Wayne Rooney admits he watched Chelsea cult hero's videos to prepare for Manchester United partnership with Robin van Persie
Former Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney reveals he used to watch videos of ex-Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas to help him form connections with Robin Van Persie on the field at Manchester United.
Rooney and Van Persie enjoyed some excellent times at United and won the Premier League. When the Dutch striker moved to United from Arsenal in a controversial transfer, he instantly became one of the most prominent players, leading the club to the Premier League title.
This saw Rooney operate more as No.10 behind the striker who would feed him balls, but his reason to form a tandem with Van Persie came from watching former Chelsea star Fabregas’ clips with him during his Arsenal days. Subsequently, Fabregas joined Chelsea and went on to become a club favourite, winning the league.
Rooney revealed how he used to watch Fabregas’ videos playing with Van Persie at Arsenal and learn from them, and later implemented that on the pitch when the Dutch star moved to United. Speaking to the BBC, he said:
‘’I watched Cesc because I was dropping a bit deeper. Cesc and Robin had a really good relationship, so I knew that would be my role then, so I watched a lot of clips of you [Fabregas].’’
When you have a midfielder like Fabregas, he reeks of top quality, and he doesn’t need time or a season to settle in a different team because players like him can flourish in any system. At Arsenal, he was part of the Gunners’ midfield and used to feed strikers the ball, but when he moved to Chelsea, the Spanish international became more of a controller, where he would bring discipline in the middle of the pitch.
Even though Fabregas spent eight years at Arsenal and left his mark on the Gunners’ history, he couldn’t secure a single league title during his tenure. In contrast, he won two titles during his five years at Chelsea, and a similar thing transpired with Robin van Persie who also won a title with United.
Fabregas won the championship in his first season after joining Chelsea in the 2014–15 campaign, demonstrating how effortlessly he adapted to the team and served as the team’s catalyst for the league triumph. He got along well with Diego Costa, another countryman, at Chelsea. Above all, Fabregas was class, and many people are unaware of just how good he was in his prime.
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