Wayne Rooney will want Plymouth Argyle to play with freedom

As a player, Wayne Rooney terrified defences. Not just with his record amount of goals, but his pest-like style meant they never got a moment’s peace and if it wasn’t the opposition he was annoying, then it was referees.

That is in no way a criticism, but a fact when reflecting on the playing career of one of England’s greatest ever players. A generational talent that inspired and impacted the lives of millions of football fans around the globe, especially at Manchester United. Rooney was a warrior, a leader someone you’d want on your team in any circumstance. A born winner that went on to become United’s greatest goalscorer of all time with 253, surpassing the great Sir Bobby Charlton.

For England, his 53 goals were also a record before that feat was surpassed by Harry Kane. The fact that such a global superstar is now the head coach of Plymouth Argyle is still hard to fathom, but as we all know, football has no time for sentiment. Great players don’t necessarily make great managers and 38-year-old Rooney arrives at Home Park with plenty to prove as a young coach.

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His three managerial roles so far – Derby County, DC United in the United States’ MLS and Birmingham City – have been anything but successful. So if Rooney is going to replicate the sort of success he enjoyed as a player, he has a long, long way to go.

However, while those coaching roles may not have gone the way he would have wanted them to, there are extenuating circumstances. Derby were crippled by financial issues which led to a 21-point penalty deduction – and ultimate relegation – while at DC, he had to deal with a rather unpleasant racism allegation and ultimate departure of forward Taxi Fountas, who was said to have aimed a racial slur at team-mate Nigel Robertha.

Results weren’t good at DC – Rooney won 14 of his 53 matches in charge – and they were even worse at Birmingham, where he won just two of 15 games. However, Rooney is said to have been asked to play a brand of football that did not suit the players he had and he was dismissed before he had the chance to address that in a transfer window.

So what is Rooney’s style of play, exactly? Given the circumstances surrounding each of his jobs so far, have we even seen a real Wayne Rooney football team play?

“I really enjoy - and I want players to play - with a freedom,” he says. “I think that’s really important because I think football has become really structured in recent years.

“Of course, you need to have a structure, that’s important as well but, especially in attacking areas, it is important that players have a freedom to be creative and make mistakes as well because, I think, in attacking areas, players will make mistakes on a football pitch, they will give the ball away or miss a cross, but I think it’s important that players have that freedom to be creative because if they don’t do that, then you are playing within yourself.

“That is a message I really put forward to the players and then defensively, we want to be a hard team to beat and be front-footed and aggressive – especially at home. When teams come to Home Park, we want to be aggressive and make it as difficult as we can for the opposition.”

Rooney adds: “I had my playing career which I loved, but if you want to go into management, you have to quite quickly move on from that and I have put a lot of time and work in to try and develop myself as a coach, try and improve, try and get better and I want to be a coach that helps players, helps teams and develops players – Academy players are really important as well to try and improve.

“I was a player that came into a first team at 16 and I think a lot of young players are good enough, but maybe they don’t get a chance and I have a real passion for that as well.

“The clubs I have been at have all had their challenges. At Derby County, they went into administration; I went out to (Washington) DC to experience something a bit different and to ultimately keep improving and keep developing and I have obviously found my way here to Argyle and I feel I am in the best shape I can be to go and lead this team.”

The question now is whether Rooney the name will be a big enough attraction for players to head way out West and join the Pilgrims. As many of his predecessors know, and would certainly vouch for, it is not easy to entice players away from the bright lights of big cities to the green hills and blue waters of the countryside.

That in itself will also be a novelty for Rooney, who has never had the luxury of a transfer budget to spend before, certainly here in England. At Derby, his hands were tied by financial constraints, while his time at Birmingham did not even encompass a transfer window.

“I have signed players, but never spent any money on them, so it is only free transfers that I have brought in,” he said. “I have managed to get some really good ones as well, especially at DC, but hopefully the owner (Simon Hallett) will allow me to bring in some players!

“The important thing is that it is the right players, whether that is free transfers or transfer fees for players, it is important we get the right players and there is a process into bringing players into a football club and we make sure we go through that process, data is really important to go alongside your personal opinions as well.”