Wayne Rooney ignores Sir Alex Ferguson's pre-season methods at Manchester United as Plymouth manager
Wayne Rooney has revealed how he 'changed' the pre-season schedule at Manchester United for his own players as manager.
Rooney was designated as the new Plymouth coach in May and will have put his team through its paces ahead of the new season.
During his playing days, he would probably have faced many difficult pre-seasons in United under the command of the legendary chief Mr Alex Ferguson before winning their 12th total trophies under the Scotsman.
However, now that Rooney is a manager, it seems he has opted to go against the summer routine he had become accustomed to.
He made a comeback Stick to Football Podcast alongside his former United team-mates Gary Neville and Roy Keane, as well as Ian Wright and Jill Scott.
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Scott asked Rooney how he had been as a manager during pre-season, and he replied: “They weren't like the old school guys where they were just running for the sake of running.”
“On the first day you take the balls out. I used to do it differently. (At United) we used to do football in the morning and then gym in the afternoon.
“I would do the gym first in the morning and then play football in the afternoon. I always think that once you've played football, and then you think, 'I have to do the gym in the afternoon,' mentally…
“So I turned it around and did the gym stuff first because they wanted to play football in the afternoon.”
Rooney also spoke about how 'Hated' preseason as a player and would return from his summer vacation overweight.
He is now training to become a coach and the United legend will next manage Plymouth.
The Championship side will be the fourth he has taken charge of during his managerial career so far, which began in 2020 at Derby.
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Rooney then became head coach of his former club DC United in MLS before returning to English football with Birmingham in October.
However, he won only two of his 15 games in charge and was sacked after less than three months.
After winning three of their five pre-season games, Plymouth's first competitive game under Rooney as manager will be against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in the Championship on Sunday, live on talkSPORT.
They then host Cheltenham in the first round of the Carabao Cup before subsequent league games against Hull, QPR and Stoke.
Plymouth escaped relegation last season by just one point ahead of Birmingham, and Rooney will be hoping to guide them further up the table in the 2024/25 campaign.
