Rooney can still conjure a touch of class
Former United striker is pulling all the strings for Derby, writes Mike Mcgrath at Pride Park
‘If Rooney scores, we’re on the pitch,” chanted the Manchester United fans. It was stoppage time and looked like Wayne Rooney would be tested over his insistence that he would celebrate a goal against his old team.
It was a free-kick from a similar distance to the one he scored against Stoke to become United’s record scorer three years ago. This time the ball went over the wall and headed towards the top corner, only for Sergio Romero’s right glove to palm it away and deny
Rooney a goal to please home and away fans alike.
There may not been a jubilant celebration as United were already 3-0 up through Luke Shaw and two goals from Odion Ighalo on their way to the FA Cup quarter-finals.
But it was a triumph of sorts for Rooney, showing he is still a match for the United players trying to emulate his glittering spell at Old Trafford. He crashed into tackles with Scott Mctominay, while Bruno Fernandes had to fight for
time on the ball. Before the goals started going in, he had forced another excellent save from Romero with a set-piece. What a shame we never saw his reaction to scoring against United.
Rooney was never one for muted celebrations, whether it was sending a message with a boxing combination of punches or swearing down a camera.
His commitment to Derby, and his new deep-lying role in midfield, could hardly be in question, given he has started every game since returning to England after his two seasons in America. This has not
been a farewell tour for England’s former captain to quietly fade away. Only against Stoke, with his team 4-0 ahead, has Phillip Cocu given the 34-year-old a breather.
United hailed their record scorer with songs from his time scoring 253 goals in their colours. When his name was read out the cheers rang out from all corners.
This is no longer the explosive Rooney who would power his way through defenders. For those who had not seen him in the Championship, here was his new game, sitting deep and trying to control the game while others do the running. “It’s about trying to get on the ball and drag players out of position,” he wrote in his programme notes. “In a lot of the games, teams try to put players on me which allows me to drag them out of position and make space.”
With Max Lowe and Jayden Bogle making ground on the flanks, his job was to find them and be disciplined enough not to join them. For longevity in his career, he now needs endurance.
With his family watching from their executive box, all eyes were on Rooney and how he would cope with the pace of a Premier League
team. Climbing the Championship table has been the priority, but snapping into a tackle on Mctominay showed what this game meant. Rooney also just beat the Scotland midfielder to a 50-50 challenge before half-time in a moment where United’s past and future collided.
His career was defined by goals for United and England but he was back in his own area here, hacking away a Shaw cross. He needed to bulldoze his way out of trouble to get away from Jesse Lingard once, but this was more about trying to make time on the ball.