Wayne Rooney criticises Sir Alex Ferguson’s ‘poor’ decision after Man Utd title win

Wayne Rooney has criticised Sir Alex Ferguson for the "poor" decision he took in an apparent attempt to wind up Chelsea in 2007. Manchester United had recently secured the Premier League title when they turned up at Stamford Bridge on May 9, 2007, giving Ferguson a chance to make a statement. United and Chelsea had developed a fierce rivalry around the time and Ferguson had got one over Jose Mourinho in the Premier League. Ferguson's side won the title for the first time since 2003 and were afforded a guard of honour by their rivals before their meeting. With one eye on the upcoming FA Cup final between the two sides, both managers rotated their sides. Ferguson selected a side featuring youngsters Chris Eagles Kieran Lee, Dong Fangzhou and Adam Eckersley, creating a farcical scene as Chelsea's players clapped the United reserves onto the pitch. Rooney came on as a substitute that day as the game finished 0-0 and feels Ferguson was out of order, hinting that he perhaps wanted to humiliate his opponents. "I remember when we played Chelsea, I felt bad," he said on the Wayne Rooney Show. FOLLOW OUR MAN UTD FB PAGE! Latest United news and more on our dedicated Facebook page "I did, I felt really bad, because we'd won the league, Chelsea were giving us a guard of honour. I think he played Kieran Lee, Dong, Adam Eckersley. "He played all these young lads and you've got [Frank] Lampard, John Terry , all the Chelsea first-team players giving all these young lads a guard of honour. I felt bad, it was poor from us, we shouldn't have done that." Asked why, Rooney added: "Because the lads that walked out didn't deserve a guard of honour. That was their first game of the season! I wouldn't have liked that if Chelsea had done that." Ferguson was delighted that his much-changed team secured a draw. "I'm pleased with the result because we were playing for a bit of honour and pride," he said post-match. "Maybe when people saw the team they were expecting we wouldn't be bothered or that Chelsea were going to roll us over, but that wasn't the case." Chelsea's guard of honour came two years after United had to do the same for the Blues at Old Trafford. Mourinho guided Chelsea to the title, meaning Rooney, Roy Keane , Gary Neville , Rio Ferdinand and co had to applaud them onto the pitch. Phil Neville later suggested that Ferguson had enjoyed the occasion. "It was like 'This is going to hurt you this, seeing a team that has got your title come out at your stadium and you have to applaud them'," he told Premier League Productions. "It was almost like a motivation [tactic] for the season after to make sure that it didn’t happen again. That’s how we used it. Ultimately you’ve got to give respect to the best team in the league with the best manager and the best players by giving them that guard of honour. I think it’s something that should just be done out of respect for the team that won the league." Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.