Time for Ferguson's Experience
Many football pundits are starting to say that Sir Alex Ferguson will need to show every bit of his experience to pick up the confidence of England striker, Wayne Rooney.
Rooney went to the World Cup with England as a striker expected to challenge for the Golden Boot as well as the top scorer position within his own side. However, Rooney is now in his way back to Manchester United and failed to score a single goal at the World Cup.
It is bizarre considering that he had arguably his best season in a Manchester United shirt and scored a record number of goals for his personal career at the club, that was not too far off from the club record that Cristiano Ronaldo set just two seasons ago.
Ferguson is now surely going to have to play an immense role in making sure that Rooney gets back into top physical shape and is ready by the time the English Premier League starts in August. He will need every bit of his managerial expertise to make sure Rooney’s head doesn’t drop.
Experience
Ferguson is one of the longest serving club managers in the world and he will know exactly how to pick up a player in the way that Rooney will need. He has been in charge of United for over two decades and this means he has been in charge during five World Cups.
There would have been moments in the past where he would have encountered players coming back to his club in a very downbeat mood and fashion meaning that he has to do his job as manager to make sure that it does not impact on the club side.
Ferguson will not be alone and there will be a huge number of players that have under performed and will under perform during this tournament. Experience is the only way that managers are going to be able to know how to give players a confidence boost when they badly need it.
Euros
It is also very important for the England team that Ferguson can keep up Rooney’s belief and keep him playing well. He is a very important player to this England side, regardless of the way he played at the World Cup.
He will be a central figure for the country during the European Championships qualifying campaign and you can back him to be one of the highest scorers over these matches because he is too good to go for long without scoring a few goals.
Therefore, although Ferguson won’t admit it or think it, he will play a very big role in lifting the spirits of England’s best striker. He should not find this too hard to do because Rooney will not strike anyone as the sort of player who will get into a mood or a slump and stay that way for a long period of time.
The mark of a very good striker is how they come back from the World Cup, disappointed, and react to it. They can either sulk and crumble or use the disappointment as a motivation to work harder and get better.
Advice
Don’t be afraid to back Rooney as the highest scorer in the Premier League next year or the highest scorer in England’s Euro 2012 qualification campaign. He has the ability to do both and you’ll get some very good odds if you bet now.
However, no one will blame you if you want to be a little more conservative and wait to see how he starts the domestic season. It’s impossible to predict how he will react until he’s back on the United training ground.
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