I’m an ex-Manchester United starlet who played with Wayne Rooney but 34-year-old World Cup winner was ‘unbelievable’
Axel Tuanzebe played alongside huge names at Manchester United but one former star in particular was the best of the lot. The defender graduated from the Red Devils’ academy and made his debut in 2017, the first of 37 senior appearances for the club. Tuanzebe spent 17 years on the books at UnitedGetty He learnt off some of the best in the business, including Rooney, as a youngsterAFP Given the size and stature of the Premier League giants, Tuanzebe was teammates with some of football’s most talented players. United’s record scorer Wayne Rooney was one of those, as well as current captain Bruno Fernandes and the hugely gifted Juan Mata. However, when asked by The Overlap to name the best player he’s played with, a former World Cup winner was his go-to man. “Bastian Schweinsteiger,” the Ipswich Town star swiftly responded. When explaining his choice, Tuanzebe said: “He was, I think, like 34, 35 at the time, I could not get anywhere near him. “I’m 19 at this point so I’ve got legs, I’ve got legs for days. I couldn’t… He was three, four, five steps ahead of me. “He knew how to control the ball and make me off balance, so I’m running full pelt, boom, he’s taken this. “And in the box, incredible in the box, I’ve never seen a player… He had an ability to slow down time. “The ball, it’s like a ping-pong in there, especially at that level. I think he had a box one time, had Rooney, [Zlatan Ibrahimovic] Ibra, Ashley Young, Michael Carrick, Schweinsteiger. “So you can see the calibre of players and me being a youngster in there, it’s a ping-pong. Tuanzebe says Schweinsteiger was the best as he could ‘slow down time’Getty The German won the World Cup just a year before signing for UnitedGetty “And he, I mean, he’s going maybe once every four, five sessions, like four, five days you might see him in the middle twice. “Unbelievable, couldn’t get anywhere near him.” Schweinsteiger was one of the world’s best midfielders when he won eight Bundesliga titles and the Champions League at Bayern Munich. He spent 17 years at the club before moving to United in 2015, a year after winning the World Cup with Germany. However, after making 35 appearances in his first season, he featured just four times in the 2016/17 campaign having been frozen out. Jose Mourinho joined as manager in the preceding summer and banished Schweinsteiger from the first-team dressing room. Schweinsteiger faced an unsavoury exit from United in 2017Getty The German left for Chicago Fire in March 2017 and Mourinho spoke of his regret over the way he treated him a few days later. Schweinsteiger recalled the end of his United career when speaking in an interview with Gary Neville last year. “It was 2016 and I was with the German national team, we went far in the competition [Euros] reaching the semi-finals, so I stepped in a little later [at United] and the team were in the US for a pre-season tour. “When I arrived on the first day, I trained with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and thought it was great, a player who has the vision and is amazing to play with. “The next day, on my birthday, when I walked into Carrington, John Murtough [former United football director] was there and said that I wasn’t allowed to walk into the dressing room, the coach had said so. No warning, nothing. “I don’t know [why he told me]. Someone could have told me there [on my first day of training] or explained it to me in a normal way, but okay, I went to the youth dressing room and trained with the Under-16s.”
Axel Tuanzebe played alongside huge names at Manchester United but one former star in particular was the best of the lot.
The defender graduated from the Red Devils’ academy and made his debut in 2017, the first of 37 senior appearances for the club.
Given the size and stature of the Premier League giants, Tuanzebe was teammates with some of football’s most talented players.
United’s record scorer Wayne Rooney was one of those, as well as current captain Bruno Fernandes and the hugely gifted Juan Mata.
However, when asked by The Overlap to name the best player he’s played with, a former World Cup winner was his go-to man.
“Bastian Schweinsteiger,” the Ipswich Town star swiftly responded.
When explaining his choice, Tuanzebe said: “He was, I think, like 34, 35 at the time, I could not get anywhere near him.
“I’m 19 at this point so I’ve got legs, I’ve got legs for days. I couldn’t… He was three, four, five steps ahead of me.
“He knew how to control the ball and make me off balance, so I’m running full pelt, boom, he’s taken this.
“And in the box, incredible in the box, I’ve never seen a player… He had an ability to slow down time.
“The ball, it’s like a ping-pong in there, especially at that level. I think he had a box one time, had Rooney, [Zlatan Ibrahimovic] Ibra, Ashley Young, Michael Carrick, Schweinsteiger.
“So you can see the calibre of players and me being a youngster in there, it’s a ping-pong.
“And he, I mean, he’s going maybe once every four, five sessions, like four, five days you might see him in the middle twice.
“Unbelievable, couldn’t get anywhere near him.”
Schweinsteiger was one of the world’s best midfielders when he won eight Bundesliga titles and the Champions League at Bayern Munich.
He spent 17 years at the club before moving to United in 2015, a year after winning the World Cup with Germany.
However, after making 35 appearances in his first season, he featured just four times in the 2016/17 campaign having been frozen out.
Jose Mourinho joined as manager in the preceding summer and banished Schweinsteiger from the first-team dressing room.
The German left for Chicago Fire in March 2017 and Mourinho spoke of his regret over the way he treated him a few days later.
Schweinsteiger recalled the end of his United career when speaking in an interview with Gary Neville last year.
“It was 2016 and I was with the German national team, we went far in the competition [Euros] reaching the semi-finals, so I stepped in a little later [at United] and the team were in the US for a pre-season tour.
“When I arrived on the first day, I trained with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and thought it was great, a player who has the vision and is amazing to play with.
“The next day, on my birthday, when I walked into Carrington, John Murtough [former United football director] was there and said that I wasn’t allowed to walk into the dressing room, the coach had said so. No warning, nothing.
“I don’t know [why he told me]. Someone could have told me there [on my first day of training] or explained it to me in a normal way, but okay, I went to the youth dressing room and trained with the Under-16s.”
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