What is Wayne Rooney’s playing style? Manchester United legend explains the leadership philosophy at Plymouth Argyle

After a difficult start as new manager, Wayne Rooney is already facing a race against time to establish his style of play at Plymouth Argyle.

The Manchester United legend’s return to the dugout was disappointing as the Pilgrims suffered a 4-0 defeat in his first game in charge.

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After being sacked at Birmingham last season, Rooney was back on the managerial hot seat and was soundly beaten by Sheffield Wednesday.

It was exactly the opposite of the comeback in the championship that the 38-year-old would have wanted at a crucial moment in his career.

Although Rooney is younger than his still active former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, he is already in his fourth permanent coaching position.

Plymouth was widely seen as his lifeline on the road to becoming a football coach at the highest level after mixed results elsewhere.

Club chairman Simon Hallett revealed that his appointment was based on underlying data about his playing style and not just his results.

In May he said: “We know his win-loss ratio is not particularly attractive, but actual results are not a particularly good way to judge the impact a coach has had on a team.”

“You can look at data to analyse playing style and Wayne’s playing style is what we want to see from an Argyle team.”

What is Rooney’s playing style?

Rooney outlined how he envisions his Plymouth team’s line-up: The basic requirement is that the team is “very well organized” and plays entertaining football.

Rooney said: “I want to be an attacking coach, that’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and play entertaining football. Of course with control, I don’t want disorganised pressing.”

“I think my teams have always been very well organised, but we play good, entertaining football and of course you want to score goals, that’s what everyone wants to see. My style of play is all about that.”

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How does this work in practice?

It would be more than unfair to over-analyse his Plymouth line-up after pre-season friendlies and only one official game as manager.

Rooney also argued that his 15 games at Birmingham were not long enough to implement his style of play, as the level of football in MLS is completely different.

So let’s go back to his first spell as manager at Derby County, the club where his skills on the dugout are still most valued.

Rooney’s track record and his struggle with the Rams’ off-field financial problems are well documented and his personnel management is also widely praised.

Under his leadership, Derby could have avoided relegation from the Championship in 2022 if they had not been deducted 21 points over the course of the year.

This was due to Rooney’s work paying off on the pitch. The England star showed tactical flexibility, changing the formation mid-match and experimenting with the players’ roles and positions.

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His defensive organisation at Derby included Curtis Davies, Phil Jagielka and Richard Stearman, all of whom were in the late stages of their careers but had experience of playing in the Premier League.

Rooney most often favoured the famously balanced 4-2-3-1 system – from his time at Derby to his first game as Plymouth manager.

He also showed a tendency to switch to the classic 4-4-2, occasionally with a back three in a 3-5-2.

There are several style traits that are consistent across all three formations – one of which is his desire for his teams to press high.

Another reason is the importance he places on passes into the box, which is why Rooney’s approach often focuses on the full-backs.

After being introduced as Birmingham manager, he said: “I want them to be brave. I want them to take risks.”

“They will make mistakes and that’s normal in football, but I want them to play forward and cross into the box.”

Plymouth only managed three crosses against Sheffield Wednesday, none of which were successful – Rooney had his hands full…