Wayne Rooney should look to emulate Diego Simeone's streetfighter managerial style, says Gary Neville

Gary Neville: “Wayne Rooney is a streetfighter, so he should manage like that. Hopefully, his teams are a mirror of how he was as a player at his absolute best”; follow Derby vs Bournemouth on Sky Sports Football; kick-off 6pm

Football Expert
@GNev2

Tuesday 19 January 2021 13:41, UK

Gary Neville has called on Wayne Rooney to emulate Diego Simeone in his managerial style, reflecting the streetfighter footballer of his youth.

Rooney’s first match in permanent charge of Derby ended with a 1-0 defeat at home to Championship relegation rivals Rotherham on Saturday, but he has the chance to respond at home to Bournemouth on Tuesday night, live on Sky Sports.

Former Manchester United and England team-mate Gary Neville offered some advice to the new Derby boss during Monday Night Football as Rooney embarks on his new career path in the East Midlands.

‘Rooney can be like Simeone’

I would tell Wayne a number of things.

I would say treat it like your last job, and not your first. I’d say don’t be naive, which is difficult when it is your first job. When I went into my first job with Valencia, I went in thinking ‘everything is beautiful and perfect’.

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You can get into thinking, ‘we’re going to play beautiful football and we’ll do this and that’, but he should treat if like you’re fighting for your life from the very beginning. I’d say make sure you get the right people around you, who’ve got experience, who can make sure that the pitfalls and obstacles that you hit know they’re going to be there.

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It’s important he takes the right job, and I feel Derby have got the right pedigree in making sure they give managers a chance. It feels like the right club where he can learn, where there is pressure but not the kind of pressure he’d be immediately under at a Premier League job. Obviously, he’ll need that little bit of luck as well.”

He was always going to be a coach as he always wanted to be a coach. I thought it was one of the best Monday Night Football shows when he came on. You could see he was a student of the game.

I just hope his teams have the personality of Wayne Rooney, the kid – not the Wayne Rooney who got older and smoothed over with age. I know you’ve got to be articulate nowadays, but I hope he’s like a Diego Simeone. That’s what he was like as a player and as a kid. A team that is aggressive and ferocious.

“That’s one of my biggest regrets when I think about what I was trying to do. You try to be something that you’re not. My team should have been narky, horrible and nasty. Built around the things I felt a football team should be, but I was busy thinking about splitting the centre-backs.

I’d say be what you are. He’s a streetfighter, so he should be like that. He had that in his game, and he should have that in his team. Hopefully, his teams are a mirror of how he was as a player at his absolute best.

‘Footballing brain puts Rooney in great position’

In his 10 months as a Derby player, the 35-year-old scored seven goals in 35 appearances, the last of which came on November 25 in a 3-0 defeat at Middlesbrough.

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But Rooney’s transition into management has been in the offing for some time, long before his period as interim boss following the departure of Phillip Cocu.

Jamie Carragher said: “Rooney has been writing a newspaper column for the best part of a year and he has got a brilliant football brain.

“You can see that when you speak to him, and he’s a lot more intelligent in understanding the game. He’s not just a great player, his football was a lot about his intelligence and understanding of the game which puts him in a great position going into management.”

Follow Derby vs Bournemouth



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Derby vs Bournemouth is live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event from 5.30pm on Tuesday; kick-off is at 6pm.

Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Free highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

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