Kevin Keegan says Rooney should do better
Manchester United’s talismanic striker, Wayne Rooney, has been out of touch since the start of new season. The English striker was in phenomenal form last season for United and scored 34 goals but at the tail end of the season suffered an ankle injury against
Bayern Munich in the semi final of UEFA champions’ league.
Till then Manchester United had been flying high and were on track to win the Champions League and the Premier League. However, following that injury the season for United started heading south for the Red Devils, they lost the semi final to Bayern Munich.
The following week saw them lose to Chelsea and conceded the Premier League title to the Blues right there.
Rooney recovered from the injury to make it in the 23-man squad for England in the World Cup. However, he could not find his form in South Africa and was a shadow of himself. England slumped to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Germany in the final 16.
There was once again a lot of speculation about Rooney’s form ahead of the Premier League season, but the front man has not been able to impress much in the first 6 games of the season. He has scored one goal and that too from the penalty spot. Apart from
that he has looked listless and out of touch.
The last performance by Rooney against Bolton was once again below his standards. He was substituted in the 2nd half and was later seen with an ice pack on his left ankle. However, Michael Phelan, the assistant manager for United, did say that
he would be fit in time to face Valencia in the Champions League midweek.
Even though Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, continues to defend his player, there has been widespread criticism from former players.
Kevin Keegan, the former Newcastle manager and England centre forward, said that, Wayne Rooney’s performance has been unimpressive and that shows a lack of commitment.
Keegan said that a player like Rooney should not have problems with dealing with a defence like Bolton, and even though he was tightly marked he could have done more.
While talking to a British newspaper Keegan said: "Manchester United are minus Wayne Rooney at the moment.
"It's a different Wayne Rooney this year. It's not the same. It's like chalk and cheese”.
"They (Manchester United) need Wayne Rooney firing on all cylinders".
The ex-Newcastle manager believes that Rooney is suffering from a lack of confidence.
"His performance at Bolton tells me his confidence is shot", Keegan added.
Injury and lack of form may not be the only reason behind the downfall of Rooney. Three weeks ago a tabloid newspaper in England published a story regarding Rooney’s affair with a prostitute in England, while his wife was expecting their first child.
Keegan said that a player with the start power like Rooney should not have issues in dealing with the media, he said that stars make millions by endorsements and interview on media so they should be able to handle them.
"You can't have all the contracts, you can't sell your wedding to magazines and things like this and suddenly say, that's the tap I want to turn on but we want to turn the other one off", he said.
The former England international said that when players get attention from the press, they are on a high and they milk it to the fullest. So when the same press turns on them the players should have the ability to stand firm and take it on the chin.
"You can't then turn around and say there's too much paparazzi around or there is too much publicity.
"One minute you are courting it, the next minute you're saying, I don't want this".
Tags: