Will Power

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Rooney Eyes United Response


Wayne Rooney is determined Manchester United can bounce back from their title disappointment this season after taking lessons from last term.

Rooney is starting his annual summer break to the general discontent at his performances with England at Euro 2012.

In addition, a seemingly innocuous comment about the England camp being a better place as a direct result of new manager Roy Hodgson having full command of the language seems to have annoyed Fabio Capello.

Yet the former national coach's caustic comments about Rooney only understanding Scottish may, indirectly, have an element of truth about them.

After all, while there have been a couple of significant fall-outs, the 26-year-old seems to react better to Sir Alex Ferguson than anyone else.

And, while Rooney can hardly be blamed for United's official website selecting to highlight an interview he gave them for their official diary of the 2011-12 campaign 'Fight to the Finish', the comments reinforce a perception that the Red Devils will always get the best of their star forward.

"I think we've all learned a lot," said Rooney after United were pipped to the Premier League title by fierce local rivals Manchester City last term.

"There have been a lot of games where you get a feeling afterwards that you never want to have again. Hopefully we can get hold of that feeling and make sure it doesn't happen again.

"Just look at all the young players in the squad: they've played a lot of games, had a lot of ups and downs and most of them are already getting selected for their national teams.

"That's all going to help them. The next two or three years will be a big test for them and I'm sure we'll all pull through it."