Wayne Rooney’s 19 Premier League goals this season have
led to fears that United are becoming a one-man team. Photograph:
Mike Egerton/Empics
No longer the Ernie Wise to Cristiano Ronaldo's Eric Morecambe,
Wayne Rooney has taken his real job
back. Manchester United's management always
acknowledged Ronaldo would want to head back to Iberia some sorry
day but Rooney was bought to build an age around. He was the tough
native talent who exemplified the English game's best virtues and
would preserve the club's religion of shaping youth in its own
image.
"He is extraordinary, very, very good," Real Madrid's general
manager, Jorge Valdano, told Spanish radio
yesterday but only as a disavowal of interest in
United's main goalscoring weapon before tonight's Carling Cup
semi-final second leg at home to Manchester City. On the field and
off, Rooney is the story, as his contract negotiations become a
test of United's capacity to attract and keep world-class talent in
the shadow of the Glazer debt mountain. On the pitch, away from
which he is so hard to drag, the Premier League's top scorer is tipped
by Sir Alex Ferguson "to get above
30" as he learns to do his hunting in the opposition
penalty box.
"Rooney is English, we all know they find it difficult to adapt
to another type of competition other than the Premier League. He is
a very interesting player but we have not ever been interested,"
Valdano sniffed, hours after the potential target had waved away reported interest from Real
and Barcelona with a statement intended to soothe supporter
anxiety. "I live near the training ground, life's good and I just
want to play for Manchester United because the manager has given me
so much and I want to repay his faith in me," Rooney said
yesterday.
He has entered his finest goal-scoring form in red just as the
thought of losing him (he has two and a half years left on his
contract) is exerting maximum dread among fans who worry that
corporate debt will ultimately destroy their team.
The lone negative byproduct of his 19 Premier League goals is
that United are being called a one-man team. The fear is that the
little Hercules could injure himself and derail the quest for a
record fourth consecutive English title. Extreme star quality
prompts accusations of dependence. Alan Shearer, who rescued a few
teams in his playing days, is among those diagnosing over-reliance
on the former Evertonian's goals: "I think he has carried United
on his own at times. That's saying something for the size of that
particular club. People were saying he has to step up his
performance after the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo and boy, has he
done that!"
Behind last season's party line Rooney is known to have felt
competitive agitation about the senior role assigned to Ronaldo by
virtue of the Madeiran's superior artistry. This suppressed
jealousy never manifested itself as moodiness butintensified his
desire to be the fulcrum of the team again. Before Real Madrid
finally snared their man, one senior United player (not Rooney)
complained that "it's become all about him [Ronaldo]". Now it is
all about Rooney, in a more healthy way, for England and
United.
"Wayne has 20 goals and the crucial part of the season is coming
up. He could easily get above 30. His ratio at the moment suggests
that," Ferguson said. "Wayne has become more aware of the penalty
box. Giving him the direct role has given him an appetite to be in
the box all the time. He still has moments when he goes into other
areas of the pitch but he is choosing those moments more maturely.
The main reason he is scoring the goals is because he is in the
right place at the right time."
"The difference is I've consciously been getting in the box more
to put myself in goal-scoring situations," Rooney agreed. Each of
his four against Hull City on Saturday was finished from inside the
penalty area and Michael
Owen told the Guardian on Saturday: "The manager has
said he wants Wayne playing further forward and getting goals and
that's what he's been doing. A few years ago when I was playing for
England with Wayne he used to drop in [to a more withdrawn
position] and enjoyed that role. But people evolve and Wayne is a
better all-round player. If you can get his services nearer [to the
net] he's going to get a lot of goals."
"I've just matured and been given a lot more responsibility. I
still have that passion and hunger. Hopefully I can have a good run
in the side now and keep scoring goals. We've got ourselves into a
good position in the league. We've dealt with defensive setbacks
very well. The way we played last season has given us a lot of
confidence and we will get there."
Rooney's hyper-active handyman routine has now been contained.
Ferguson has abandoned the policy of starting him on the left.
Before last season's Champions League final Marcel Desailly, the
European Cup- and World Cup-winning defender, praised Rooney's
willing versatility. "He has impressed me so much, the way he has
accepted that," Desailly said. "For me what Rooney did against
Arsenal in the [Champions League] semi-final and other times has
been amazing. Against Arsenal he played on the left so he could
help the team close down Theo Walcott. That, to me, is the sign of
a special player."
The volatile street kid who stalked into Old Trafford with an
air that suggested every incoming tackle was a personal affront has
matured into a father with cunning and self-control. His last
dismissal was against Fulham on 21 March last year and even the
disciplinary system is working in his favour. Rooney's five yellow
cards this season would have brought him a one-match suspension but
for a change in how the cycle is defined.
Shearer says of Rooney's influence on United post-Ronaldo:
"[Without him] they would not be where they are in the league. I
think his performances have been spectacular and I hope he's not
peaking too soon, as an England fan. As important as he is to
Manchester United, he is just as important to England, and I don't
think anyone should forget that."
United will. They will not consider it their responsibility to
protect him on behalf of Fabio Capello, of whom Rooney told an
Italian newspaper: "He scares us, like a strict father." Working
for managerial aristocrats at club and country has hastened his
development. Seeing the back of one on the pitch –
Ronaldo – restored his primacy as the man who can win a game on his
own.