Wayne Rooney did his homework before dropping into a deeper role.
Having turned 32 in October, Rooney doesn’t quite have the pace in his legs that he once did and he’s been forced to drop into a deeper role in recent seasons.
Rooney played as an out-and-out midfielder for Manchester United on several occasions prior to his move to Everton in the summer and he’s continued to be utilised in a deeper position after rejoining his boyhood club.
While goalscoring is in his blood and Rooney is the top scorer for the Toffees this season, he is now known to set up shop in midfield and pick out diagonals and through balls to teammates further up the pitch.
Rooney had anticipated his move into midfield and he studied the games of three footballing greats before dropping back.
“I always knew at the back end of my career I would drop back into midfield,” Rooney revealed during an interview with Jamie Carragher for The Telegraph.
“I started watching Paul Scholes closely in training. Analysed Xabi Alonso and Toni Kroos. They don’t go around sprinting the whole game, getting in peoples’ faces.
“They are players who control a tempo of a game. I knew I could go into that role and I believed in my own ability to do it. I still feel I have more to give if playing that right way.
“Playing deeper suits me. I can get on the ball a bit more and have lads around me with more legs. I am the one who can get us playing and moving the ball.”
While 32 is relatively young for players nowadays, it bears remembering that Rooney has more miles on his clock than most 32-year-olds, having made his professional debut at the age of 16.
And Rooney is already eyeing the next phase of his footballing career, fully aware that he only has so much playing time left in him.
“The main thing I want to have a go at is management,” Rooney said.
“I would love to stay at Everton in a coaching role or hopefully manager one day. It is something I want to do – to stay involved, but if that is not possible I will look to see where the opportunities are for me. I am determined to become a manager.
“From next season I want to be doing some coaching sessions with the Under-14s at Everton.
“It would be good to have all my badges by the time I have finished, but it is also about having the chance to carry on when I have so I can get straight into coaching.”
