After the Milan win:
‘It is the area of biggest improvement and with him doing that you have to put him in the same bracket as all the best players. The evidence is there.”
After the Everton loss:
“[Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer and Andy Cole and [Ruud] van Nistelrooy. If he got to that level, he’d be the best in the world”.
A definite climb down. A super sub? RVN as a role model? From what I remember Sir Alex insinuated the Dutchman’s departure as improving the United locker room mood and attributed team effort in winning his first title after Chelsea’s interruption.
If Rooney’s predatory instincts need honing, it is as Sir Alex stated, his fault for playing the striker out of position. Rooney’s fault is that he does too much. Give it one more season as he learns to become less of an omnipresent presence on the pitch and concentrates on goalscoring.
Only the most biased or uneducated observer will fail to acknowledge a better and more complete player in comparison to Sir Alex’s choices. Rooney is on his way to becoming a Man Utd legend.
Or is it just Sir Alex playing his usual mind games to exhort the player carrying his team’s attack on his back all season to reach his target of 30 or more goals?