Rooney: Fernandes broke a Beckham record but his work-rate made him a great leader

Wayne Rooney says how David Beckham had "charisma" which made him a good leader but he really stood out due to being an example with his work-rate.

Beckham's career saw him enjoy tremendous success in the famed Class of '92 especially with his crosses and free-kicks.

During his early career he also captured the attention away from the pitch with his relationship with Posh Spice but he never allowed that to get in the way of his football career.

At United he made 265 appearances and scored 62 goals as well as 80 assists, going on to win six Premier Leagues.

And during his time at United, Beckham assisted more goals than any other player with 80 — ahead of Dennis Bergkamp (74) and Ryan Giggs (68).

He still holds the record for most goals scored from direct free-kicks with 18 in the Premier League.

While Beckham's assists record from the 1999/2000 season where he had a tally of 19 assists has now been surpassed by Fernandes.

And now Rooney has highlighted how it was Beckham's work-rate that really stood out for him.

"He had an aura, a charisma about him, how he played the game and one of the biggest compliments I can give Becks is that he didn't stop running," said Rooney.

Beckham never played with Rooney for United as he left for Real Madrid in 2003 and Rooney arrived a season later from Everton. But the two coincided for England.

Rooney continued: "He was an example to all the players so if say Joe Cole comes into the (England) squad and he's a flair player, he has no excuse not to run back if Becks is running back and he's the captain.

"Becks had this aura about him which was on and off the pitch but he didn't speak the most. He'd speak but he wouldn't be constantly speaking on the pitch like a Rio or a John Terry, he was more quiet and spoke when he felt it was the right time."

Beckham's dedication was also seen at Madrid as he signed as one of Florentino Perez's 'Galacticos' and yet was prepared to work hard.

While there was immediate scepticism in Spain about whether Beckham would be able to deliver on the pitch due to his wider public image and his social life, he more than proved his worth.

He also was able to integrate himself well into the dressing room at the Bernabeu with the other star players at the time like Roberto Carlos, the Brazilian Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane.

But he also arrived at a time when the Madrid team was going through change and there were a succession of managers after Vicente del Bosque left in 2003.

He did though force his way into the star-studded side and regularly on the right-wing where he took the place of Figo and forced him onto the left-wing.

In other games though, Beckham played in a central midfield role and even in 2005 he was tried out at right back for the injured Michel Salgado.

And it was in his final season at Madrid under Fabio Capello as coach that Beckham again showed his quality and work-rate.

The Italian initially snubbed Beckham after his decision to join LA Galaxy in 2007 and he had a pre-contract with the MLS side. Capello also wanted to break up the idea of a Galacticos team and thought the Brand Beckham was affecting his play.

But Beckham continued to work hard in training and incredibly forced his way back into the side with players like Roberto Carlos and Guti also pushing for him to be included. Madrid were going through a difficult spell but with Beckham back playing, he helped them to win LaLiga in the 2006-07 campaign.

Looking at Beckham and players of his era, Rooney also believes that they were capable of "playing off the cuff" and were more inventive as they had more freedom.

"I think the game is now almost like a chess game, now there isn't as much playing off the cuff, everything has a plan, we have to do it this way and play through the lines," said Rooney.

"If you look back at players like Beckham, Gerard or Giggs they had the mindset to go against what maybe the manager has asked you to do and this is what brings the best out of them."