No excuses for failure
He is just 27 years old but his achievements are staggering. Shortly after making his Everton debut he became the youngest scorer in Premier League history at the age of 16. In August 2004, the wily
Sir Alex Ferguson persuaded the Manchester United Board of Directors to sanction a £25 million move to prise Wayne Rooney away from Everton. He had a dream debut for Manchester United scoring a hat-trick against Fenerbache (Turkey) at the Theatre of Dreams (Old Trafford).
Ferguson’s investment has paid rich dividends. Rooney is now Manchester United’s highest-ever scorer, surpassing the legendary George Best’s total of 179 goals. He has won four league titles, the 2008 UEFA Champions League, a FIFA Club World Cup and two league cups. For many, Rooney is the finest British player of his generation. There is the other side of Rooney’s career as well. Like many talented British footballers of this generation, he has underachieved at the international level. He has yet to score a goal for England in the World Cup. In both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups that he has played in, he was recovering from injuries and gave lacklustre performances. He was suspended for the first two matches of Euro 2012 and was quite unconvincing in the two matches he played against Ukraine and Italy. His best performance so far has been as a precocious 17-year-old in Euro 2004 in Portugal. He scored four goals in three league matches before limping off injured in the crucial quarter-final tie against Portugal.
The 2012-13 season is Rooney’s 10th season in the premiership, hence his autobiography, Wayne Rooney: My Decade in the Premier League, come at an appropriate time. It is told to Matt Allen, an award-winning football and music journalist who has written books on other British players like Jimmy Greaves, Paul Merson and clubs like Wimbledon FC. This book is like Rooney — candid and passionate; the highs and lows of his glittering career are revealed in a fast and flowing narrative. As the title of the book suggests, there is more information about his Premier League career than in international football.
The hallmark of the book is Rooney’s candid observations on other great contemporary players. We come to know that Ryan Giggs does yoga to keep his body supple. Rooney admits he tried yoga but found it boring. He mentions Cristiano Ronaldo’s amazing self-belief and his desire to be the best in the world. Rooney talks about the telepathic understanding he developed with Carlos Tevez and his tremendous work rate: “He ran so hard in the games that some days at Carrington (Manchester United’s training field) he couldn’t do the training; he was wrecked from the weekend.” Patrice Evra, who plays as a left back, is fluent in English and explained team talks to Tevez, Nani and Anderson, all of whom were not very conversant with the language. Paul Scholes is an introvert but makes very committed and hard tackles even in practice games.
But, above all, the book provides valuable insight about what motivates Rooney. He admits, “All the goals and trophies, injuries and bookings are driven by one thought. I hate losing. I hate it with a passion.” There are crisp details of his formative years in Croxteth, Liverpool — strength training in the gymnasium, boxing bouts and the non-stop football practice which shaped him as a player and individual. He likes to watch boxing and admires Mike Tyson for his speed and aggression. A major surprise is that Rooney admits he is very religious and prays in a quiet corner before each match. He and his whole family are Everton fans and thus he is extra motivated when playing against Everton’s arch-rival Liverpool. His restlessness before a major game, like the 2008 Champions league final in Moscow, is described in detail: He remains fidgety, pacing around the room, listening to tunes on his iPod and feels that he is caged up.
The finest part of the book is his detailed description of his dream goal, the stupendous back volley against Manchester City on February 12, 2011. Rooney describes how the move started on the right, the thoughts that flashed across his mind, the way he took off to score, reaction of his teammates and that of the team’s manager Ferguson. He also admits that the Champions League triumph in Moscow was one of the greatest moments of his career, especially the drama and tension of the penalty shootout against Chelsea. Winning his first premiership title in 2007 is also a special feeling for him.
Another endearing part of the book is that there are no excuses for failures, like in the 2010 World Cup. He writes, “I have a disastrous World Cup with England in the summer and I play badly.” The two losses to Barcelona in the Champions League finals of 2009 and 2011 also rankle, but Rooney admits that on both occasions they were outplayed. “It’s so frustrating because we can’t get into the match. It’s tiring too. We’re chasing shadows tracking players, putting in challenges without getting a grip on the contest.” Rooney praises Barcelona’s pass and move tactics and writes: “They’re probably the best club side ever.”
For all Wayne Rooney fans and football lovers this book is a perfect New Year gift. It vividly describes all the great moments in his career — the sacrifice, pressure, passion, pain and controversy of an iconic English footballer in very lucid prose.
Novy Kapadia is an expert on Indian football and a well-known commentator
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