Wayne Rooney takes bizarre dig at Leeds United

Wayne Rooney takes a bizarre dig at Leeds United after his Derby County loss 1-0 against Rotherham United on Saturday afternoon.

The two sides of course have plenty of controversial history, first there was Spygate with Marcelo Bielsa and Frank Lampard making sly digs at each other, then was saw Derby knock Leeds out of the playoffs only to lose to Aston Villa in the final, then Leeds had the last laugh in getting promoted back to the big time, something Derby failed to do in coming 10th.

Fast forward to today and the Rams have already lost Phillip Cocu, and now made Wayne Rooney as their permanent manager after being an interim.

They currently sit second from bottom in the Championship table, and have a real battle on their hands if they want to avoid the drop to League One. Blimey imagine that?!

Leeds meanwhile still have Marcelo Bielsa in charge and has had a rather mixed season, sitting 12th in the Premier League table.

The have been praised by pundits for their exciting brand of football which has got them some decent results, however we can’t say there aren’t criticism as they have also been branded ‘naive’ and claim Leeds would burn out.

Of course the main focus on Leeds is to just make sure they get enough points to avoid the drop, before then slowly improve in time to work their way up the table in future seasons.

Derby are set to be taken over thanks to those rich buyers who wanted to take over Newcastle United before it failed.

Rooney has admitted that he wants to adopt attacking football at Pride Park but claims he wants nothing to do with how Leeds are playing.

“I want my team playing with energy, I want my team playing with a belief in terms of winning every game.” He said after his side lost at home to Rotherham at the weekend (via LeedsLive).

“That’s the mentality I need to change in the players.

“Attacking but with composure as well. I don’t want the team to be a Leeds, for instance, I want to have a good balance. I don’t want the players scared to make mistakes. I want them to play with freedom.

“I have signed for two and a half years to put my philosophy on the team.”

A cheap dig from Rooney and it’s a surprising one consider it’s made by someone who won’t understand the difference between the two sides in cost and benefit of playing in that style.

Fan site LeedsAllOver say on the quotes: “You can’t say in one breath that you want to play every game with the intention of winning, but then say you want balance and to not leave yourself open.

“That in itself is naive.

“We quite clearly attack with composure, because we’ve scored 30 goals already and Patrick Bamford’s hit double figures.

“Playing with freedom naturally yields pressure for your defence, so Rooney has a job on his hands to make good on these promises here.”

They add: “Attacking football is coming at a cost at the back for us though, with our 30 goals scored (sixth highest) bested by 34 conceded (second highest).”

Fans reacted as Wayne Rooney takes a bizarre dig at Leeds United, see what he said…

@WayneRooney xx pic.twitter.com/Ks30XH6RCr

— ALAW (@AIILeedsArentWe) January 18, 2021

Wayne Rooney doesn’t want Derby to play like Leeds 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🙂🙂🙂🙂

— thomas lang darksen (@TDarksen) January 18, 2021

@max_gentleman: “I don’t want the team to be a Leeds” – Obviously, you’ll never get them promoted Wayne so you’re safe there. But there’s a very good chance you’ll take them down to League 1. So you’ll be “doing a Leeds” in one respect at least.

@SteveFinch7: What a wanker Rooney is. If there is one team in the country that play with freedom from making mistakes it’s Leeds. If any player makes a mistake Bielsa will accept responsibility

@ForeverAYellow: I mean he’s literally been manager two minutes and he’s already making a mockery of himself. Do go in criticising Leeds, because right know, you’re making yourself look really foolish lad lol, the way its going you’ll be in League One next season, so if anything, you’ll need to play like Leeds just to avoid the drop first of all

@pistol1603: Looking forward to Wayne winning the league next season with his ground breaking balanced approach.