Michael Owen & Rio Ferdinand Agreed 1 England Star Showed ‘No Respect’ in Training.
Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen, who are two former England internationals who have become media figures in their respective post-playing lives, recently sat down to talk all things football – and one thing they both managed to agree on was the one Three Lions star who showed ‘no respect’ during training.
During their careers on the international stage, both Ferdinand and Owen – who boast a combined 170 England appearances between them – came across a number of elite talents such as central midfield duo Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
England legend John Terry was Ferdinand’s partner in crime for the most part; Owen had the benefit of linking up with David Beckham and Joe Cole during a wonderful career for his nation – but there was a player that stood out above the rest for having little to no respect for the senior players. In a good way.
Ferdinand and Owen Revealed England Icon Who Had ‘No Respect
Owen, who is among the very few Englishmen to win the Ballon d’Or, appeared on the latest episode of the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast to talk about an array of things: from the mindset of being a Ballon d’Or winner to Manchester United’s mistake of missing out on the signing of Harry Kane.
Another conversation that arose was the brilliant arrogance of Wayne Rooney, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers in football history. A club legend at Old Trafford, his status as a footballing great transcended onto the international scene, too.
On Rooney’s first session alongside England’s senior team, Owen 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, fully aware of Rooney’s audacious nature from when he arrived at Old Trafford from Everton in 2022, chuckled as he recalled the early stages of the centre-forward setting the world alight. He said: “Oh yeah, yeah. He was like none of it. None,” before Owen added:
Nodding in total agreement with Owen’s sentiment about the former footballing phenom, Ferdinand said: “Yeah, yeah, yeah. A bit of respect.” The former Liverpool and Manchester United striker doubled down: “Yeah, but he didn’t have any.”
Born and raised in Liverpool, footballing royalty Rooney strutted his stuff, both domestically and on the international stage, with a swagger that could be seen as outright disrespect to many, and that included two of his countrymen. Alas, his Red Devils debut – a 6-2 win over Fenerbahce – saw him net a hat-trick.
A boy wonder of the highest order in the infancy of his trophy-laden career, the do-it-all centre-forward later became one of the best players in Manchester United history, having scored 253 goals in 559 outings for the club. To this day, he remains the club’s all-time top goalscorer.
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