Boss: It's good to be top

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Andrew Cole has given Wayne Rooney the perfect pick-me-up after the derby defeat at Eastlands – by backing him to fire the Reds to more silverware.

In an interview with ManUtd.com, United legend Cole expressed his admiration for the Reds’ number ten and his effervescent approach to the game.

“I think Wayne has been awesome so far this season,” Cole told us.

“In the early part of the season, he made it known that he’d have to step up after Cristiano Ronaldo left and I think he’s done that with great character and great ability.

“The way he plays it looks as though he’s saying to everyone, ‘I want to be the man, I want to try and propel United forward to win even more trophies.’

“If he keeps playing the way he is now, I’d like to think he can do just that.”

Rooney almost scored his 17th goal of this term on Tuesday night, when he weaved past City defenders before forcing a stunning save from Shay Given. It was the kind of effort that Cole has come to expect from Wayne.

“That’s what people want to see him do – drop his shoulder, knock the ball

past someone and put one in the top bin (top corner). I think he prefers to do that rather than poach one from close range,” said Cole.

“If you were to ask Wayne himself, he’d probably tell you he’s not a fox in the box. He’s not the type of player who’ll just play between the 18-yard and six-yard lines. He wants to be everywhere - left wing, right wing and chasing back to help defend.

“Wayne wants to get involved in the play. For me, that’s what he’s best at.”

Cole feels Rooney’s all-action style typifies the current generation of top-flight strikers. The former Red says the archetypal centre-forward scoring in the high 20s and 30s – Cole scored 34 for Newcastle in 1993/94 – have gone, at least for now.

“Looking at the Premier League now, it seems to get harder and harder every season to get 20 league goals. There aren’t many out-and-out ‘number nines’ now who say, ‘I just want to play in the area and score goals for my team.’

“Everyone wants to be a ‘number ten’ and get involved. That’s just the way the game is, but it moves in cycles, and it will surely go around again.”

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For every cloud... the silver lining to United's shock exit from the FA Cup earlier this month is a chance to seize a psychological advantage in the league.

The Reds are the only title chasers in Barclays Premier League action this weekend, and a home win over Hull City would put the champions on top of the table, two points above Arsenal and Chelsea who are away to Stoke and Preston respectively in the cup.

"We’re the only game tomorrow so it’s an opportunity for us and hopefully we can take it," said Sir Alex at his Friday morning press conference.

However, the manager is wary of the opposition after seeing the Tigers claw a point at another top-four ground last Saturday.

"Like all the teams at the bottom of the league, Hull City are fighting for survival as they proved last week at Tottenham," the manager warned.

"They were determined to get something and I think they’ll be that way tomorrow."

Sir Alex feels the league is now entering an important phase, and if United can enter this in top spot, it will bode well for the run-in.

"If you win your games, you're top of the league, I think that's the best place to be," he said.

"I said a few weeks ago that if you can go on a consistent run, then you'll have a great chance. Arsenal proved that, they've won their games recently, and they're now top, after they were previously written off. That's the nature of the league this season.

"I think you've got to win your games now. We're seeing some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of defenders being back, van der Sar being back - that's really crucial to us - so hopefully we're on the way.

"It's an opportunity for us to go top tomorrow and then we've got Arsenal next Sunday. It'll be a massive game and then Arsenal play Chelsea the next week. It's an interesting time."

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United’s stay at the top of the Barclays Premier League may be shortlived, as Chelsea and Arsenal can both move above the Reds with midweek games against Birmingham and Aston Villa respectively. Nevertheless, Sir Alex says he’d rather be top than not.

“It could be important. It’s significant being top of the league at this point in the season,” he said. “Chelsea and Arsenal have games in hand, but you have to win them. We are in the right place. It’s good to be top of the league in January at the start of the run-in period.”

United’s goal-difference has significantly been boosted by this healthy win, even though at times during the game Sir Alex was not completely happy with the display. “The scoreline is a good one, so I’m happy,” he said. “We started very well, but I thought we became a bit frivolous in our control of the game. I thought we should have been hammering home the point, particularly in the first 20 minutes where we played really well. We took our foot off the pedal a little bit.

“We had some good chances to get further in front in the first half. In the second half you have to give credit to Hull, they kept going. Any team that is down at the bottom if going to do that – they’re going to fight, they’re going to scrap and be organised. That’s what we found. With 20 minutes to go they were unlucky with a chance that went just by the post. It was maybe a wake-up call because 1-0 is a dangerous scoreline when you’re at home.”

Wayne Rooney provided the magic – and all four goals – that was the clear difference between the two teams. But Rooney wasn’t the only impressive performer according to Sir Alex.

“I thought Nani was excellent today,” he said. “In the second half he hit some fantastic crosses into the box. On another day he might have made four or five goals. So we were very pleased with that. And I thought that, apart from a two-minute spell in the second half, our back four looked very solid. Rio Ferdinand’s presence, composure and balance really stands out. It’s a great bonus for us to get him back.”