Rooney Not Firing

In one sentence this week Rio Ferdinand revealed more about Wayne Rooney than the Manchester United striker managed to do in the 279 pages of his autobiography: ‘Wazza actually believes he will be better than Eric Cantona and George Best,’ said Ferdinand.

Those ambitions might not have seemed so outrageous two years ago when Rooney marked his United debut with a hat-trick against Fenerbahce, although recently he has been more likely to reside alongside the substitutes than the club’s legends.

Withdrawn in his previous two matches, Rooney was given the duration here to rediscover the form that has eluded him since coming back from suspension, yet for all his admirable industry, the golden touch has still to return.

He has now failed to score in eight of his nine appearances for club and country, the brace against Fulham on the opening weekend of the season the only goals to his name since April. His rehabilitation from injury has contributed to those statistics although Rooney does not do excuses.

His effort against Reading could not be questioned; one run early in the second half, when he ran the length of the fi eld to track back and challenge Bobby Convey on the edge of the United penalty area, was emblematic of his commitment.

But it is at the other end of the pitch that United fans are most desperate to see him terrorising the opposition. His contribution in that area yesterday was mixed, with the absence of a partner in attack until Louis Saha arrived in the second half hardly aiding his cause. Until then Paul Scholes was tasked with providing the ammunition, although Rooney’s best chance of the fi rst half was entirely of his own making.

Having neatly controlled Gabriel Heinze’s pass on his chest, he swivelled before unleashing a 20-yard shot that carried too much power for Marcus Hahnemann to hold. Kieran Richardson collected the rebound but he, too, was thwarted.

Another opportunity soon arrived for those two to combine, but Richardson, somewhat selfishly, opted to shoot instead of passing. Rooney duly berated the United winger as his shot sailed high behind the Reading goal.

His frustration was understandable. There had been only scraps to feed off in the opening 45 minutes as the England international, often isolated up front, struggled to make any impact despite his best efforts. A well-timed diagonal run across the penalty area after 13 minutes was picked out by Cristiano Ronaldo only for Rooney to drag a tame shot into the arms of Hahnemann.

It was his last clear sight of goal in the first half and, as the service dried up, he increasingly took up a deeper role. As a consequence, United were left without a presence high up the field and Rooney, so eager to make his mark, was forced to shoot from distance. His desire to contribute could not be faulted although that over-zealous approach occasionally proves counter-productive, as it did here on more than one occasion before the interval.

A routine pass to Richardson, which would have released the United mid-fielder on goal, was over-hit while his attempts to round Ibrahima Sonko on the by-line instead of crossing saw the Reading defender easily seize possession.

Those passages of play had mattered little until three minutes into the second half when Kevin Doyle converted from the penalty spot after Gary Neville, wearing the expression of a guilty man, needlessly handled.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s response was to introduce Saha into the fray although not before Rooney created United’s best opportunity hitherto. Having left Graeme Murty trailing, his adroit cutback found Richardson only for the midfi elder to lose his footing. Rooney thumped his fist into the ground and Richardson promptly took his place in the dug-out.

This time Rooney was not to join him although that, and Ronaldo’s 73rdminute equaliser, will have been small consolation to a 20-year-old who plans on becoming the greatest player in United’s history.