Wayne Rooney has recalled how a chat with Sir Alex Ferguson revolutionised his approach to scoring goals.
The 34-year-old, now at Derby County, became a legend for both Manchester United and England as he broke both club and international goalscoring records, but in his latest column for The Sunday Times he admits that he never felt like a natural goalscorer during his career, despite his impressive hauls.
Rooney would instead look to get involved in the play in much deeper areas, and it was only when Ferguson told him to take things a little slower that he began to become a more deadly finisher.
"You learn little things along the way," said Rooney, who ended up with 253 goals for United and 53 for England.
"The best advice I received was from Fergie. He’d say 'you’re working too hard' and at first I thought, 'What do you mean? Isn’t that what you want?'
"But I used to try to run as hard as I could for 90 minutes and in the last 10 minutes be tired.
"The manager wanted his strikers to keep a little bit in the tank, because that match-winning chance might not arrive until the 90th minute."
Ferguson's attention to detail would eventually rub off on Rooney, who began specifically for the latter stages of games.
"I used to practise finishing when I was tired," he continued.
"At the end of a training session I’d get a ’keeper and Eric Steele, the goalkeeping coach, and do five sets of six: a little sprint then a shot.
"By the fifth and sixth rep of each set, you were out of breath – and if you learn to finish when you’re tired, it’s so much easier when you get a chance and you’re normal."
