‘Cristiano was so good and so f***ing annoying at the same time’
Wayne Rooney has reportedly branded former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo as “f***ing annoying”, while also criticising Rio Ferdinand and Carlos Tevez.
The Red Devils’ all-time leading goalscorer was speaking about his ex-teammates at a dinner event on Saturday night and he certainly didn’t hold back when giving his verdict on some of them.
Wayne Rooney on playing with Cristiano Ronaldo
As reported by The Sun, Rooney said of Ronaldo: “Cristiano was so good and so f***ing annoying at the same time.
“He is probably not as good now but he is probably just as annoying.”
🗣 Wayne Rooney, jokingly: “Cristiano [Ronaldo] was so good and so f***ing annoying at the same time. He is probably not as good now but he is probably just as annoying.” [Sun]
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) March 28, 2022
Rooney, who is currently in charge of Championship outfit Derby County, also clarified that his relationship with the Portuguese star had not changed after the controversial sending off at the World Cup in 2006 – despite Ronaldo’s infamous wink towards the Portugal bench.
He added: “He likes diving. I had no issue with Cristiano whatsoever.
“I spoke to him in the tunnel. I said, ‘I have no issue with you getting me sent off’ because I’d spent the first half trying to get him booked for diving. I am English, he is Portuguese.
“When we are playing I do not give a f*** about him. He is not my mate. But when we have finished, we are mates again.”
Rio Ferdinand is ‘arrogant’, claims Rooney
After speaking about Ronaldo, the 36-year-old then went on to aim a thinly-veiled jibe at Ferdinand for “forgetting” his role and being “arrogant”.
“Rio is a top player, but he is just arrogant,” said Rooney.
“You get paid a lot of money at Man United to kick the ball into the net, so just do it.
“I said: ‘Do your job, and give me the ball, give Ronaldo the ball. Stop standing there messing about.’ Rio is a top lad but he sometimes did forget he was a defender.”
Rooney believes Carlos Tevez was ‘the biggest disappointment of his life’
Rooney also claimed that speaking to Tevez was ‘the biggest disappointment of my life’ because of the Argentine’s poor communication skills.
“For two years I loved playing with him,” said the Derby boss.
“I used to pick him up from his house for Champions League games and drive him to the airport. We’d play the game and come back.
“And, honestly, I spoke to him for 30 minutes, and I had no idea what is coming out of his mouth.
“He is just mumbling. I am not a great speaker and I am thinking, ‘f***ing hell. He is mumbling and nothing, nothing’. I was devastated, it was the biggest disappointment of my life.”
Rooney, who made the move to Old Trafford in 2004 for £27m, went on to become United’s leading all-time goalscorer with 253 goals during his 13-year stint with the club.
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