Gary Neville says Wayne Rooney was "dirty little b*****d" for what he did in reserve game
dailystar.co.ukGary Neville says that he thought Wayne Rooney was a "dirty little b*****d" the first time he came across him.Rooney was on the brink of the Everton first-team at just 16 years old when then-manager David Moyes deployed him in the reserves to test his mettle against sterner opposition.And that opposition couldn't have been much tougher: a Manchester United team that contained first-team stalwarts Neville and Nicky Butt.But typically, Rooney did not care for their reputations - and laid it straight onto them."I played against him as a 16-year-old in a reserve team game," Neville said, in the new Amazon Prime Video documentary, Rooney."He booted me and David May and I couldn't believe it.
I knew he was a dirty little b******d."He played like a street kid from the minute he came into Everton."He fought for every ball, jumped for every header, went full-bloodied into every tackle."He defended for his life, attacked for his life and just threw everything onto the football pitch."When you align that with the incredible talent, that is why he was so special."Did Wayne Rooney fulfil his potential?
Give us your thoughts in the comments sectionIt was only a few weeks later that Rooney made his debut for Everton, before his career kicked off with a memorable first goal to defeat Arsenal.Thierry Henry was part of the Arsenal team that day and he had equally as fond memories of the first time he saw Rooney."People talk in the game, we knew there was a young kid who was going to score goals and has the body of a man," he said."When I saw him, I was like 'woah, how old is he?
Sixteen?'"When you looked at his body and you could see the power, just with him walking."Sometimes you catch eyes with players and straight away you know what.
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