Wayne Rooney has shown his true colours in a classy response to Michael Owen’s ‘better than’ claim, regarding the comparison between the two at a young age.
Manchester United legend, Wayne Rooney, has recently been on the receiving end of some comparisons between himself and former England striker Michael Owen.
Both Rooney and Owen broke onto the English scene at a very early age, with Rooney scoring his first ever Premier League goal five days before his 17th birthday, whilst Owen won two golden boots before the age of 20.
The former Red Devil went on to have an incredible career for United, scoring 253 and assisting 142 in his 559 appearances. This made him the club’s all-time top scorer.
Rooney also won five Premier League titles, a Champions League, an FA Cup, a Europa League, and four League Cups during his time at the club.
Owen sparks up debate
Owen recently went on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, where he claimed to be better than Rooney during their teenage years, despite them making their marks five years apart.
The Ballon d’Or winner said, via BBC Sport, “In our opening 7 seasons, Wazza [Rooney] didn’t outscore me once, in which time I became the 2nd youngest Ballon d’Or winner ever.
“Injuries hindered me from then on, while he sustained his level. Therefore, he’ll go down as a better player than me. But, at 17, please.”
Clearly, Owen backs his younger years over Rooney’s, which is understandable given what he accomplished, but he is gracious enough to acknowledge the greatness that Rooney went on to achieve.
Rooney’s classy response
Rooney replied on his podcast, via Manchester Evening News, by saying, “Listen, me and Michael are very different players with different attributes. Michael Owen at 17, 18 was incredible. I used to go out on the streets and pretend to be him, even though he played for Liverpool.
“So what he’s saying, I completely understand but we’re two completely different footballers, different styles, different techniques. Michael Owen for a three, four year period was probably the best centre-forward in the world and it’s hard to argue against anyone coming up against Michael Owen then.
“Unfortunately, he did get his injuries and he probably couldn’t adapt his game maybe as well as I could in playing from the sides or going back into midfield. I think his comments are fair.
“Of course, he’s going to back himself. I’d back myself, but I’d never judge myself against Michael Owen because he’s someone I actually looked up to and had the pleasure of playing alongside [for England and United].”
It is nice to see that even though he is no longer playing on the pitch, the 39-year-old former Red Devil continues to ooze class.
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