When Wayne Rooney left Derby County, he had amassed a substantial amount of goodwill. The Championship club suffered a 21-point reduction before the season started, but the former Manchester United player was able to rally the squad and in the end, they only missed out on survival by seven points.
Many expected Rooney to take another job in the Championship or even in the Premier League, which would be another step on the ladder to potentially taking over the United job in the future. However the 37-year-old then sprung a surprise by announcing he would be taking over the manager position at DC United.
He brought Pete Shuttleworth with him from Derby to be his assistant and also signed former United midfielder Ravel Morrison on a free transfer, who scored two goals in 14 games. When Rooney joined, his task was to attempt to pull DC off the bottom of the table - but the Washington club have finished last in the MLS Eastern Conference.
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After it was confirmed that DC would finish the season at the bottom of the table, Rooney took to Instagram to post a message. "Massive thank you to all our fans for your continued support throughout the season," he said. "Big improvements needed and we’re ready for the challenge ahead. Preparation for 2023 is already underway!"
Rooney is not the first Premier League legend turned manager to head to the MLS with loftier ambitions. Current Crystal Palace manager and fellow Hall of Famer Patrick Vieira spent time as the head coach of New York City FC earlier in his career.
Meanwhile, Rooney's former United teammate Phil Neville is in charge at Inter Miami, who are part-owned by another ex-Old Trafford colleague David Beckham.
Rooney will be hoping that with a pre-season and more time to implement his style he will be able to fully turn DC's fortunes around in the long term. He said as much a few weeks into the job.
He told the media in August: “The important thing is to build a squad who can compete. Of course we need more players. I know that. I think the owners know that.
"We have to keep trying to build and I have to keep trying to push these players from now till the end of the season to make sure we improve. And then I have to push the owners in January to get players in who can compete in this league.”
Hopefully, the 36-year-old can turn things around and stop this spell from being a blot and a backward step in his managerial ambition.
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