Wayne Rooney’s first game in charge of Plymouth Argyle ended in a 4-0 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday. Rooney criticized his team’s failure to execute basic plays and vowed for improvement.
Wayne Rooney expressed his frustration after Plymouth Argyle’s Championship campaign began with a heavy 4-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday. This was Rooney’s first competitive match in charge, and it ended poorly as Wednesday dominated at Hillsborough. Jamal Lowe, Josh Windass, and Michael Smith were among the scorers for Wednesday.
Rooney has now secured only two wins in his last 16 Championship games managing Birmingham City and Plymouth, with four draws and ten losses. Speaking to Sky Sports after Sunday’s defeat, he criticised his players for failing to perform basic tasks against a well-prepared Wednesday team. “The scoreline was deserved. We conceded four goals from four crosses,” Rooney said. “The basics of the game were not there.”
Wednesday had an impressive 30 shots, totalling a massive 4.85 expected goals (xG), with 24 of those attempts coming from inside Plymouth’s area. In contrast, Plymouth managed just five attempts worth 0.31 xG, hitting the target once and recording only eight touches inside their opponents’ box.
Rooney highlighted that his team didn’t handle the ball well or manage the crowd effectively. He noted that they allowed Wednesday to gain control of the game and conceded two additional goals as a result. “We didn’t take the ball well enough or handle the crowd,” he remarked. “We allowed them to get a foothold in the game.”
The former Manchester United and England star also pointed out that they had discussed Wednesday’s threats from crosses and Barry Bannan’s influence but failed to address these issues during the match. “We spoke about their threats from crosses,” Rooney explained. “We spoke about Barry Bannan and we let him run the game.”