Rooney goads Utd to ‘score more as team’
Misfiring giants have another tough assignment at leaders Leicester
>> LONDON: Wayne Rooney says misfiring Manchester United should follow the example of record-chasing Jamie Vardy in their summit meeting with surprise Premier League leaders Leicester today.
Leicester striker Vardy will make history at the King Power Stadium if he scores for a Premier League record 11th successive match and his record bid couldn’t come at a more uncomfortable time for the struggling Rooney and United’s other out-ofform forwards.
With 13 league goals this season, Vardy has scored more than all of United’s strikers combined and fittingly it is former Old Trafford great Ruud van Nistelrooy whose record he will break if he finds the net this weekend.
Rooney and his fellow United forwards have only nine league goals to their credit and they drew a blank again in midweek with a 0-0 draw against PSV Eindhoven that left them in danger of missing out of the Champions League knockout stages.
United captain Rooney is well aware of the threat posed by Vardy after linking up with the prolific 28-year-old on England duty and he wants his teammates to start showing the kind of composure and predatory instincts displayed by the Leicester star.
“No, we’re not,” Rooney said when asked if his team were ruthless enough. “I think we need to score more goals as a team.
“I feel we showed a lack of composure which put ourselves under pressure a lot of times.
“It’s a learning curve for us, but we can’t go on saying it’s a learning curve. We have to start turning these games into victories.”
If Vardy does break van Nistelrooy’s record it will continue a remarkable rise for a player who was in nonleague football with Fleetwood only a few years ago and last season scored just five goals for Leicester.
After firing Leicester in contention for a European berth less than a year after they were battling relegation, Vardy is such a hot property that Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri this week felt compelled to plead with the forward to ignore offers from bigger clubs in the January transfer window.
“At the moment we’re very happy and also Jamie is happy with us and he can continue to show his strength with us,” Ranieri said.
“Jamie is now a champion. He has to take confidence in this. He’s a strong character because he comes from non-league.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United striker James Wilson has j oined Championship side Brighton and Hove Albion on loan for the rest of the season, the second division club said.
The 19-year-old has made only two appearances for United this season, coming on as a substitute in the 3-0 defeat by Arsenal on Oct 4 and starting in the Capital One (League) Cup loss to Middlesbrough on Oct 28.
Wilson joins a Brighton team that are unbeaten in the Championship this season and lie second in the table, behind Hull City on goal difference.
“We have been keen to add a striker, and James has been our number one target for some time, so we are absolutely delighted to have completed the deal,” Brighton manager Chris Hughton told the club’s website.
“He is an exciting young striker, and we hope that this move will prove to be very good for all parties involved.
“He is very highly thought of at Old Trafford and he has been in and around the first-team picture at Manchester United since Ryan Giggs gave him his debut the season before last.
“I now hope he will help us maintain our excellent start to the season, and bring additional goals to the squad.”
Wilson is contracted to United until 2019.