Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Rooney must curb temper - Kendall
Kendall, who watched Rooney grow up at Goodison Park before his £27million move to Old Trafford, feels that Sir Alex Ferguson should work hard behind the scenes to curb the excesses of the young England striker.
Rooney was sent off in the World Cup finals and again in a pre-season friendly in Amsterdam.
Kendall - who has his testimonial against former club Athletic Bilbao on
Saturday at Goodison Park - believes the 20-year-old is being targeted by referees and opponents and has to learn to live with that level of pressure.
"Players know he is fiery. Alan Ball was a fiery character and people would try to wind him up, but you were not in the spotlight then on the pitch as you are now and could get away with a lot.
"The situation has changed, everything you do is seen. Because of his nature people are looking to wind him up, and that has to be sorted out on the training ground.
"Sir Alex has got to appoint someone so that every time they have a little five-a-side game, he has someone niggling at him, verbally.
"Looking from the outside, the kid has got to learn to live with it and Sir Alex is the best at sorting that out, surely. It's much better playing with 11 than 10, particularly when it is Wayne you are losing because he's been sent off."
But Kendall believes that Rooney can overcome his demons and will live up to his teenage potential.
He said: "He's a tremendous talent. I remember talking to Colin Harvey when he was in charge of the Everton youth team and asking him if he had 'anything' good in the team.
"He just said 'only one.' There were others obviously, but only one like that. He said he was special and that was Wayne.
"But he has to come to terms with the position he is in and learn to curb his temper."