Wayne Rooney struggled with drinking problems early in his career. The former captain of the English national football team and the record champions Manchester United admitted this in an interview with the “Mail on Sunday”.
At the beginning of his career, there were always secret drinking bouts to combat his fears and to deal with public pressure and high expectations.
“I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger,” said the 36-year-old before the release of the “Amazon Prime” documentary “Rooney”.
The goalscorer switched from Everton to Manchester United at the age of 18. It was difficult for him to deal with things that were in the newspaper. Dealing with United team manager Alex Ferguson was also difficult, as was dealing with his family.
“There were times when you had a few days off from football and I would actually lock myself up and drink just to try and get it all out of my mind,” said the team manager of second division side Derby County.