Wayne Rooney's advice to footballers thinking about alcohol, vice

Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney has advice for young footballers who are thinking about turning to immoralities in a bid to handle the pressure.

Marca reported that the former Manchester United striker believes young footballers should talk about their mental health and alcohol problems with their respective clubs.

Rooney, a former striker for the prestigious English club Manchester United, revealed how he fought hard to handle fame as a young player and how he talked about the issues with those around him.

"By talking," the ex-Man Utd striker told The Athletic. "When I was younger, I always felt I could deal with things myself.

"It's really important that players if they have got issues," the Birmingham City manager said.

"And I'm a coach who is very open with the players and I want the players to come to me if there's any issues, but firstly if that's because they are not playing I always explain to them why, and any issues off the pitch as well."

"My door is always there for the players to come in and speak about that. So that's really important factor. That's just not for football as well. It's for any young people who are dealing with difficult moments in the life," he said.

Rooney mentioned that when he switched to Manchester United, he felt the pressure and turned towards alcohol as a way to cope with it.

way to find a release and to cope.

"Not just that (alcohol), but there's obviously gambling," Rooney added. "You're still seeing it now with players which have been the news more recently of gambling there, there's all different addictions which it's easy for players to fall into.

"And it's important that if you do fall into any of them that the help's there from myself, firstly at the club, but also the people within the club. It's something which we have to really make sure we get right because mental health issues are very important, that you deal with them and you feel confident enough to speak about them."