Man United legend Wayne Rooney makes stunning claim about “absolute disgrace” Carlos Tevez

Manchester United record goalscorer Wayne Rooney has made a striking claim about his former teammate Carlos Tevez.

Deadly trio

Rooney, alongside Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo, formed one of the most lethal attacking combinations witnessed in English football.

Tevez joined United after helping West Ham United to survive the drop during the 2006/07 season. He wasted no time becoming a darling of Old Trafford, with his raw power and fearless performances endearing him to the fans almost immediately.

The Argentine helped United win six trophies, including back-to-back league titles and the 2007/08 Champions League trophy. Yet Tevez would ultimately tarnish his name at United by making the rare and hugely controversial move to Manchester City.

Speaking on the Stick to United podcast alongside Dimitar Berbatov, Rooney branded Tevez the worst trainer he had ever seen. He went on to label him “an absolute disgrace”, although he often delivered on the pitch when it actually mattered.

Rooney’s remarks

Rooney said, “We were all different profiles of players. 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 teammate 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.”

The former England international continued, “Where United were then with Sir Alex Ferguson, we’d just won the Premier League, we won the Champions League and then we go and sign him [Berbatov] to improve on what we’ve got and achieved. That’s how successful teams continue to be successful.”

“We’ve seen it now with Arsenal this year, they won the Premier League and then go and sign quality players to improve on what they’ve got.”

“That’s the place United were in but for us, as players, it would be weird if we didn’t do that. We’d be thinking, ‘Who are we signing? Why aren’t we signing anyone?’, because that just keeps pushing you. That’s why players can play so long at that level at that football club: Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes… they’ve seen players come and go and players who were meant to take their place.”

“But it gives you that drive to say, ‘We’ve signed Berbatov now… we’ve got four unbelievable forwards’, so you needed to be at your best.” Rooney said of the dynamic between himself, Berbatov, Tevez and Ronaldo, “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.”

United are next in action on Saturday when they face Tottenham Hotspur.