Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ROO WILL PHIL FINE AT RAMS
WAYNE ROONEY will tap into a fantastic footballing brain when he takes his first steps in coaching under new Derby boss Phillip Cocu.
That is according to former Chelsea and Liverpool star Bolo Zenden, who roomed with Cocu during their playing days at Barcelona and was later given his own break in coaching by his old pal at PSV Eindhoven.
Rooney will join Cocu’s management team as a player-coach in January.
And Zenden, Rafa Benitez’s assistant when Chelsea won the Europa League in 2013, has offered him an insight.
He said: “One of Phillip’s powers is that he is able to surround himself with people who know what he wants, how he wants it and, as soon as you have those people in place and all the noses are in the right direction, it’s easier to delegate.”
As well as the three Eredivisie titles he won in five years with PSV, Cocu also developed a reputation for blooding youngsters, notably Memphis Depay.
Zenden, who also played for Middlesbrough and Sunderland during his time in England, added: “Phillip is also good at managing players and he has an eye for the surroundings.
“When he was at PSV, he used a lot of the youth players. Firstly, of course, you do need quality.
“They still have to prove themselves and in the Championship it’s hard for a youngster to prove himself every three days.” Cocu’s football philosophy was shaped playing for AZ Alkmaar, Vitesse and PSV, as well as the Dutch national team, for whom he won 101 caps.
But it was polished in Barcelona.
Zenden shared dressing rooms with some of the biggest names in football management, including Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Jaap Stam, Frank de Boer and Pep Guardiola.
And he said: “Cocu played for Barcelona for six years and that’s not something that is very easy, especially for a foreigner.
“And being captain of Barcelona is something you don’t become easily.
“As a player, he was very versatile – he was a clever player who read the game in every position.”