Fergie lost it '20 times in a season' with Rooney for breaching the tactical rule

Sports

SIR ALEX FERGUSON attacked Wayne Rooney “15 to 20 times a season” towards the end of his time as Manchester United manager, Gary Neville has revealed.

Rooney, 38, is the Red Devils' all-time record goalscorer with 253 goals in 559 games over an iconic 13-year spell.

Wayne Rooney frustrated Sir Alex Ferguson towards the end of his time as Manchester United bossCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd

Rooney's tactical switch began to anger the legendary Scottish coachCredit: Dave Pinegar – The Sun

Trophies he won under Sir Alex include five Premier League titles and the Champions League.

But as his career progressed, he began to drop deeper into midfield, rather than leading the way.

This was a change Fergie did not want to see, with Neville claiming the Man Utd boss regularly criticized Rooney for it.

Speaking Stick to footballhe said: “I remember Sir Alex and Wayne Rooney, towards the end of his career at Manchester United, when Wayne started to come in a bit.

“He stopped turning and running at people and stopped running behind. He became more of a left-sided player and played the long passes.

“That was one of the last things I remember, and Sir Alex must have attacked Rooney 15 or 20 times a season for the last few seasons because he was dropping too low.

“Sir Alex wanted Rooney to stay up front, turn towards players and receive the ball with the back foot, because those were the things that made him more of a street footballer.”

Rooney scored 18 goals or more in six of the seven seasons from 2006 to 2012.

FREE BETTS – BEST BETTS & BONUSES FOR NEW CUSTOMERS

Wayne Rooney's Manchester United career in numbers

Here are Wayne Rooney's stats over his 13 years at Manchester United:

Performances: 559

Goals: 253

Assists: 145

Premier League titles: 5

FA Cups: 1

League cups: 3

Champions Leagues: 1

Europa Leagues: 1

Club World Cups: 1

In Ferguson's final year in charge, he scored just 16 goals in Man Utd's 2012/13 title-winning season.

And that became a more regular total for Rooney as he would not reach the 20-goal mark in any of his final four seasons at the club.

Sir Alex Ferguson reveals Cristiano Ronaldo's wink had nothing to do with Man Utd pal Wayne Rooney's red card

This was mainly because he dropped deeper, which is reflected in the number of assists he started to collect.

In the 2013/14 season under David Moyes, where Man Utd finished a dismal seventh in the Premier League, Rooney provided twelve assists.

This was only improved by Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez.

Rooney is fourth in the list of most assists of all time in the Premier League, behind Ryan Giggs, Cesc Fabregas and Kevin de Bruyne.

And he is third on the all-time goalscorers list, with only Alan Shearer and Harry Kane surpassing his tally of 208.

Gary Neville insists Ferguson was furious with Rooney for falling deepCredit: Getty Images – Getty

MAN UTD NEWS LIVE: Keep up to date with the latest transfer news from Old Trafford