Wayne Rooney, in anticipation of his debut as Birmingham City’s new manager against Middlesbrough, has requested his team to adopt an attacking and high-pressing style. This marks his first game at the helm after taking over from John Eustace at The Riverside on Saturday with a 3pm kick-off. Facing a formidable Middlesbrough side, managed by his former Manchester United and England colleague Michael Carrick, who have won their last four matches, Rooney acknowledges the challenge ahead.
Despite having just one week to prepare the team, Rooney doesn’t expect perfection on Saturday but is determined to start his tenure with a win. He commends the players for their commitment during training sessions. Recognizing the transition from John Eustace’s approach, Rooney and his coaching staff aim to enhance the team’s performance.
While Rooney acknowledges that achieving promotion and securing a spot in the playoffs will require improvement, he asserts that they are going to Middlesbrough to win, not settle for a draw. He outlines his preferred style of play, which differs from John Eustace’s, emphasizing a more proactive approach, pressing high up the field, and dominating possession. He acknowledges that this transformation will take time, which is why he signed a three-and-a-half-year deal, but expresses optimism based on the progress made in the past week.
Rooney is preparing for a challenging run of games, with fixtures against Hull City and Southampton following the Middlesbrough match in just eight days. This tight schedule limits the time available for training, but Rooney mentions that they can utilize classroom sessions and modern technology to instill their new playing style in the players’ minds effectively.
He draws a parallel between practicing finishing and the process of teaching players positional play and pressing, emphasizing the importance of embedding these strategies in the players’ memory through various methods.