Wayne Rooney: My Decade in the Premier League (18 page)

The reason for Liverpool’s good start hinges on the partnership between Gerrard and their Spanish striker, Fernando Torres, who signed for the club in 2007. The pair of them have really clicked this year and they seem to be causing a lot of trouble for defenders. As an attacker, I can see that Torres is a brilliant player (it’s all part of the Striker’s Appreciation Society – I can suss the talent in other forwards, whoever they play for). He’s hungry, he’s quick, he has a good eye for goal.

I think Liverpool’s style of play suits him, too. Torres thrives on really fast counter-attacking football and Liverpool get the ball forward quickly, whereas some teams – like Chelsea under their new manager, Luiz Felipe
Scolari – tend to build slowly from the back. At the moment they wouldn’t suit the way that Torres plays, or the runs he makes into the box.

We sign a pretty good striker for ourselves, though: Dimitar Berbatov, the Bulgarian centre-forward who’s had a couple of great seasons at Spurs. He joins at the end of the transfer window, right at the death, and he’s a brilliant addition to the squad. I’ve watched him play on the telly quite a few times so I know just how good he can be on his day.

With his skill I also know it won’t take Berba long to fit in, even though he’s completely different to what we have in the squad – he likes to slow the ball down and take touches; he’s unselfish. He’s also a lot stronger than people think. In his first training session he shrugs away a few defenders in a scrap for a loose ball, which comes as a bit of a surprise.

Some say he’s not the loudest off the pitch, and that he likes to keep himself to himself in the dressing room. I’m not bothered about how loud or funny he is. He’s a fantastic player, and that’s all that matters to me.

With the new arrival, it looks like The Manager will be spoilt for choice when it comes to picking his team. Myself, Ronnie, Carlos and Berba will all be fighting it out for two, maybe three places this season, but it’s great for the club that we have so many strike options, and to be honest, it doesn’t worry me. If anything, it gives me a determination to play better. It keeps me on my toes. I know I’ll have to concentrate and work hard all the time this season.
If I don’t, one of that lot will win my place
.

At first, The Manager sets the team up with me and Berba up front, Ronnie on the wing. He then changes it by playing just me up top in a 4–5–1 formation. Carlos finds himself sitting quite a few games out and, to be honest, I feel a bit bad for him (but not bad enough to ever let him take my place). He hasn’t done a lot wrong, but he just can’t break into the starting XI. That’s the way football goes, I guess. It’s about The Manager and the team he writes down before every game. The rest of us have to fall in line, and after that it’s down to the players. As long as everyone scores goals and it helps us to win the title, we’ll be fine.

As long as it helps us to knock Liverpool down a peg or two, I’ll be happy.

*****

We get our act together …

Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1

Manchester United 2 Bolton 0

Blackburn Rovers 0 Manchester United 2

Everton 1 Manchester United 1

Manchester United 2 West Ham 0

Manchester United 4 Hull City 3

It’s not long before we’re in third place. Right up Liverpool’s backside.

*****

If anyone asks me what my favourite trophy is in football, I always say it’s the Premier League, followed by the Champions League, followed by the FA Cup, and then the League Cup. Why? Well I’ve grown up with the Premier League. It’s where I’ve always wanted to be, ever since I was a kid. Don’t get me wrong, the Champions League is great, it’s exciting, but the Premier League is the one I always want to win because week in, week out, I’m in the thick of it.

It takes me over.

I know the teams and the players, the managers and the stadiums – I see them on the box all the time. Then there’s the physicality, the speed and the quality of the football. It’s a different class. Everywhere, people are talking about it. The league dominates the papers, the fans read every word.
And the need to win the title is drilled into us by The Manager every single day
.

Some supporters might think, ‘Oh there’s so much money in the game, footballers don’t really care about what competitions they play in. They don’t care whether they win or lose.’ That might be true for some players, but I don’t think like that.

I didn’t start playing football for money and it’s not what drives me now.

Money obviously gives me a great way of living and it’s helped me to raise a family in a way that makes me happy, but the cash is not everything for me. It’s not the sole thing in my life. I’m happiest if United win things, I’m happiest if my family’s happy. The money can add to that feeling, sure, but I’m not one of those lads who goes crazy every week,
throwing my money around just to make myself feel better or to show off.

I do appreciate that footballers get a lot for what we do, but the club has set a wage for me, so that’s what they must value me at. It’s a competitive rate in line with other top teams so it works the same as any other business. And of course people ask me if we get too much money, but the honest answer is,
I don’t know
. If that’s the budget available to players in football at the top level (because of what the sponsors, investors and the TV companies spend on the Premier League) then it must be fair. I don’t set the budgets.

There are lots of other sports that are better paid than football at the top level, but nobody seems to mind. If people were to look at the NBA or the NFL in America, the top golf pros, Formula One, they’d see that the biggest stars in those sports get much more than footballers in England do, but nothing gets said. It’s the same as films: a lot of actors get paid much more than Premier League players, but nobody moans about them either, and they’re in the entertainment business, just like us.

The important thing is, I’m grateful for everything that football has given me: the fun, the buzz of playing and, of course, the wealth, but I haven’t lost touch with reality. I’ve bought nice cars and a house for myself and Coleen. I’ve even bought a place for my family, but I don’t think that I’ve ever been over the top or madly extravagant. I’m just making the most of what football has given me and I’m dead grateful for it.

*****

As the season gets into full swing, I realise that money doesn’t just change the way most fans think about players, it also changes the way they think about clubs.

City.

Suddenly they’ve got cash to spend having been taken over by the super rich Abu Dhabi United Group in the summer. They’re talking about who they’re going to buy and where the club is going to go in the next few years, which suddenly makes the Manchester derby this season a little bit spicier. They’re chatting about titles and being the biggest club in the country, maybe Europe.

They’re going to be a challenge to us from now on.

It’s weird for me to see them up there, as a threat. I’ve been used to watching City finish way below United, ever since I fell in love with footy as a kid. They’ve always been miles away in the league despite the occasional win over us. Now it’s great to have an extra edge to the games, some top of the table clashes. I don’t know how The Manager views the takeover, but I do know that the players want to beat them more than ever. The fact that City are suddenly getting a little bit closer in terms of ambition gives us an extra incentive, a bigger desire to make sure we stay on top.

A bit more fight and battle is going to be needed to make sure that we keep ahead of the other lot.

I’m not sure how I feel when teams like City start throwing money around. As a player, I know there’s nothing I can do about it; I know it’s out of my hands. And I also know that United do it too sometimes, but that’s the way football has
gone. There’s a lot of money in the game these days and every team is trying to improve their squad.

Nobody can blame a manager for wanting to bring better players into their club, like at City when the chairman is telling him to spend, spend, spend. That’s only natural. But I do worry about the health of football, especially when I see big clubs going to the wall. There are teams falling into administration up and down the country every year now. I reckon it’s important that clubs only spend money when they can, when they’re financially secure. They shouldn’t gamble the money or spend big when they’re skint. I think they should always stay within their budget.

Mates who support other teams always say, ‘Oh yeah, pal, it’s easy for you, you play for Manchester United. Money isn’t really an issue for your club.’ That’s a fair point, but even the players in our dressing room can see that football’s a mad game. One year a team can be challenging for cups, the next they’re in financial trouble, selling all their players and facing protests from the fans. These days, clubs should make sure they’re only buying the players they can afford and they shouldn’t break the bank to do it.

City can clearly afford anyone. The players and fans can see that their owners have loads to spend. We can tell that money will never stop with them, that they can splash anything on a player. But we’ll have to forget about their money.
We have to dig in and work
.

*****

On 30 November we beat City, 1–0. I score the winner just before half-time. It’s always sound to get a goal against them, especially today because there’s a really moody atmosphere surrounding the game, but also because it shows the world that we’re still on top.

In December we win our group in the Champions League; in the league we beat Sunderland, Stoke, Boro’ and draw with Spurs at their place. We close the gap on Liverpool to seven points.
We have to dig in and work
.

*****

We have to dig in and work because I don’t play for prestige. I play to win.

Being an expensive footballer hasn’t helped me to win these games or added to my day-to-day life. To be honest, I don’t think about my financial value as a player. I didn’t even think about the transfer fee when I was sold to United by Everton, despite the big fuss that was made about it by everyone at the time. It was obviously a deal that the two clubs had struck, but I didn’t think about the numbers being chucked about because they didn’t seem real to me. At the time I was just thinking about playing and trying to win trophies at the highest level.

When we win trophies at United, I don’t really celebrate or show off about it because showing off’s not for me. I’m not one for big parties, not if I’m going to be the centre of attention anyway. I always remember when I scored my 100th goal for United. After the game I went home and
watched TV; I called in a Chinese takeaway. A few of our lads went out that night and when I saw them the next day, I asked them where they’d been.

‘Oh, so and so had a do because he’d made his 100th appearance for Man City.’

I couldn’t get my head around that. Obviously some people don’t need an excuse to have a party. I’d much rather go home and put my feet up.

And I definitely don’t play football for the fame or to live a mad lifestyle.

I think footballers in this country are made out to be crazy superstars, but most of us are normal people. We get paid a lot of money for what we do, obviously, and we live a surreal life, but some fans think that we’re up our own backsides. People say that footballers are disconnected from everyone else, but the simple fact is, I can’t live my life like I used to when nobody knew me because it’s impossible.

Fans want to have a go at me in the street. Photographers follow me around when I’m walking through the supermarket, doing the shopping. That’s enough for me, cheers. Fans say, ‘Why don’t you go to the pub with the supporters like they did in the old days?’ Or, ‘Why do you hide away and not meet the public?’ It’s because doing that can cause me a lot of bother. And when it does, it’s a ’mare.

I’m not trying to say, ‘Oh poor me.’ I don’t want sympathy from anyone, I’m just telling it how it is. I know I have to take the rough with the smooth; the football and the money with the attention and abuse. It’s just that I’ve learned that it’s all about the game for me, not the pay cheque, the
prestige, or the fame. When I think about what I’d like to leave behind when I retire, this is how it is for me:

Honesty in football is tough. People think that football’s easy, that the players don’t have to put in the work to succeed. I’m not like that. I hate the thought of not putting a shift in, and I hate it when I see footballers not pulling their weight. I’ve known players to go missing during games against us, especially when their team’s been losing 1–0 or 2–0.

They give up. I’ve seen strikers hiding behind our defenders with their arms up, pretending to want the ball, making out to the fans that they’re dead keen to change the game. Deep down they know that the pass won’t come to them, that the winger has pushed the ball too far to make a cross at the byline.
That they’ll get away with it
.

That’s not for me and I hope the fans realise it. Like my mum and dad taught me:
The best quality in life is to work
hard
. But grafting – especially under pressure – is probably the toughest thing in life and in football. It’s a skill to be able to do it and to do it well. And it takes bravery, because if I make a mistake and it costs United the game, there’s nowhere to hide. Not in the Premier League.

When the final whistle has blown and we’ve lost a game, I don’t think about the money. I think about the defeat. And it always does my head in.