Speaking on the Stick to United podcast alongside Berbatov, Rooney offered a blunt assessment of his former colleague’s habits behind the scenes. The former England skipper admitted that their approaches to practice varied drastically.
“We were all different profiles of players,” Rooney explained. “For instance, if you looked at Tevez in training he was an absolute disgrace. He was the worst trainer I’d ever seen in my life! But then as a team-mate or the manager, we would accept it because he would go on the pitch and put all his energy on the pitch which was great.”
Rooney also shed light on their off-pitch dynamic. Despite a language barrier, the pair found ways to connect during shared commutes, even as they battled for a spot in the starting XI.
“There was competition between us all to play,” Rooney added. “Berbatov was quite quiet, Tevez couldn’t really speak much English. It was interesting actually, I used to pick Tevez up from his house and sometimes we’d go to the airport for Champions League games because it was nearby, but somehow we managed to have a conversation. It was weird!
“I probably had the best relationship with Cristiano out of those three forwards in terms of having banter and stuff like that. But when you’re on the pitch you have to recognise who you’re playing with, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are.”