Rio Ferdinand has admitted he “always argued” with Wayne Rooney when they were Manchester United teammates after Rooney described Ferdinand as “arrogant” during a recent speaking engagement.
Rooney was speaking at a black-tie event in Manchester when he opened up on his relationships with Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Ferdniand and others while at Old Trafford.
The Derby County manager said Ferdinand sometimes “forgot he was a defender” with his elaborate play out from the back.
Speaking on his Vibe with Five podcast, Ferdinand responded: “(Rooney’s comments) was at a signing, some of us do these things where you go and talk to an audience. They’re quite funny, you have a few beers and you get loose lips a little bit when you’re in there. Your guard’s down when you don’t see the big cameras and microphones.
“He said a few things about a few former players, he said about me being arrogant and how we argued and he told tell me ‘do your job’. He’s referring to when on the pitch we would argue, either in front of everyone at Old Trafford or in the training ground – me and him always argued.”
Ferdinand says he was often the one complaining about Rooney’s play.
“I’d be thinking ‘just shoot man’. Don’t be doing all these fancy passes, let Scholesy and them do that. I want you to be up there, cutting edge and bang, be decisive. Wazza could score two goals in a game but not be involved in the game and he would come off with the hump.
“Because he’s a street footballer, he wants to be involved in the 90 minutes playing all the time and I used to say ‘Bruv, I just want goals, I don’t care what else you do’.”
