Ferguson shrugs off Rooney goal drought
Ian Whittell
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insists he’s unconcerned
about Wayne Rooney’s goal drought, believing the England striker is
close to once again becoming the country’s deadliest striker.
Rooney has not scored for United in open play since netting against
Bayern Munich in March, but Ferguson was delighted with the England
forward’s overall contribution in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Sunderland at
Old Trafford.
“Wayne had a couple of tries. He was very unlucky with the chip and
there were a couple of shots saved by the goalkeeper,” Ferguson said.
“He is getting there. The important thing is he is playing well. That
is refreshing.”
Meanwhile, Ferguson hopes to welcome back Darren Fletcher and Nani at
Birmingham on Tuesday after his team maintained pole position in the
Premier League with Sunday’s three points.
Ferguson was without the pair for the win at Old Trafford that was
cemented by two goals from Bulgaria forward Dimitar Berbatov, who now
has 13 for the season, and a man of the match performance from Brazilian
playmaker Anderson.
The Scot, who turns 69 on Friday, was able to take off Anderson and
evergreen winger Ryan Giggs early in the second half and, while Ferguson
declared himself happy with an unbeaten league run that now extends to
22 games, the return of Fletcher and Nani can only help United
consolidate first place when they travel to St Andrew’s.
“You have to make changes,” said Ferguson, noting that Birmingham
will have benefited from the postponement of their Boxing Day visit to
Everton.
“I took Anderson off, took Ryan off. We’ve got a game in two days’
time. Birmingham have not played, they will be nice and fresh.
“Darren Fletcher had a bit of a cold, he came down with it this
morning, we couldn’t take any chances. Nani has been feeling his hip the
last few days so we left him out. He should be ready for the Birmingham
game.
“Birmingham will be fresh. Going down there is always a difficult
place, they’ve always had a strong home record, they’re difficult to
beat on their own ground.”
Ever the perfectionist, Ferguson did confess that his team’s failure
to convert a host of chances they created against Sunderland was a
disappointment.
“Absolutely,” said Ferguson. “We hit the bar, the post, the
goalkeeper made a couple of saves, we had some really good football,
some exciting stuff.
“Once the game went into that part - Dimitar had a couple saved - we
just seemed to go into third gear. “The first half was the game, we were
fantastic, it could have been any score.
“The second half we put the tools away and bit, maybe they were
saving their legs.
They knew Birmingham’s game was off and maybe that gets to their
minds. We were very economical second half, put it that way.
“But we’re coming to good form. The last few weeks we have played
some very good stuff and had that consistency, particularly defending.
We were solid at the back, these are good signs for us.” Sunderland
manager Steve Bruce sounded like one rival manager who is ready to
concede the title to United. “They’ve been involved in first or second
for the last six years and I can’t see any change in that,” he said.
“They will be there or therabouts. And usually they get better from here
on in.
“That first half is arguably the best they have played. I hear they
haven’t played that well and they’re unbeaten in - what? - six months;
that’s not a bad stat.
“They’re top of the league with a game in hand. History tells you
that they get better in the second half of the season. They’ve got some
big games coming up but I wouldn’t bet against them.”
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, Dec 27,
2010, AFP |