Wayne Rooney just like a kid with old toy - 7M sport

Wayne Rooney just like a kid with old toy



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Posted Thursday, April 28, 2011 by Express.co.uk

Wayne Rooney just like a kid with old toy

AMID the euphoria of Manchester United’s stylish win over Schalke, Wayne Rooney spoke of his delight at going back to the future.

After such a troubled first half to the season on and off the pitch, Wayne Rooney is finishing it not only back at his best but also restored to the position where he feels he is best suited.

A play-making role roaming between midfield and attack, where he can be on the ball all the time, utilising the space created by the speed and movement of Javier Hernandez and being able to influence the game, was shown at its best in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday.

It is a position Rooney played in as a schoolboy, as a youth player and also when he broke into Everton’s first team as a precocious teenager.

Since joining United he has been moved around without complaint and has never let Sir Alex Ferguson or the team down, whether it has been in a wide midfield role requiring discipline and concentration, or as an out-and-out centre-forward where the only responsibility is to score.

But ask Rooney where he likes to play best and it is where he is now – the ‘No10’ role perfected by France legend and UEFA president Michel Platini, who was nodding his approval as he watched Rooney give Schalke the runaround in the Veltins-Arena.

It said much about the turnaround in Rooney’s fortunes since he spent at week at a Nike boot camp at their HQ in Portland, Oregon last November to get his head straight and work on his conditioning after his early season woes. After making the first goal for Ryan Giggs and scoring the second himself to put United on the brink of the Champions League final, Rooney said: “I am playing well at the moment in a role in which I played a lot when I was younger and I’m enjoying it.

“Chicharito [Hernandez] is playing fantastic and so is Giggsy in central midfield and it seems to be working for us. I understand the way Chicharito plays and knew if I was playing up front with him I would have to change and play a bit deeper.

“He is scoring a lot of important goals and I am enjoying getting on the ball, linking play and getting a few goals myself.

“You can influence games a lot more from there. Sometimes when you play up front on your own, you’re not really in the game as much, you’re waiting for your opportunity to score.

“But in the position I’m in now you’re always involved, you can create and score. As a footballer you enjoy that.”

Rooney believes United’s style has undergone a subtle change since they reached back-to-back Champions League finals in 2008 and 2009 when their focal point was Cristiano Ronaldo’s mesmeric ball trickery and searing pace.

And should they complete the formality of winning the home leg against Schalke at Old Trafford next Wednesday, he feels they will be better suited to facing either Barcelona, who passed them off the pitch in the 2009 final, or Real Madrid, where Ronaldo is now strutting his stuff.

An indication of United’s authority, composure and ball retention is that they have lost only one of their last 23 away games in Europe and have set a Champions League record by keeping a clean sheet in each of their six games on the road this season.

“We are controlling games a lot better now than in the lead-up to the last two finals,” said Rooney. “Then we were about counter attacking and a lot of pace, but now we are controlling games a lot more as well as having a lot more possession.

“We are using the experience that I and a lot of this squad have to get through games.

“We know we are in a great position to get to the final and we are hoping to stay fully focused to get the job done at Old Trafford.

“To get back to a final so soon after that one in Rome would be a great achievement for us. In 2009 we were just beaten by a better team. Barcelona were a lot better than us on the night and deserved the victory. Sometimes you have to hold your hands up.”

After the trauma that marred his autumn and early winter on and off the pitch, Rooney is finishing the campaign with a flourish – his goal against Schalke was his 14th of the season, 12 of them coming in 20 appearances since New Year’s Day, while his tally of assists continues to mount.

He said: “You look forward to every game at this stage and you’ve got to enjoy it, especially when you are in the running for a few trophies.

“It’s exciting for the fans and it’s exciting for the players, knowing that you’re just a few weeks from possibly winning a major trophy or two.

“We are in a really strong position in the Premier League and we are one step closer to Wembley and the Champions League final. It would be a great end to the season by winning the League and making a Champions League final appearance.”

Outshining Ronaldo or Lionel Messi at Wembley on May 28 would not be a bad way for Rooney to sign off.



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