- Owen blasts Rooney’s lack of respect
- Teen star showed no fear in training
- England icons recall fiery first impression
Owen, himself a boy wonder for the England, revealed that the former Red Devils striker carried himself with a swagger that bordered on outright disrespect. He insists Rooney ignored the established pecking order and announced himself as the main man from the very first training session. Owen described one jaw-dropping moment during shooting practice. Instead of keeping it simple, the then-Everton teenager chipped the goalkeeper on his very first attempt – and walked away to a round of applause.
Owen, appearing on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, said: “I’ll never forget, you were probably there as well. First training session when he chipped the keeper. Sunderland. Up at Sunderland. Yeah, crazy. Like, in life, as much as you have got to sometimes show a little bit of respect, haven’t you?”
Ferdinand chuckled as he recalled the audacity of Rooney’s early antics. “Oh, yeah, yeah. He was like none of it. None,” he agreed with Owen.
Owen added: “A young kid and he comes out shooting practice and he just chips the goalkeeper straight away. Who was it? Was it Seaman? I can’t remember who it was. He got a round of applause as well straight away after it. But it was just like, I looked at him and thought, oh, wow. That’s just not a done thing, you know. You’ve got to be in a few squads before you start doing that.”
Ferdinand nodded in agreement: “Yeah, yeah, yeah. A bit of respect”, and Owen doubled down and said: “Yeah, but he didn’t have any.”
That brash mentality never left Rooney. From his teenage debut against Australia in 2003, when he became England’s youngest-ever player, to his record-breaking 120 caps and 53 goals, Rooney always carried himself as if he belonged at the very top. He announced himself to the world at Euro 2024 and many still argue that England might have won the tournament had Rooney not limped out injured against Portugal in the quarter-finals. Rooney himself later admitted that was “the standout” moment of his international career. It was the tournament that made him a global superstar, and the fearless mentality Owen described was on full display.
Whatever the debate, Rooney’s fearlessness defined his career. The kid who ignored hierarchy and chipped keepers in training grew into the man who carried England for more than a decade. Since hanging up his boots, Rooney has had a few brief spells in the dugout as a manager,but success has been hard to come by. He now appears regularly on television screens as a pundit and is tipped to feature in a Disney+ documentary along with his wife, Coleen.
Listen to the full Rio Meets Michael Owen interview on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
