Wayne Rooney expected to lead Manchester United's campaign
The Premier League season is almost upon us, and now it will be a great time to look at some of the players that are likely to make an impact in the upcoming season. Manchester United were denied a record 19th title last season and the Red Devils will be itching for the season to start. Once again all the attention will be on Wayne Rooney.
The former Everton front man had a stupendous season last year and scored 34 goals for United in all competitions. After Ronaldo left for Real Madrid at the start of last season, all eyes turned to Rooney and even Ferguson urged him to up his game and inspire players around him. The English striker did more than that; he pretty much carried the whole team on his own shoulders for most of the season.
He was playing like a dream, but there was always this fear, that what if he gets injured? and unfortunately for the Red Devils that is precisely what happened. During the 2 legged quarterfinal of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, Rooney hurt his ankle and despite a tame comeback next week he was not able to carry on for rest of the season.
His injury as predicted coincided with United’s season going from great to awful. Before his injury Manchester United were in the running for a treble. Having already won the League Cup, United were fighting tooth and nail with Chelsea for Premier League and played Bayern Munich in the quarter final of the Champions league. A horrible week saw United knocked out of the Champions’ League and lost to Chelsea in a virtual title decider.
He was so good that when he got injured England manager Fabio Capello said at any cost he will take Rooney to the World Cup. The manager went as far as saying “ no Rooney no World Cup England”. What happened in the World Cup was a whole different story though, but still that also in a way is good for United.
There is a strong feeling that Rooney will be even more motivated to do well for his club because he had a nightmare at the World Cup. The striker simply did not find his touch and looked uneasy whenever he had the ball at his feet. Rooney’s former team mate Gerrard Pique who is now with Barcelona said “beware of an angry Rooney”. Pique said that he knows Rooney will be more motivated and hungry than ever to prove his worth and take the title back from Chelsea; so Wayne Rooney has to be on top of the list of the players to watch out for.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that he is expecting another herculean performance from his star. Ferguson said that he is not saying this to put his player under pressure, but he insisted that Rooney thrives under pressure and the bigger the occasion the better he plays. Ferguson said that the World Cup should be forgotten as a bad episode for him, and he should start the new season with a fresh mindset. Ferguson said that the reason for his below par performance in the World Cup was nothing but overkill and lack of rest.
He said the amount of expectations on him also brought the downfall of him. The manager said even though he loves the pressure and expectations from his fans but he just was too tired from the League season and did not have it in him to do the same for country.
Ferguson said that he is very excited with the arrival of the new striker Javier Hernandez and hopes that he will be able to form a good partnership with Rooney upfront.
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