wanted to get the ball. If I had been more selfish I could possibly have scored a lot more goals, but I just wanted to play. The number of times I’ve had midfielders tell me to leave or, ‘I’ll pass it to you, you have to stay up front’.”

Rooney played under four managers at United, spending most of his time under Ferguson. He also played for David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho before leaving in 2017, at Everton and then Derby County before taking over as manager.

Expectations were high for Van Gaal when he moved to United, but the Dutchman lasted just under two years before leaving to make way for Mourinho.

Rooney spoke highly of the now 72-year-old and singled out a particular Premier League striker he would have liked to coach.

Ronaldo criticized Rooney in an interview with Piers Morgan after his former teammate questioned his behaviour

Rooney praised the 39-year-old and said he could ‘win the game for you’, although he admitted he wasn’t as impressive defensively

“I remember Louis van Gaal when he came in, I thought tactically he was the best I’ve worked with,” Rooney said. “It was the things off the pitch that were difficult for the players in the way he worked, but I remember him coming in and saying he wants his striker to have 15, 20 touches a game.

“That’s exactly what (Erling) Haaland does. I always wanted to play and enjoy the game – and score goals.”

Rooney was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky bet.