Wayne Rooney may have to get his boots back on at Plymouth, with the Manchester United legend ready to put on a goalscoring masterclass.
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Red Devils' all-time leading scorerBack in management at Home ParkWants Pilgrims to become more clinicalGettyWHAT HAPPENED?
The Red Devils’ all-time leading marksman has endured a mixed start to his reign at Home Park, with a humbling defeat at Sheffield Wednesday on the opening weekend of the 2024-25 campaign being followed by a Carabao Cup win and collection of a first Championship point in a draw with Hull City.
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Rooney was critical of his players on the back of a heavy loss at Hillsborough, but has seen signs of encouragement since then. Plymouth are, however, still a work in progress – particularly in the final third of the field.
GettyWHAT ROONEY SAID
Their iconic boss should be able to help in that area, with Rooney saying of his training plans for the week ahead – which will see him trying to pass on pearls of goal-getting wisdom: “I thought we had a real energy about us [in a 1-1 draw with Hull City], commitment, aggression at the right times and created some good chances and that was the only thing really we weren't clinical enough. It's something I'm going to work on with the players this week, we have to be more clinical.
“Overall, a point, we are off the mark, and I'm pleased with a lot of the game. Of course, there is always things we can improve on as well. It's a great strike so I don't think we can do anything about that. It's the details of how he gets there, and this is game management as well. They were trying to drag us out of positions and for the main I thought we done okay but towards the end, when we were getting a little bit tired, we did allow that to happen. Again, that's something we can improve on.”
WHAT NEXT?
Rooney lasted just 83 days in his last managerial post, after linking up with NFL hero Tom Brady at Birmingham. He has previously worked with Derby and D.C. United, with many yet to be convinced by the 38-year-old ex-England international.