Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson says expectations surrounding Wayne Rooney are far too high
Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, says that the expectations surrounding Wayne Rooney are far too high. Many people expected Rooney to go to the World Cup with England and be a top scorer for his country and a contender for the Golden Boot. However, Rooney looked a little unfit and did not manage to score a single goal.
The experienced Premier League manager says that the expectations were far too great and that it is impossible to expect a player to play constantly on the same level for every single match that he takes part in. Rooney's form at United last season was superb but the point is that he played in a totally different system for England and he was not used to it. He should have had the quality to get on the score sheet for his country but Ferguson says you have to take these things with a pinch of salt.
Reasons
The reasons for the high expectations of Rooney at the World Cup are blindingly obvious. He top scored for United last season and nearly managed to break the record that Cristiano Ronaldo set there for goals in a single season. This is a record that no one expected another player to get close to for the next few years at least and it's natural to expect a replication of that form on the world's biggest stage.
So there were no questions about Rooney's form or confidence. It's important to remember that there were times during this run in the last domestic season when Rooney did not score goals. He is not super man and therefore it's unreasonable to expect him to produce brilliant form one hundred per cent of the time. Ferguson is probably the most experienced club manager in the entire world and has seen runs of form for various world class players during his time in the game. He has always said that the only time a player will burst into life is when the expectations are not piled on top of him.
Next Season
Ferguson says that he expects his star striker to bounce back next season and start playing well within United's first few games of the Premier League season. He does not think it will be too long until Rooney starts banging in goals from all areas of the pitch again. He's also said that it's important that England fans get off of his back because the pressure will be right on the side during the Euro 2012 qualification campaign. Fabio Capello will be under intense scrutiny and Rooney will have to fire if England are going to top their group when it's announced.
Sooner rather then later Rooney is going to score another goal in an England shirt. It was just unfortunate that he had a bad time at the World Cup and played against some very stubborn sides who were determined to keep him from having any influence in any game.
Advice
One bad World Cup does not make someone a bad player and if you act now you will still get very good odds on Rooney being England's top scorer during the Euro 2012 qualification campaign. Furthermore, you will get a good price on him being the top scorer in the Premier League.
Ferguson knows that the pressure will be on Rooney during the first few games of United's Premier League season and he knows that it is something Rooney thrives on. He will be thrown in at the deep end and expected to react so back Rooney if you fancy him to score against Newcastle United on the opening day.
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