His last act with 89 minutes played in United’s victory over Newcastle on Sunday was to
His last act, with 89 minutes played in United’s victory over Newcastle on Sunday, was to pick the ball up in the right-back position and surge past Amdy Faye, no slouch himself, before whipping in a low cross for Ruud van Nistelrooy to finish. There does not seem a position on the pitch from which he does not know the direction to goal. The growing reliance of England upon Rooney appears to embarrass him a little. Confronted with the widely held belief that if he stays fit England have a real chance in Germany, Rooney said: “It’s a team game and without the other players we wouldn’t get anywhere. If you look round the team, we’ve got some of the best players in the world Without them nothing is possible.
It is, these days, arguably impossible for Eriksson to pick a bad team as long as the name of Rooney is entered upon England’s team sheet. He switches from the left to the right of Manchester United’s midfield five, has played behind a strike pairing of two and now, still two months before his 20th birthday, his peers judge him worthy of the job of leading the line alone. But it’s good if it works.” David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard might have met with Eriksson on Tuesday night and put their case for a 4-5-1 system, but it would not have been done without the strengths of Rooney in mind. I’m told I can just float and try to get on the ball and do what I can.
But defending-wise we do have to keep our shape so that means I have to keep my discipline It is difficult and it’s a hard job. At his current rate of scoring he should pass Sir Bobby Charlton’s international record of 49 by the time he is a mere 26. “We [Manchester United] have had a good start to the season,” he said. “The team’s done well and I’ve managed to get a few goals too, so I’m happy with the way things are going and I hope it can continue “I think attacking-wise [with England] I can do what I want. “Horrible” was how he described having to sit through a video of that performance, the highlight of which was his 10th international goal. The teenager has been tough on himself since the defeat to Denmark, although no one who witnessed the capitulation in Copenhagen this month would pin any blame on him. If Wales need reminding ahead of Saturday’s World Cup qualifier that it was against them last year that Rooney made his international return following the broken metatarsal bone he suffered during Euro 2004.
That day Rooney, scarcely eased back into Premiership life, was shifted to an unfamiliar new position behind Jermain Defoe and Owen. The heart-breaking news for Wales was that he seemed to love it there. Distributing the ball with ease, he dominated dribbling around four opponents in the second half before Danny Gabbidon lunged in. On the grand stage, the 19-year-old is the type of striker who conquers rather than plunders and the Millennium Stadium is just his kind of place. Three days before Newcastle acquired Michael Owen, they were given a brutal demonstration of the destructive capabilities of a great centre-forward. It came courtesy of Rooney who bludgeoned away at their defence, panicked experienced defenders into simple mistakes and joyfully bellowed obscenities into Sky’s pitch-side microphones when he scored. As England approach the last four games of their World Cup qualifying campaign, it is the form of the Manchester United striker that remains the most compelling reason to be hopeful about Sven Goran Eriksson’s team.
