Wayne Rooney gave a rousing speech to his DC United squad ahead of the MLS season, telling his players to “go home now” if they don’t bring the right mentality.
The former Manchester United star is about to embark on his first full season across the Atlantic as he takes charge at the club he previously played for. DC United endured a difficult campaign last term, finishing bottom of the Eastern Conference as Rooney won just two of his 14 games in charge.
The Washington-based outfit boast the likes of Christian Benteke in their squad, but need to show notable improvements ahead of the new campaign. Rooney, who is out to prove himself as a manager, has not minced his words when addressing his players.
In the speech, he said: “The lads who were here last year, you already know, you heard me talking about it all the time. The f****** mentality every single day has to be right. That belief every single day has to be right. Cos if it’s not, you might as well go home now.
“That mentality has to be at a f****** high level for us to perform every week. It’s a tough, tough league. There are some very good teams in the league. And we have to compete this year. We have to have that f****** desire to be successful.”
A game against Toronto in February is DC United’s first assignment. It gives them plenty of time over pre-season to make a difference with Rooney reminding his players that, despite their standing last term, they are a good team and he will not accept another basement finish.
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He added: “Walking around in England, even went to Dubai for a couple of weeks on holiday, and people come up to me and say: ‘Oh how’s America? Is it nice? Football is different over there’. No it f****** isn’t. Football is football. We have to stay together as a group.
“So just a reminder, if we stay together, we’re a f****** good team. We’ve got time now to work on how I want to play, how we want to evolve as a team, improve and how we want to get better. How we want to be successful. Because there’s no chance I’m finishing bottom of that f****** league again.”
DC United have recently bolstered their options by adding Mateusz Klick from Leeds, capturing the Pole on a two-year deal. Rooney said on the new recruit: “I’ve been watching him since he helped lead Leeds to promotion to the Premier League and his vision, range of passing, and scoring ability will be a huge asset for us this season.”
