Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona team was something else. Not only did the Catalans have the best players in the world but they also played the most thrilling and the most beautiful football on the planet. That statement may or may not hold true to this very day but the fact is, their opponents were more often than not – outclassed.
Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona team was something else in their heyday. The Catalonians had not only the best players in the planet but they also played the most thrilling and the most beautiful football ever seen. Although that statement may not hold water this very day, the fact still remains that their opponents were more often than not clearly outclassed.
Manchester United were but only one of many teams then to be on the receiving end, twice to be precise, with a hapless Wayne Rooney receiving lessons in football on both occasions.
Rooney has now revealed that back in 2010 he was extremely close to leaving Old Trafford and heading to Spain, having handed in a transfer request and for the following couple of days or so, the Englishman was one of the most wanted men on the planet.
Talking on the UTD Podcast, Rooney explained he wanted to join Barcelona.
“In my head, at the time (2010), I was ready to go and play in Spain. Ideally, I would have liked to have gone to Barcelona. Imagine playing in that team with Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets.”
And according to him, fitting in wouldn’t have been a problem. After all, Lionel Messi was a wide player at the time so there would certainly have been a place for a player like Rooney in Guardiola’s team.
“At that time Messi wasn’t playing as a number 9, he was playing out wide. So, I think I would’ve slotted in perfectly. I could have come to the ball as well and have players running in behind.”
There’s no denying the class and skill on the pitch of a player like Rooney in his prime as he easily could’ve been a real asset to any team in the world back in the day.
Can you imagine him at his best, playing for one of the best teams to ever set foot on the green pitch?
That surely would’ve been quite remarkable, to say the least.