253 goals for Manchester United, Manchester City's incredible scissors goal and a funny nickname: how Rooney will be remembered on the pitch

New challenge for Shrek

The news of Wayne Rooney's appointment as head coach of Derby County appeared on the club's official website on Friday night.

The report says the former England striker has signed a 2.5-year contract.

Liam Rosenior, Shay Given and Justin Walker will remain at his headquarters, while Steve McLaren will retain the position of technical director and advisor to the board of directors.

This appointment put an end to the football career of the five-time England champion.

The striker played his last match on November 25 last year.

In it, Derby lost to Middlesbrough - 0: 3.

After another setback, the club's management dismissed the former head coach Phillip Koku.

At this point, the County were in the relegation zone of the second-strongest division in England in the Championship, having won only one victory.  

Rooney was appointed acting mentor and initially joined the team as player coach.

In 11 league matches under his leadership, Derby scored three victories, lost four times with rivals in the world and suffered the same number of defeats.

True, in the FA Cup the team managed to lose to the opponent from the sixth league Chorley.

Nevertheless, Rooney decided to focus on his coaching duties.

“Despite other suggestions, I instinctively realized that my place was at Derby ... I can promise everyone associated with the club and all our fans that my staff and I will do everything in our power to fulfill our potential , which I saw at this historic football club this year, ”the official website quotes the expert.

Debut with Everton at 16

By the time he retired, Rooney had achieved almost everything in football.

As part of Manchester United, the striker has won all possible trophies: five times he became the champion of England, four times won the League Cup and the Super Cup of the country and once the FA Cup.

Finally, the striker celebrated victories in the Champions League, Europa League and the international club championship of the planet.

Over the years, Rooney managed to become Manchester United's top scorer in history (253 goals) and climbed to second place in the list of the most productive players in the Premier League - 208. He also became the best goalscorer of the England national team (53) and, together with the national team, played three world championships and three European championships.

And Wayne started his career early - with Everton, he made his debut in 2002 at the age of 16.

It became the fulfillment of a childhood dream.

The future five-time England champion was born in Liverpool into a simple family of handyman Thomas Wayne Rooney and Janette's housewife Mary Rooney, and all his household was passionately rooting for the blue. 

The boy's football talent manifested itself from the first years of his life.

He scored a huge number of goals in various competitions and, in the end, at nine attracted the attention of the Everton scouts.

At the same time, Liverpool, the principal rival, entered the fight for the young striker, but Rooney still chose his favorite team.

In the first season as part of the academy, the child scored an incredible 114 goals in 29 games. 

At the senior level, he first gained attention in 2002, when he scored eight goals for Liverpool in the preseason matches.

Longtime team coach David Moyes trusted the young man.

On August 17, the striker made his debut with Everton.

The coach released him at the base in the Premier League match against Tottenham.

At that time, Wayne was only 16 years old, 9 months and 24 days old.

The first ball was not long in coming.

In October, Rooney upset Wrexham in the League Cup and became the club’s youngest goalscorer to date.

Then he hit Arsenal's goal in a major league game.

In total, Wayne chalked up eight accurate shots in his first season in adult football.

In the next, the young player has already scored nine goals in all tournaments and got into the England national team for the 2004 European Championship.

After a successful performance in Portugal, it became obvious that it was almost impossible for Everton to keep the prodigy.

Realizing this, the club tried to make the most of this expensive asset.

Initially, the Liverpudlians did not want to let go of the striker for less than £ 50 million, but in the end they agreed to a more modest offer from Manchester United - € 37 million. Moreover, the forward's transition took place on August 31 on the last day of the transfer window just a few hours before its closing ... 

Difficult history at Manchester United

A new chapter in Rooney's life began in Manchester.

For the first time he was away from the family, and Alex Ferguson became the second father for the 18-year-old boy.

An experienced coach appreciated the talent of the new ward and did everything to cut the "diamond" he got as best as possible.

“Wayne was not the most capable student, but he had a natural instinct, an intuitive understanding of how football works.

Wonderful uncut talent.

Plus the innate courage and energy is a blessing for any football player.

Don't underestimate your ability to run every day.

He slowly delved into new exercises and ideas in training.

His instincts made him return to the old, to believe in the familiar.

He was comfortable inside himself, ”the specialist wrote in his autobiography.

The debut as part of the Mankunians turned out to be fabulous for Rooney.

In the Champions League group stage match with Fenerbahce, Wayne scored a hat-trick and gave an assist, while the Red Devils defeated the opponent with a score of 6: 2.

In total, in his first season at Manchester United, the striker scored 17 goals and was named the best young footballer according to the PFA.

In the years that followed, the team grew stronger.

Young Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo created an excellent fusion with experienced Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Edwin van der Sar and others.

Towards the end of the decade, trophies finally came to Manchester United.

In 2007, the Mankunians became the champions of England for the first time in four years, and in 2008 they repeated their success.

For Wayne, the really breakthrough and possibly the best of his career was the 2009/10 season.

Then the striker showed a fantastic game and performance.

In all tournaments, he scored 34 goals and was recognized in England as the player of the year, first by the players, and then by journalists and fans.

The forward had many outstanding meetings.

In the Premier League match with Hull City, he hit the opponents' goal four times and issued the first poker of his career.

Rooney upset Portsmouth three times.

Finally, he decided the fate of the most important confrontations with Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool.

In the Champions League, his benefit was the meetings with Milan.

Wayne scored twice both on the road (3: 2) and at home (4: 0) and helped his team reach the quarterfinals.

There he hit the gates of Bayern at the Allianz Arena, but the Munich team went further.

However, in the fall, there was a serious cooling in the relationship between the club and the football player.

He announced that he wants to leave the team.

Ferguson also confirmed the intention of the ward.

However, in the end, Rooney stayed.

“The players reacted differently.

Some were annoyed, others didn't care at all.

Rooney did not appear in the best light, as a ripper who forgot his grievances after signing a big contract.

That was how he was presented, but I don't think the financial issue came first for Wayne.

The excitement quickly subsided.

The fans, of course, remain distrustful, ”the coach wrote in his autobiography.

As a result, the striker signed a new contract with the club until 2015 and continued to benefit him.

In particular, on February 12, he scored a masterpiece goal for Manchester City with a kick over him.

The footballer, years later, called this goal the best in his career.

And in May, Manchester United lost to Barcelona in the Champions League final.

Rooney in the decisive confrontation equalized the score in the 34th minute, but in the second half the English team missed twice more and lost - 1: 3.

In May 2013, Ferguson admitted that the striker again asked to be put on the transfer, but was refused.

Then he became the champion of England for the last time.

After that, Ferguson retired, and the Mancunians were headed by the well-known football player Moyes.

However, their relationship was far from perfect. 

Nevertheless, under the leadership of Moyes, the striker scored 17 goals in the Premier League and shared the fourth-sixth places with Sergio Aguero and Wilfried Boni in the scorers' race, and also gave 10 assists.

In fact, he was the only bright spot for a team that failed the season and failed to even make it to the European competition.

The coach was fired back in April and was replaced in the summer by the experienced Dutchman Louis Van Gaal.

It was under him that Rooney's serious game transformation began.

To begin with, the specialist entrusted him with the captain's armband, and towards the end of his work in Manchester he transferred the ward to the midfield line.

This helped the player to open up in a new way.

He no longer possessed the explosive speed as at 20, but he still saw the field perfectly.

Now Wayne not only regularly hit other people's gates, but also gave assists.   

However, Rooney did not complete his contract until the end.

In 2017, under Jose Mourinho, he helped Manchester United win the Europa League, although in the final match with Ajax he symbolically came on as a substitute for only one minute.

And in the summer, the athlete announced his return to Everton, having signed a two-year contract with his home club.

But in Liverpool he stayed only for a year, although he had a good season, and in the Premier League, even for the last time in his career, he overcame the mark of ten goals.

In the summer of 2018, the Englishman moved to the American DC United, and ended his career in the modest Derby from the Championship.

Failures with the national team at major tournaments 

Rooney's career in the national team turned out to be ambiguous.

On the one hand, he spent 120 matches for her, losing in this indicator only to Peter Shilton (125), and became the top scorer.

On the other hand, Wayne never won anything with the national team, although the English squad in the 2000s was almost the strongest in history.

The striker played his first match with the Three Lions at the age of 17 years and 111 days and became at that time the youngest debutant in her history.

And in 2004, he went with the national team to the Euro in Portugal, where he made a splash.

In the group stage, the 17-year-old striker twice hit the gates of Switzerland and Croatia.

But in the quarterfinals, the British lost to the hosts in a penalty shootout.

The young footballer himself left the field in the first half due to injury.

Two years later, the situation repeated itself at the World Championships.

England again lost to Portugal in the "lottery".

This match was also remembered for the conflict between Rooney and teammate Ronaldo.

The latter tried too actively to persuade the referee to show the opponent a red card.

Wayne almost attacked him with fists, but later assured that the story did not receive a continuation.

“I calmed down and then approached him in the tunnel.

Felt we needed to talk face to face while it was still fresh.

He looked at me apologetically, but by that time a United player had already joined me.

I said, “There is no problem between us.

Enjoy the tournament and good luck!

See you in a few weeks and try to win the Premier League, ”Rooney recalled.

In subsequent years, the forward received only disappointment from major international tournaments.

In 2008, the British did not make it to the European Championship at all, leaving Russia ahead in the qualifying group.

In 2010, at the World Cup, they lost to Germany in the 1/8 finals - 1: 4, and four years later they did not even leave the group at the World Cup in Brazil.

Finally, in 2016, the Three Lions co-sponsored the main sensation of the continental championship in France, losing to Iceland in the very first round of the playoffs.

The captain's goal from the penalty spot did not help them.

In 2017, the captain announced his retirement in the England national team, and a year later he played his last match with the United States (3: 0).