But times have changed.
“Now we’re in social media,” Rooney said. “People will be messaging, Instagram or Twitter, whatever he’s got. And you’ll be seeing it everywhere.
“So I don’t think he will have slept many hours [on Saturday night] because I’m sure he will have been up watching it.
“It’s different now, a different age when I was coming through. There was no social media at that time.
“So it was all about the newspapers and whether you liked it or not – front page and back page. I think the scrutiny’s not on you as much maybe these days.”
Rooney also praised Dowman’s attitude.
“He seems, from the games I’ve watched, to not let that pressure affect him because he gets the ball, he holds on to it, he commits defenders, he goes to take them on, and so he definitely looks like he’s got a confidence about him,” Rooney said.
“Mikel Arteta, some of the senior players in the Arsenal squad, will not let him get ahead of himself. But I think you have to enjoy it as well.
“Sometimes people think that enjoying success is arrogant and I just think they do it in the [USA]. They enjoy it and they celebrate it.
“So when we’ve got a young lad like that coming through as a 16-year-old, he’s clearly got a lot of ability and you just hope he can go and fulfil that potential.
“Let him enjoy it and go and express himself.”