Rooney defends Welbeck over lack of goals

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has defended his teammate Danny Welbeck for his recent lacklustre form in front of goal.

The England international has netted just one goal in 27 appearances for the Red Devils this season but Rooney expects the forward to find form.



"He is a great player and his time will come when he gets that run up front," BBC Sport quotes Rooney as saying. "Then I am sure then he will score goals."



Meanwhile, United are on course to clinch the Premier League title this season due to their nine-point lead at the top of the table.

Nani and Rooney could make comeback's in Cup

Wayne Rooney and Nani could make their comebacks in Manchester United’s FA Cup third round replay against West Ham a week tomorrow, following Robin van Persie’s injury-time goal at Upton Park on Saturday.





Rooney has been missing since Christmas Day with a knee-ligament injury while Nani has been out since November because of a hamstring problem.

Top-selling official EPL player jerseys

Robin van Persie’s popularity at Manchester United since joining from Arsenal in the summer is demonstrated by news that his is the best-selling official Barclays Premier League shirt in North America this season.



Figures released by Sporting ID, which produces the names, numbers and sleeve badges of the Barclays Premier League, show that the United forward, who has scored 11 Premier League goals so far, leads his United strike partner Wayne Rooney, who was found to have had the best-selling shirt in the League’s history. In third is Chelsea striker Fernando Torres.

"North American soccer fans support the Barclays Premier League as fanatically as anywhere else"

Robert Thayne

United States striker Clint Dempsey is the biggest mover, rising to sixth after his move from Fulham to Tottenham Hotspur in August. Dempsey is the first US player to make the top 10 in North American sales.

"North American soccer fans continue to support the Barclays Premier League as fanatically as anywhere else, often waking at 4am to catch games on TV," said Sporting iD’s global sales and marketing director Robert Thayne. "Players like Van Persie, Eden Hazard, Clint Dempsey, Steven Gerrard and Jack Wilshere are top-class players playing for the biggest clubs in the world and their fans in North America are really no different than the ones who live in the UK.

“They are clearly showing their support of these players and their club by personalizing jerseys with official Premier League player names, numbers and sleeve badges.”



Top-selling official Barclays Premier League player jerseys in North America : -



1. Robin van Persie (Manchester United)

2. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

3. Fernando Torres (Chelsea)

4. Eden Hazard (Chelsea)

5. Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

6. Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur)

7. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)

8. Javier Hernandez (Manchester United)

9. Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United)

10. Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)

Rooney: Tipped to perform well at the World Cup

Roy Hodgson has tipped Wayne Rooney to be one of the stars of the tournament at the next World Cup in Brazil, but admits the pressure to perform can be too much for even the best players.

Rooney failed to impress at the 2010 World Cup and, after being suspended for the first two games of Euro 2012, barely made an impact in Poland and Ukraine this summer.



Hodgson hopes the atmosphere in Brazil will bring out the best in Rooney and has revealed just how determined the Manchester United striker is to leave an impression on the greatest stage.



"Wayne could thrive here on this stage. He's a great player, a player who decides games, and he could be one of the stars of the tournament," Hodgson told The Times on a visit to Rio de Janeiro this week.



"He's an unbelievably talented player who, in his own opinion, still has unfinished business there.



"He would love, I'm sure, to have a great World Cup. He's a player who desperately wants to do well for England and he was desperately proud when I gave him the captaincy against San Marino.



"Nobody wants to do better than him, but of course he bears that burden every time he steps on to the field."



There is a huge level of expectation on Rooney and Hodgson appreciates how difficult that can be to handle.



"The whole of England, including the press, expect him to play at the very, very top of his game and sometimes, of course, he can't do that being a human being," explained the Three Lions manager.



"Quite often in World Cups the responsibility falls upon one outstanding player to bring his team through, and it can be too much. I remember 1994; Roberto Baggio was a massive star - I worked with him later at Inter Milan - and the pressure upon him to really deliver for Italy proved a little bit too much.



"At the last World Cup, we all thought Lionel Messi was going to be the man and perhaps he wasn't.



"Quite often the players have had this burden to carry on their shoulders. We've seen it in glimpses, but at the end they maybe haven't quite done so but still rank among the world's greatest players."

Ferguson will not rest Rooney

Sir Alex Ferguson has no plans to rest Wayne Rooney against CFR Cluj as he looks to ensure the Manchester United striker is at peak fitness for Sunday's derby.

United face Cluj at home on Wednesday night in their final UEFA Champions League group game and top spot has already been assured.



Ferguson is expected to make several changes to his team for the game, but he is not intending to leave Rooney out ahead of the weekend's clash with local rivals Manchester City.



The United boss does not want the England international to lose any momentum after he missed the matches against Norwich City and Galatasaray last month due to illness.



And, having scored twice against Reading in the Premier League last Saturday, Ferguson wants Rooney to build on his 'best performance of the season'.



"When Wayne gets interrupted, he needs three games to get back," said Ferguson. "That's why he'll definitely play.



"Wayne needs to play a lot of games to get his match fitness up. He's a strongly-built lad and when he misses two games, it takes him three games to come back. It's the way he's always been.



"He'll play and hopefully that brings him on further. On Saturday [at Reading], that was his best performance of the season so far."

Wayne Rooney fears Carroll threat

Wayne Rooney has urged Manchester United to pay special attention to Andy Carroll on Wednesday night.



Carroll is bound to get a frosty reception from the Old Trafford faithful when West Ham travel north. As a Liverpool player with an enormous price tag, it is hard to imagine the United fans will not single him out.



However, after working alongside the 23-year-old at close quarters during Euro 2012, Rooney knows the reality of Carroll's performances is nowhere near the perception many have of him.



The burly forward will travel north with confidence high following his first goal of the season at Tottenham on Sunday. And Rooney has warned his United team-mates to be on their guard.



"Andy Carroll is a handful," said the striker. "I am sure if you ask any defender, they find it difficult to play against someone like that who is good in the air and on the floor.



"He is physical and makes it hard for opponents. That type of player doesn't always get all the goals but they can cause trouble up front and create problems. I am sure that is what Sam Allardyce wants him to do."

Rooney relieved to score spot-kick

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney admitted luck played a significant part as he bounced back from his penalty miss against Arsenal by converting one in Braga.



Rooney has a mixed record with spot-kicks and became the fourth United player to miss one this season when he struck wide in United's 2-1 Premier League victory over the Gunners at Old Trafford on Saturday.



But that did not deter him from stepping up four days later to take on the responsibility again when the Red Devils were awarded another one with five minutes of normal time remaining in their Champions League Group H clash at the Estadio AXA.



After substitute Robin van Persie's 80th-minute effort had cancelled out Alan's opener - also a penalty - for the hosts four minutes into the second half, it was an opportunity to put United in front for the first time and Rooney, who had earned the spot-kick when Nuno Coelho was adjudged to have fouled him, made the most of it by beating goalkeeper Beto with a firm shot.



The 27-year-old appeared to skid a little on the wet surface as he fired the ball in and he conceded afterwards that he had been "a bit fortunate".



Asked if he had had any doubts about taking the penalty, Rooney said: "No, not at all.



"Obviously I was disappointed at the weekend, not only to miss but to miss the target.



"I said after the game it wasn't good enough and (against Braga) I was a bit fortunate; I slipped but thankfully it's gone in so I'm happy with that.



"At the time it happened so quick, but obviously I've seen it going towards the goal and the keeper going the other way.



"I was happy with it going in but obviously I've been quite lucky with that."



With Javier Hernandez adding a close-range finish in stoppage-time, United went on to complete a 3-1 victory that was their fourth win in four Group H fixtures and guarantees them top spot and a place in the last 16.



It was the just the latest in a host of come-from-behind wins for United this season that had certainly not looked on the cards for most of the contest in Portugal, which they had struggled to really get going in and was halted for around 15 minutes not long after Alan's goal by some of the floodlights going out in a power cut - seemingly to the visitors' benefit.



"I think we can play better football - at times it was too slow but the result is the most important thing," Rooney said.



"I think we had quite a bit of possession, we just needed a bit more movement and speed to our play, and thankfully in the last 10 or 15 minutes, when it mattered, we got them."



Veteran United midfielder Ryan Giggs, who came into the first XI as one of six changes from the Arsenal game, felt the introduction of Van Persie shortly after the resumption of play following the power cut was crucial.



The striker subsequently netted his 11th goal of the season by expertly guiding the ball over the stranded Beto from outside the box when the goalkeeper rushed out too soon, and Giggs can see why some of his team-mates have been drawing comparisons between Van Persie and his fellow Dutchman, the former United frontman Ruud van Nistelrooy.



"It wasn't until after we went 1-0 down - probably when Robin came on - that we started to play a little bit better," Giggs, 38, said.



"His confidence is just sky high at the moment.



"I read last week that a lot of the players think he's similar to Ruud in the respect that Ruud used to get a chance and more often than not he'd put them away.



"That's the case with Robin at the minute; his confidence is high, we're creating chances for him and he's putting them away."



With a maximum 12 points, United - who also currently lead the Premier League - are eight points clear of Galatasaray and Cluj in Group H, and nine in front of Braga, with two rounds of group games to go.

Gary Neville: "More to come" from Wayne Rooney

Former Manchester United skipper Gary Neville has said Wayne Rooney must "improve" and "adapt" if he is to enjoy a career into his thirties at Old Trafford.



Rooney has been playing professional football for 10 years despite being just 26, and England coach Neville thinks there is more to come from the former Everton man.



"At the age of 26 you always have to think that there's more to come," Neville told BBC Radio 5 live.



"We need to see Wayne Rooney improve and he needs to see himself improve.



"Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs have adapted their games,"



"Ryan Giggs has gone from a flying left winger to someone who now plays off the front at inside left as well as central midfield.



"Paul Scholes was a goalscoring number 10 player when he first started as a 16-year-old, now he's a holding midfield player who controls the game.



"You have to adapt. Rooney is still a centre forward, but he'll adapt over the next 10 years to become someone who's thought of in that same way as those two players."

Hodgson defends Rooney over Capello criticism

England manager has defended Wayne Rooney's performance at Euro 2012 after Fabio Capello's criticism of the forward.



The former Three Lions manager hit out at Rooney's 'lost in translation' jibe on Tuesday by suggesting that he could 'only understand Scottish'.



Hodgson, however, leapt to the defence of the 26-year-old before continuing to praise the squad for their efforts in Poland and Ukraine, where they fell in the quarter-finals to Italy.



"Capello is entitled to his opinions, I suppose," Hodgson told talkSPORT. "I don't know what relationship he would have had with Wayne but I always think it's a bit cheap to kid on a player who was so anxious to do well.



"His attitude was magnificent. He was putting in extra work in training because he was concerned he was behind the others having missed the first two games through suspension.



"He was trying to do extra work and we were trying to put the brakes on. His desire to do well was enormous.



"In the final game (against Italy) he, along with one or two other players, didn't play to the level he can but that's what football is about. If every player was a robot and played at the same level in every game then football would be a very simple game and we wouldn't need coaches."



Aside from a promising opening 20 minutes in which Glen Johnson and Danny Welbeck were unlucky not to score, England were vastly outplayed by Italy on Sunday and eventually succumbed to defeat in the dreaded penalty shootout.



"Maybe it (the quarter-final) was a bridge too far," Hodgson said. "We ran out of legs a bit in the final part and didn't keep the ball as well as we should have done but it was a valiant effort to take the game to penalties.



"There was a brief period in the first half when we showed what we could do but we couldn't keep that up. Getting to penalties was the best we could do.



"I don't think we could have done much more. The players' focus couldn’t have been better, and the effort couldn't have been better.



"In the first half that showed. At half-time I didn't see any reason to believe we couldn't win the game. But in the second half and extra-time it was obvious they were in the ascendancy and we were thankful for some magnificent defending to make sure we stayed in the game.



"There was no surrender. It was a great effort and I feel very proud of what the players did for me on the pitch. But there will always be recriminations if you don't get as far as you'd like, and achieve what you want to."

Rooney: I'm excited to be back

Wayne Rooney says he is "delighted" to be available for England again and believes the competition for places up front is "great" for the team.



The Manchester United striker has sat out the opening two group matches of Euro 2012 due to suspension, but is back in contention for Tuesday's meeting with co-hosts Ukraine.



In Rooney's absence, England drew 1-1 with France in their first match before strike duo Andy Carroll and Danny Welbeck both scored in Friday's 3-2 win over Sweden.



Roy Hodgson has already confirmed Rooney will start against Ukraine, with England needing just a point to ensure qualification for the quarter-finals.



Rooney has found it difficult watching the action from the stands so far and is excited to have the chance to make an impact at the European Championship.



Delighted



"I'm delighted to be back part of the team and the squad, and to be involved," said Rooney live on Sky Sports News.



"The lads have done great to put us in the position we're in now and hopefully I'll get the opportunity to play, and try and shine and help us get through the group.



"I've been fine since I joined up with the squad and I've took part in every training session. I feel good, ready and I'm excited now to get back out on the pitch."



Reports suggest Rooney will partner his United team-mate Welbeck against Ukraine, but he feels England are strong in attack, with Carroll and Jermain Defoe also options.



"I think it's great for the team that we've got forwards scoring goals," he continued. "The forwards have done well in the games.



"It's great for me to have competition and I know I need to be at my best to get in the team and stay in the team. It's great for the whole team.



"I know Danny very well at club level and Andy has come in and done really well. He's a big old-fashioned No.9. He's held the ball up, scored goals and they are two very capable players.



"We mustn't forget Jermain as well. He is one of the most natural goalscorers you ever want to see.



"We have four good strikers all fighting for one or two places. When we do get in, we have to make sure we do well."

Hodgson: Rooney will return

Roy Hodgson hailed his strikers for their goalscoring efforts in England's thrilling 3-2 win over Sweden, but confirmed Wayne Rooney will return for the qualification decider with co-hosts Ukraine on Tuesday.



Hodgson's bold decision to select Andy Carroll paid off when the Liverpool man put England ahead with a first-half header. Then Danny Welbeck secured a famous win when he flicked home Theo Walcott's cross 12 minutes from time.



The result means a draw will do in Donetsk. However, any thought that Rooney might have a job getting his place back after serving his two-match suspension was quickly dispelled.



"I welcome those kind of selection problems," said Hodgson. "I was really pleased with the performance of the front players. But Wayne Rooney is a special player and, frankly, it will be hard to leave him out. I'm afraid you expect him to get back into the team when the suspension is served."



The statement merely underlined what a massive role Rooney is being afforded in the Hodgson era. He must have gone through every emotion in the stands, though, as England established a winning position, threw away the initiative with some poor defending, and finally claimed a vital three points thanks to Hodgson's match-changing introduction of Walcott.



"Theo's contribution was enormous," said Hodgson. "To come on as a sub, score and set up the winner means he'll be very happy."



Two goals at the start of the second half from Olof Mellberg turned the game on its head, as well as earning the former Aston Villa defender a man-of-the-match award he did not want. "It doesn't mean a lot," he said. "It feels a little bit strange to win something when you lose a match and go out of a tournament."



Praise for Walcott impact

The reason was Walcott, who rifled home the equaliser three minutes after his introduction with a shot that startled Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson, leaving the former Manchester City man completely wrong-footed.

Then it was Walcott who surged into the box, before clipping a cross to the near post, which Welbeck turned home with a magnificent airborne back-heel. "It was a good move," said Hodgson. "Theo was able to skip away from the full-back and showed a lot of composure to find Danny at the near post.



"He timed his run very well and it was a very clever finish with the pirouette past the goalkeeper, who thought he was going to toe it towards the near post. It was a great goal to win the game."



Now, it seems Welbeck and Carroll will battle it out to partner Rooney as England look for the point required in the most partisan of atmospheres on Tuesday. Walcott will also come into contention after his brilliant cameo, that included his first England goal since his famous hat-trick against Croatia almost four years ago.



"Of course I believe in him," said Hodgson. "He's a good player with good qualities. That's why I selected him in my 23. I have only worked with these guys for a month and am still learning what they're really good at, and what areas we can find improvement. But I was delighted with his performance tonight."



As England look forward to a thrilling end to the group phase, Sweden are licking their wounds. They will take on France still without a point and nursing a massive sense of injustice.



"I am really disappointed," said coach Erik Hamren. "We've played two really good halves, one OK and one bad and ended up with no points. I'm proud of my players. But we have a saying, the operation was really good, but the patient died. That's how I feel today."

Rooney's dad cleared over betting scam

The father of Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney has been cleared of involvement in an alleged betting scam, media reports said on Monday.



"Mr Rooney senior has always vigorously denied the allegations and maintained his innocence throughout the investigation," said his solicitor Anthony Barnfather. "He is delighted the matter has now concluded."



Rooney's father was among nine men arrested in October over "suspicious betting activity" surrounding the Scottish Premier League match between Motherwell and Hearts in December 2010.