Rooney revels as the main man
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Wayne Rooney’s 19 Premier League goals this season have led to fears that United are becoming a one-man team. Photograph: Mike Egerton/Empics
No longer the Ernie Wise to Cristiano Ronaldo's Eric Morecambe, Wayne Rooney has taken his real job back. Manchester United's management always acknowledged Ronaldo would want to head back to Iberia some sorry day but Rooney was bought to build an age around. He was the tough native talent who exemplified the English game's best virtues and would preserve the club's religion of shaping youth in its own image.
"He is extraordinary, very, very good," Real Madrid's general manager, Jorge Valdano, told Spanish radio yesterday but only as a disavowal of interest in United's main goalscoring weapon before tonight's Carling Cup semi-final second leg at home to Manchester City. On the field and off, Rooney is the story, as his contract negotiations become a test of United's capacity to attract and keep world-class talent in the shadow of the Glazer debt mountain. On the pitch, away from which he is so hard to drag, the Premier League's top scorer is tipped by Sir Alex Ferguson "to get above 30" as he learns to do his hunting in the opposition penalty box.
"Rooney is English, we all know they find it difficult to adapt to another type of competition other than the Premier League. He is a very interesting player but we have not ever been interested," Valdano sniffed, hours after the potential target had waved away reported interest from Real and Barcelona with a statement intended to soothe supporter anxiety. "I live near the training ground, life's good and I just want to play for Manchester United because the manager has given me so much and I want to repay his faith in me," Rooney said yesterday.
He has entered his finest goal-scoring form in red just as the thought of losing him (he has two and a half years left on his contract) is exerting maximum dread among fans who worry that corporate debt will ultimately destroy their team.
The lone negative byproduct of his 19 Premier League goals is that United are being called a one-man team. The fear is that the little Hercules could injure himself and derail the quest for a record fourth consecutive English title. Extreme star quality prompts accusations of dependence. Alan Shearer, who rescued a few teams in his playing days, is among those diagnosing over-reliance on the former Evertonian's goals: "I think he has carried United on his own at times. That's saying something for the size of that particular club. People were saying he has to step up his performance after the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo and boy, has he done that!"
Behind last season's party line Rooney is known to have felt competitive agitation about the senior role assigned to Ronaldo by virtue of the Madeiran's superior artistry. This suppressed jealousy never manifested itself as moodiness butintensified his desire to be the fulcrum of the team again. Before Real Madrid finally snared their man, one senior United player (not Rooney) complained that "it's become all about him [Ronaldo]". Now it is all about Rooney, in a more healthy way, for England and United.
"Wayne has 20 goals and the crucial part of the season is coming up. He could easily get above 30. His ratio at the moment suggests that," Ferguson said. "Wayne has become more aware of the penalty box. Giving him the direct role has given him an appetite to be in the box all the time. He still has moments when he goes into other areas of the pitch but he is choosing those moments more maturely. The main reason he is scoring the goals is because he is in the right place at the right time."
"The difference is I've consciously been getting in the box more to put myself in goal-scoring situations," Rooney agreed. Each of his four against Hull City on Saturday was finished from inside the penalty area and Michael Owen told the Guardian on Saturday: "The manager has said he wants Wayne playing further forward and getting goals and that's what he's been doing. A few years ago when I was playing for England with Wayne he used to drop in [to a more withdrawn position] and enjoyed that role. But people evolve and Wayne is a better all-round player. If you can get his services nearer [to the net] he's going to get a lot of goals."
"I've just matured and been given a lot more responsibility. I still have that passion and hunger. Hopefully I can have a good run in the side now and keep scoring goals. We've got ourselves into a good position in the league. We've dealt with defensive setbacks very well. The way we played last season has given us a lot of confidence and we will get there."
Rooney's hyper-active handyman routine has now been contained. Ferguson has abandoned the policy of starting him on the left. Before last season's Champions League final Marcel Desailly, the European Cup- and World Cup-winning defender, praised Rooney's willing versatility. "He has impressed me so much, the way he has accepted that," Desailly said. "For me what Rooney did against Arsenal in the [Champions League] semi-final and other times has been amazing. Against Arsenal he played on the left so he could help the team close down Theo Walcott. That, to me, is the sign of a special player."
The volatile street kid who stalked into Old Trafford with an air that suggested every incoming tackle was a personal affront has matured into a father with cunning and self-control. His last dismissal was against Fulham on 21 March last year and even the disciplinary system is working in his favour. Rooney's five yellow cards this season would have brought him a one-match suspension but for a change in how the cycle is defined.
Shearer says of Rooney's influence on United post-Ronaldo: "[Without him] they would not be where they are in the league. I think his performances have been spectacular and I hope he's not peaking too soon, as an England fan. As important as he is to Manchester United, he is just as important to England, and I don't think anyone should forget that."
United will. They will not consider it their responsibility to protect him on behalf of Fabio Capello, of whom Rooney told an Italian newspaper: "He scares us, like a strict father." Working for managerial aristocrats at club and country has hastened his development. Seeing the back of one on the pitch – Ronaldo – restored his primacy as the man who can win a game on his own.