ROONEY FAILS WITH REDS DIG
United’s future is looking rosy with Rashford
WHEN Wayne Rooney was unveiled as Everton’s homecoming hero two months ago, he couldn’t resist a swipe at Manchester United in the rear-view mirror, bemoaning the decline of their renowned dressing-room culture.
‘There were standards passed down by Giggsy, Gary Neville and Scholesy that you had to keep,’ he said.
‘Over the last few years it was down to me and Michael Carrick but that became more difficult with some of the players who joined the club.’
Such sentiments will look slightly hollow this afternoon when United’s record goalscorer returns to Old Trafford amidst great interest.
Without Rooney, and Carrick not having played this season, United are doing very nicely indeed, starting the weekend jointtop of the Premier League and playing with a panache and confidence unseen since Sir Alex Ferguson’s time.
Meanwhile, Rooney’s new club Everton have lost their last three matches, failing to score and conceding eight.
Memories of his two early goals are already fading and tomorrow the 31-year-old will appear in court charged with drink driving.
Even one of his biggest friends and allies in the United dressing room, Ashley Young, is keen to stress they are thriving without their former captain.
‘Of course we have leaders. Just look at the start of the season, it has been incredible,’ said Young, who wore the skipper’s armband during the 3-0 win against Basle last week.
‘On the pitch we have leaders from the goalkeeper to the front men. Everyone has that winning mentality that comes with a club like United.
‘We showed on Tuesday night why we should be back in the Champions League.
‘I felt older when he (Rooney) left! But it is just one of those things, senior status comes to others. On the pitch you want to help the youngsters but we have 11 leaders on the pitch.
‘Not just the captain, we are all talking and pulling in the right direction.’
The way Mourinho handled Rooney’s departure underlines he has more political skill than his boorish reputation at Chelsea would suggest.
He astutely avoided any criticism of Rooney out of respect to his past achievements but nevertheless made sure he exited in the summer, United even foregoing a transfer fee. It has allowed the United manager to build his title-challenging team without being distracted by the circus that surrounds English football’s highest-profile player.
New No9 Romelu Lukaku will score more goals than Rooney, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata will create more as No10s. Saving on Rooney’s £250,000-a-week wages helped him sign Nemanja Matic to add power.
Even more importantly in keeping with United’s tradition, he has 19-year-old Marcus Rashford to represent the future of the club as Rooney did when he signed in 2004.
Rashford has scored 22 goals for United, two more than Rooney at the same age.
‘When I look at Rashford and Lingard I still think they are 15. The way they live, the way everything is simple for them,’ smiles Mourinho.
‘I see them as kids and football needs kids, enjoying to play the way they are enjoying. He (Rashford) loves football. He loves to train and play, and when that happens you love full stadiums, you love responsibility and you love big matches.’
Whether referring to Rooney or not, Mourinho confessed he enjoys the absence of outside baggage in dealing with the teenage Rashford.
‘It looks for me that everything around him is very normal. I think everything is normal,’ said the United manager.
‘I don’t know if he has an entourage of complex dimensions like you see in some players nowadays.’
A unified dressing room prepared to be led by the manager is important to Mourinho given his experiences of Stamford Bridge.
He never took public issue with Rooney but will be aware that 2013 Ferguson was concerned enough by the player’s offfield lifestyle in 2013 to believe he should be sold; drinking and gambling stories have been a regular theme through the forward’s career.
The three managers who opposed Ferguson’s viewpoint and made Rooney their captain and main man — David Moyes, Roy Hodgson and Louis van Gaal — all got sacked for club or country.
Mourinho appears more comfortable working with less talented players like Marouane Fellaini who can be moulded towards his ways.
‘He (Fellaini) has special qualities,’ said Mourinho about the Belgian who is important now that Pogba is out for six weeks with hamstring problems.
‘As managers, we are very important to players in their performance level, their confidence levels, their self-esteem levels.
‘I think Marouane is performing very well now, hopefully because he feels I respect him as a player.’