Wayne Rooney has just admitted that Sir Alex Ferguson made him so something he ‘hated’ at Manchester United.

Rooney is United’s all-time top scorer with 253 goals, though, many would argue he didn’t fulfil his potential.

Further, he was England’s record scorer until Harry Kane surpassed him, so why is there that narrative that he underachieved?

Well, he’s just revealed he ‘hated’ doing something that actually made him more effective.

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Wayne Rooney ‘hated’ playing as a number nine

Speaking on ‘Stick to Football’, Rooney admitted that he ‘hated’ an instruction Sir Alex used to give him at United, despite it improving his output.

“That was the hardest thing for me. I played a lot of number 10 and when I went as a number nine I remember Fergie saying to me, just stay in the box, stay away,” the 38-year-old said.

“And I really struggled with it, to have that patience to stay up the front. I was itching to come back and get on the ball. But then I did it and it was my best goalscoring year but I often didn’t enjoy the game. I hated it, I’d come off the pitch and score two goals and didn’t feel like I got involved.”

Rooney was always eager to drop into midfield and be more of a playmaker than a goalscorer and perhaps that’s why he didn’t achieve all the personal accolades like the Ballon d’Or, which many expected him to.

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Wayne Rooney’s unselfishness limited him

Unselfishness is always regarded as a good thing, and indeed it is, but there is an element of greed needed to be an elite-level goalscorer.

As prolific as Rooney was, he just didn’t have that natural hunger to score goals like Cristiano Ronaldo did for instance.

Often, the United man was more focused on laying on chances for his teammates and even operated as a winger to accommodate others.

Rooney had a team-before-player mentality, which can’t be knocked.

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