Rooney reveals he was 'trusted' to defend more than Ronaldo while at Man United

Wayne Rooney has revealed he had more 'trust' to do the defensive work at Manchester United than Cristiano Ronaldo during the pair's time together at Old Trafford.

Rooney and Ronaldo spent five years playing together with the Red Devils from 2004 to 2009, winning countless trophies including three Premier League titles and the Champions League.

They appeared to fall out in 2022 when Ronaldo criticised his former team-mate during an interview with Piers Morgan after Rooney has branded the Portugal star's behaviour during his second stint at United 'unacceptable'.

But those who think back to their playing days together will have fond memories as they combined to form what was a formidable attack under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Now Rooney, speaking as a guest on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, has opened up on his time with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, explaining how their partnership would often work at the club.

'[He] would win you the game,' Rooney began. 'From a defensive point of view there was just more trust [in me].

'Obviously, if I played out wide, I would do my job, I would get back and help out defensively where Cristiano probably wouldn’t do it, and then he’s a threat [going forward], he pins their full back, back.

'I wanted to play in my position [as a centre forward], but that’s where the manager probably got it right in terms of the team winning and being successful, we probably needed that. I wasn’t really interested in individual awards, I always wanted to win with the team, that was always my goal.

'I wouldn’t say I was a natural goal scorer, I just wanted to get on the ball. If I was more selfish, I potentially could have scored a lot more goals, but I just wanted to play. The number of