Wayne Rooney the striker was one of the best for Johannes Hoff Thorup, but the Norwich City head coach is still working him out as Plymouth boss.

The former Manchester United and England legend has embarked on his latest post-playing chapter with the Pilgrims.

Argyle arrive in Norfolk on Tuesday on the back of one defeat in the last five, but under Rooney in the same transitional phase as Thorup’s own body of work with the Canaries.

“He was one of the best strikers ever, and not this league, but a league on an even higher level. So that was fantastic,” said the Dane. “I think when I watched some of the first games in this season, I actually thought that Plymouth was one of the best teams in terms of style; they had some good structure, they had some good positioning and good movements.

"They also bought an offensive midfielder from the Danish league, Rami al Hajj, which I think was a perfect fit for that team and the way that they played.

“Then they changed the structure and formation just a little bit, maybe affected a little bit by the results, a little bit more protective, a little bit more direct in their approach. We have to prepare for them to show up and maybe try to do both.

"But for me, personally, I think they were doing well when they were trying to build from the back and creating some of those good moments that, actually without knowing Wayne at all, I think is actually his plan with the team. But, of course, he also needed to look at how to get some results in the here and now.”

City’s 2-2 draw at West Brom ended a run of three straight defeats for Thorup’s injury-hit squad, but the Canaries’ head coach never lost sight of the bigger picture.

“If someone wants to kick me out and say goodbye at some date, then I want to make sure I walk out the door here having done everything I can within the style that we want to play,” he said. “Which is bringing up some young players, giving them opportunities, making sure that we give them feedback and we develop them and improve them, but we dare to show courage every time we play.

“That is about what type of coach do I want to be, and what type of club do we want to be? Does it come with risk? Definitely. Does it come with situations where we sometimes look stupid? Definitely, but hopefully, and also, what we have seen so far this season, is that we can show these top, top level moments.

"We need consistency. We need to be even better. We need to make sure that we're not so easy to score against, and we need to make sure that we consistently play on this high level. With the belief I have in the group of players here and the club I think it will.

"It's just a matter of time. I'm not that patient. So I hope that time is against Plymouth, but if it's not, then there's another game at the weekend.”

Plymouth boss Wayne Rooney had a decorated playing career for club and country (Image: PA)