Wayne Rooney has claimed that he purposefully wore longer studs in a crucial match against Chelsea during his Manchester United career because he “wanted to hurt someone.”
On April 29, 2006, United needed a miracle to prevent Chelsea from winning the Premier League title.
With three games remaining, Jose Mourinho’s side had a nine-point advantage over United and only needed a draw to win the title.
In a new documentary titled ‘Rooney,’ Rooney discusses the match, which will be released on Amazon Prime on Friday.
In it, he revealed that he went into the game with a hidden agenda: possibly realising that United’s title chances were fading, he resolved to try and win in a different method.
“I changed my studs before the game,” Rooney says in the documentary
“I put longer studs in because I wanted to hurt someone.”
He adds: “If Chelsea won a point, they won the league. At that time, I couldn’t take it.
“The studs were legal, they were a legal size, but they were bigger than what I would normally wear.”
Chelsea dominated the game, winning 3-0 thanks to goals from William Gallas, Joe Cole, and Ricardo Carvalho. It was Mourinho’s second Premier League triumph with the club.
Rooney, on the other hand, got his wish by inflicting misery on England teammate John Terry early on with a late tackle.
Rooney rushed into a full-blooded tackle just seven minutes into the game, leaving Terry needing treatment on the pitch and requiring the use of a stretcher.
Terry was able to continue, but Rooney was stretchered off after his over-exuberant manner bit him.
The event demonstrates the magnitude of Rooney’s rage issues during his early United years.
The 36-year-old, who currently managers Derby County, has opened up about his career, describing how the pressure of playing for United combined with personal concerns would lead to him needing a break.
“There were times you’d get a couple of days off from football and I would actually lock myself away and just drink, to try to take all that away from my mind,” he told the Mail on Sunday .
“People might know that I liked a drink at times or went out but there was a lot more to it than just that. It was what was going on in my head.
“Now, people would be more empowered to speak about that kind of thing. Back then, in my head and with other players, there was no way I could go into the United dressing room and start saying ‘This is how I am feeling’ because you just wouldn’t do it.
“Then you would end up suffering internally rather than letting your thoughts out.
“Locking myself away made me forget some of the issues I was dealing with. It was like a binge.
“Normally, that’s with a group of lads but this was a self-binge, basically, which helps you forget things but when you come out of it, you are going back to work and it is still there so it was doing more damage than good.”