Man Utd great Gary Neville makes Wayne Rooney 'need that' claim ahead of Leeds United clash
Leeds United are back in Championship action this weekend
Manchester United favourite Gary Neville believes his former teammate Wayne Rooney has the attributes you ‘need’ to be manager. Plymouth Argyle turned to the former England international over the summer and they are in action this weekend with an away trip to Elland Road to play Leeds United.
The Pilgrims drew 3-3 at home to Preston North End last time out and fought back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 at Home Park. Meanwhile, the Whites were held 0-0 by Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
Leeds’ upcoming opponents are currently sat in 21st place in the Championship table. Neville has had this to say about Rooney, as per an interview with Khenow: “What Wayne’s got is the persistence, and sometimes you need that as a young coach. Obviously, yeah, his last job (at Birmingham City) didn’t go as well as he wanted to. He didn’t do as well for Birmingham, but the persistence and the actual ability to bounce back (is important).”
“What I do really admire is the fact that he took this job down in Plymouth when many people have said, ‘Why has he taken that job in Plymouth six hours away?’ And then he lost 4-0 in the first game (against Sheffield Wednesday), so you’re thinking, wow.”
‘Big work ethic’...
He added: “He’s got a lot of resilience, he’s got a big work ethic, he’s got a big heart and courage. And you need that, I think, to be a manager.
“I’ve got no doubts, being a coach in football is very, very difficult, and it’s one of the hardest things to do in sport. So, for me, I take my hat off to him. He’s got all those qualities that could help him.”
Prior to his move to Plymouth, Rooney had a spell at Birmingham City but struggled to make an impact in the Midlands. He has also had managerial stints at Derby County and DC United.
As a player, he rose up through the academy ranks at Everton and broke into their first-team as a teenager. He then moved to Manchester United and stayed at Old Trafford for the majority of his career at Old Trafford.
Plymouth will head to Leeds in confident mood after their late fightback against Preston. However, Rooney wasn’t entirely happy with the performance. He said afterwards: "I'm angry, to be honest. That performance is nowhere near good enough. I was really disappointed for an hour of that game. It didn't look like us at all. We were easy to play against. We weren't putting tackles in, we weren't getting to the ball. I'm obviously pleased we get a point out of the game but I can't accept that performance.
"I'm frustrated. At 3-0, you are looking at it and you are concerned. I tried to get attacking players on and get more balls in the box. We didn't do that enough, which is something we have worked on and looked at over the last couple of days, and we didn't do that at all for an hour.”