The former Manchester City player was clearly distressed with the fact that Manchester united won 2-1 with a spectacular goal from Wayne Rooney and was unable to hold back his emotions.

The unprofessional rant came moments after replays showed the winning goal, with Summerbee claiming that the moment of brilliance was the only thing that separated the two teams.

The bitter blue neglected to take into account the fortuitous way that City equalised, with Edin Dzeko’s shot deflecting off the back of David Silva past Van der Sar, and instead claimd that City had been the better team on the day.

Bizarrely he claimed that the away side had dominated for 60% of the game, then when shown the actal possession statistics of 54%-46% he laughably backtracked and said, “I’m not into stats”.

It was car crash television for Manchester City fans, but hilarious for any reds still tuned in and even Jamie Redknapp and Dwight Yorke struggled to contain their disbelief at what the mentalist was coming out with.

Clearly unhappy with the replays being shown, Summerbee added, “I wish you’d show some of our chances too”. He also claimed that someone will “come here and take United apart some day, like we did”.

The man sums up what it’s like to be a Manchester City fan. bitter, deluded and with no real grasp on reality.

This is how it feels to be City…

Video via ManUnitedYouth on Twitter

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Roj2eqffes

The commonly accepted opinion is that Rooney was after more money. Simple eh? Makes perfect sense. However, one rumour doing the rounds is that the whole episode was a cleverly constructed ploy by Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson to get the Glazer’s to put their hands in their pockets.

By questioning the ambition of the club and its ability to attract the biggest names in world football, Rooney gave Sir Alex the ammunition he needed to go to the Glazer’s and demand money for a big name signing in order to please Rooney and get him to sign on for five more years.

Could it be that Sir Alex has now been promised a larger transfer kitty in order to improve the squad next Summer? It’s a crazy theory in all honesty, but if true, who would you realistically like us to sign and why?

Now though, it appears the lack of competition in the current squad could be hindering United’s chances of reclaiming the Premier League crown from Chelsea.

In defence we’ve got the barely adequate John O’Shea at right back. Even he must be wondering how he’s managed to become United’s number one choice for the position, yet that’s what we’re seemingly lumbered with until Rafael can make the step up. Wes Brown is an option there too, but injuries have plagued him recently, meaning O’Shea is comfortable in his position and has no real threat to his place in the team.

Similarly with Jonny Evans in central defence, Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown have been constantly injured over the last year and during that time Evans has become more and more prone to errors. He at times looks like a rock alongside Nemanja Vidic and can make the absence of Ferdinand almost unnoticeable, but complacency may be a factor in his recent poor displays that have meant dropped points late on in away games.

Moving into midfield Paul Scholes has been the one pulling the strings for us this season, but with Darren Fletcher in a run of poor form the defence is left vulnerable. Scholes hasn’t got the les to chase back anymore and let’s face it, he was never much good at tackling anyway. Michael Carrick has been out injured and Owen Hargreaves …. he’s alive …. I think. Anderson has recently come back into the side but there’s still not the level of competition for places that there has been in previous seasons.

Now onto the position that should have strong competition for places: strikers.

Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen and Federico Macheda should all be competing for places in United’s front line, but it seems only three of those players actually have to compete.

While Dimitar Berbatov (along with Nani) have carried us so far this season, Owen has shown he’s still got his goalscoring touch in the Carling Cup and at Bolton. Macheda is full of energy and effort, albeit without much of an end product at the moment. The only one not actually competing is supposedly our star striker, Wayne Rooney.

It doesn’t matter how badly he plays, he keeps his place in the team. I’m usually all for him keeping his place because he often goes on these runs with no goals and then goes on a scoring spree. The problem this time though is that his problems aren’t just down to his form, they’re down to off the field issues that are affecting him mentally. This in turn translates to poor performance (and attitude) on the pitch.

News that Rooney will miss the Valencia tie through ‘injury’ makes me hope that Sir Alex Ferguson has decided to give more deserving players a crack at the whip and leave his misfiring striker on the sidelines until he sorts his head out.

The bottom line though is that all through the squad there’s simply not enough competition for places, meaning less motivation for the players to play well and keep their place in the starting line up.

Nani‘s brilliant solo goal and substitute Michael Owen‘s headed effort saw United come from behind twice in a game they dominated.

United dominated from the opening moments of the game but were behind after 6 minutes after poor defending from Jonny Evans allowed Zat Knight to nip in front of him and steer Martin Petrov’s corner past Edwin Van der Sar.

United replied with constant pressure on the Bolton goal and Nani equalised for the away side in the 23rd minute. The Portuguese winger dribbled form his own half and as the bolton defence backed off him he drove through them and fired a low shot past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Rooney was cutting a frustrated figure up front, but his team mates have right to feel equally frustrated with his performance as the troubled striker continued his poor run of form.

The sides went in level at half time with Manchester United in the ascendancy but not really troubling Bolton’s defensive setup.

Federico Macheda came on for Rooney in the 60th minute and the England striker immediately applied an ice pack to his left ankle.

The young Italian made an immediate impact on proceedings, laying a clever one – two with Dimitar Berbatov whose shot was saved by the Bolton goalkeeper.

Despite United’s dominance, it was Bolton who took the lead again after Martin Petrov started and finished a brilliant counter attack. The Bulgarian played a cross field pass to Lee Chung-Yong and then made up the ground to get on the end of Johan Elmander’s pass and fire Bolton into the lead via a deflection off Darren Fletcher.

Sir Alex Ferguson responded by bringing on Michael Owen, who scored with his first touch to bring United level. Nani’s curling free kick was glanced in off the post by the former Liverpool player, which prompted chants of “michael Owen is a red, he hates scousers” from the travelling United fans.

United pressed for the winner but struggled to penetrate Bolton’s tight defence. And as they time wasted their way to a point they scarcely deserved, Sir Alex will be disappointed not to have capitalised on yesterday’s shock results in which both Chelsea and Arsenal were beaten.

The United and England striker has been hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons recently, and Sir Alex believes it was the right decision to save Rooney from the abuse he would undoubtedly have received from Everton fans.

United could only manage a draw on Saturday, despite being 3-1 up with only minutes left on the clock. Some observers have used this to criticise Sir Alex for leaving his star striker out, but scoring 3 goals away from home and conceding twice in the last few minutes would suggest United’s problems are in defence, not attack.

“I left him out for the reasons I told you on Saturday and I am not going beyond that,” Ferguson said.

Asked if he left Rooney out as punishment for his off the field antics, Sir Alex said: “I told you what the reasons were for why he was left out and I am not entertaining any of that nonsense.

“No regrets. I did the right thing.” he added. “And I have no concerns about playing him tomorrow at all[against Rangers in the Champions League]. I don’t know if tomorrow will inspire him. He has a lot of experience behind him. But I do know scoring for England last week will have given him a boost.”

The home fans were treated to a masterful performance from midfield maestro Paul Scholes as he rolled back the years to give the Magpies a footballing lesson.

Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring for United, before Darren Fletcher doubled the lead just before half time. Second half substitute Ryan Giggs rounded off the scoring with a controlled volley after a brilliant chipped pass from Scholes.

Newcastle had their best chance of the game in the early exchanges after Andy Carroll’s clever run deceived Nemanja Vidic from a corner, but the giant striker headed wide of Edwin van der Sar’s post.

United quickly started to dominate possession and it was pretty much one way traffic from 20 minutes in.

Scholes picked up where he left off from last weekends man of the match performance against Chelsea and was again pulling the strings in United’s midfield.

The opening goal came after good tracking back from Antonio Valencia won the ball back inside Newcastle’s half. Darren Fletcher picked up the ball and threaded a pass through to Dimitar Berbatov who finished well from a tightening angle.

Nani was also in good form, with much of United’s attacking play coming from the left flank. It was his clever pass that sent Patrice Evra to the touchline to fire a cross into the six yard box where Wayne Rooney was able to touch the ball into Fletcher’s path. The Scot turned and shot low past the helpless Steve Harper to double United’s lead going into half time.

From then on it wasn’t a question of if United were going to win, it was just a matter of how many goals they were going to score in the process. As it happened, one more was all they could muster, but the scoreline flattered Newcastle and didn’t truly reflect United’s complete dominance of the match.

It was a combination of United’s old guard that sealed the win. Scholes the architect, Giggs the finisher, as has so often been the case over the years showed that there’s life in the old dogs yet.

Dimitar Berbatov could have scored a hat full of goals tonight, and while his finishing was poor at times, Sir Alex Ferguson will be pleased that the Bulgarian striker is at least finding himself in goalscoring positions. It really could be a make or break season for him.

It may not have been a scoreline that matched Chelsea’s 6-0 win over West Brom at the weekend, but the performance was just as commanding and will act as a sign of intent from the deposed champions that they’ll be right up there at the top once again, looking to lift the Premiership trophy for a record 19th time.

The midfielder knows how important it is to get off to a good start in the Premier League title race and is hoping players like Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra – who went out early with England and France respectively – can use the pre season to refresh themselves for the opening game against Newcastle.

“It is always difficult after a World Cup because the players who have been involved in the tournament have time off,” said Giggs.

“You just hope there is no hangover from the World Cup and everyone can hit the ground running. Hopefully our players will come back refreshed and we can get off to a good start.”

If you register with Bwin you can get odds of 13/5 on Manchester United winning the league, putting them second favourites behing champions Chelsea.

Sir Alex Ferguson is confident that the players won’t suffer as a result of having a poor World Cup.

“I don’t expect a hangover. I think there’ll still be a bit of disappointment in the lad, the United boss said.

“I think all the players coming back from the World Cup who didn’t do well, who didn’t reach their expectations may I say, will feel that they’ve missed something.

“That’s because the World Cup’s only once every four years. That’s the horrible part of that tournament.

“We have several players who have come back very, very disappointed. We’ve Patrice Evra for instance, Wayne Rooney of course, and Nemanja Vidic.”

Owen moved to Old Trafford last season in a bid to get his international career back on track, but an injury in the Carling Cup final ended his World Cup dreams.

The former Liverpool forward admits it was frustrating watching England bow out of the World Cup so early in South Africa, and has left the door open should Fabio Capello wish to give him another chance at international level.

If he takes his chances at United next year there’s every chance he could once again partner team mate Wayne Rooney in an England shirt. It might be worth a punt on free sports betting.

“I went to the last three World Cups and a couple of European Championships so it’s been really different this time,” he said.

“It was frustrating for me and for everyone. There were a lot of questions that came out of the tournament.

“I obviously missed the tournament through injury. Whether I would’ve been picked is another matter. I missed it because I wasn’t available but I’ve definitely not retired from international football.”

The United legend is famously candid when speaking about football and his latest verbal assault was no different.

Among those in the firing line were David James, Robert Green, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey and Steven Gerrard.

Keane believes England fans should look at the players on the pitch, rather than blame manager Fabio Capello.

“To keep criticising the manager is crazy. Capello is a brilliant manager,” Keane said.

“The players have to look at themselves. They get away with murder.”

He added that England don’t have as many world class stars as most people think.

“You say that the players are good individuals in the Premier League, but tell me who they are?

“I think Wayne Rooney had a brilliant season. You look at the goalkeepers, I thought David James at Portsmouth, they didn’t have a good season and the other one, Green, at West Ham [United] they just about stayed up.

“Glen Johnson at Liverpool did okay, they had a poor season. John Terry had his issues, I don’t think he had a great season.

“Chelsea won the double but that was down to some world class attacking players. Upson, who played yesterday, West Ham didn’t have a great season.

“Ashley Cole’s just come back from injury to be fair to the boy. [Steven] Gerrard didn’t have a great season at Liverpool, James Milner had a good season.

“[Gareth] Barry I thought was very average for Manchester City this year. [Emile] Heskey started the season up-front for Aston Villa and he got three goals.

“You keep talking about these world class players, and they’re not. Wayne has the best chance but he still hasn’t done it on the world stage.”

It’s hard to disagree with Keane in some respects, particularly when the same group of players have consistently failed under numerous managers. But Capello must shoulder some of the blame too for making the exact same mistakes as his predecessors.  However, it’s always good to see Keano having a rant. Too many players and managers are too scared to say it how they see it and instead toe the party line and err on the side of caution.

Football needs more Keano’s.

Ah, Dimitar.

Like, I would imagine, all of my fellow United supporters, I had very high hopes for Mr. Berbatov when he arrived at the club. An alternative to the direct, destructive capabilities of Ronaldo and Rooney and the hard work of Tevez. A more composed, elegant attacking force which would surely provide the key ingredient to unlock the tightest defences.

You don’t need me to tell you how the past two seasons have gone. Berbatov has not exactly set the world on fire, but nor has he been, by any stretch of the imagination, a ‘flop’ as some have suggested. Up until the second half of the season just gone, there were, it seemed, two distinct factions between Manchester United supporters. Those who adored Berbatov and thought the team should be built around him, and those who thought he was a worse than useless waste of money who was detrimental to our play.

And then Rooney got injured.
With key games left to play in the title run-in, Berbatov had to step up. “Now he’ll really show the doubters,” was the opinion of the pro-Berbatov camp. “Well, here’s his chance. It’s now or never,” mused the anti-Berbistas.

As we know, it generally didn’t work out. The most glaring failure was our 0-0 draw at Blackburn, which had we won, would’ve surely seen us win the title. And yet Berbatov worked harder than perhaps he ever had before. But the clinical edge of Rooney was absent, and the rest is history.

Now, people have often spoken of Berbatov’s scoring record. Scott of the excellent Republik of Mancunia has defended this on several occasions, but the fact is that we knew we weren’t signing the next Alan Shearer, even if the Bulgarian did allegedly used to sleep in a Newcastle shirt (we all have our foibles.) He was a creative, deep-lying, playmaker sort of striker. Not a non-goalscoring striker in the Emile Heskey mould – perish the thought – but rather a striker who could do things besides scoring goals better. The Bulgarian Totti, perhaps. And so he was always going to be unsuited to being a lone striker.

Or was he? Speaking of Totti, when, in the 2005-06 season, (largely due to circumstance, in a similar manner that Berbatov was) he was thrust into being a lone striker for Luciano Spalleti’s Roma side, the new ‘strikerless’ formation was remarkably successful, and hugely influential throughout football. Particularly on our very own Sir Alex Ferguson.

Our Champions League-winning team of ’08, then so dependent on the fluid attacking force permitted by Ronaldo that, despite posessing many of the same players, it has effectively been dismantled – was often referred to as ‘strikerless’, but it was in an entirely different way. It was more that it lacked a permanent, obvious striker, not that we were simply never playing with somebody looking to lead the line, as Roma were. But then after Ronaldo left, we played Rooney centrally in a 4-3-3 when it came to the big games. And Rooney is no Kevin Davies either.

As is illustrated in more depth in this article by the superb ZonalMarking, Rooney’s effectiveness as a lone striker does not come from his energy and physicality – although this helps when he does want to act in a more traditional manner – but rather from his movement, and his dropping deep and pulling defenders out of position – acting as a ‘false number nine.’ Also on that article is the perfect example of this, the goal against Arsenal at the Emirates this year.  Rooney is perfect for this role, as he is, despite what we are frequently told by know-nothing media sorts, an intelligent and disciplined footballer, and has the right attributes – an ability to make calm, short passes under pressure, excellent movement, and the ability to drop deep and play more creatively.

But hold on, doesn’t that description remind you of someone even more? Like Berbatov? This is why his ineffectiveness in the role was such a mystery – in theory, he was perfectly suited for it. There are many reasons that could be posed as explanations for why it failed – perhaps he was simply out of form at the time, or that unlike Rooney, he did not have an understanding of the role. But his natural attributes appear to make him an even better candidate for the role than Rooney. So why did it fail?

To compare Rooney and Berbatov this season, we will first have a quick look at their statistics.

ROONEY

Overall

Played: 43
Scored: 33 (5 of which pens)
Assists: 6
Total Involved: 39
Goals per game: 0.77
Assists per game: 0.14
Goals involved per game: 0.91

BERBATOV

Overall

Played: 42
Scored: 12
Assists: 6
Total Involved: 18
Goals per game: 0.29
Assists per game: 0.14
Goals involved per game: 0.43

It may be quite surprising, given that Rooney, when in a 4-4-2, has generally played as an out-and-out striker, and given Berbatov’s creative instincts, that they both have the same relatively small number of assists. But statistics will rarely tell the whole story. Anybody who has watched United regularly this season will attest to Berbatov’s excellent build-up play that can occur before the goal or assist. The combination of Berbatov playing Valencia into space with a clever pass before the Ecuadorian crosses to Rooney for a goal is one that has happened very regularly this season.

But now, we will compare the statistics of the two players when operating as a lone striker in a 4-3-3, and see how they compare.

ROONEY

4-3-3

Played: 17
Scored: 13
Assists: 2
Total Involved: 15
Goals per game: 0.76
Assists per game: 0.12
Goals involved per game: 0.88

BERBATOV

4-3-3

Played: 5*
Scored: 2
Assists: 1
Total involved: 3
Goals per game: 0.4
Assists per game: 0.2
Goals involved per game: 0.6

*Berbatov has made numerous substitute appearances in games that have started with a 4-3-3, but his arrival is rarely in replacement for Rooney, and therefore usually signifies a switch to 4-4-2. Because of this, in addition to the fact that many of these substitutions are very late on, I have chosen to discount these.

As we can see, Rooney’s statistics are scarcely any different when performing in a 4-3-3 to his overall stats. Perhaps surprising, given his role as a ‘false nine’, he does not have a higher rate of assists. But again, if we look at Rooney’s goal against Arsenal at the Emirates, we see that although it was Nani with the assist, the goal was started by Rooney dropping deep. Again, the stats do not show the vital, creative build-up play.

Berbatov, on the other hand, appears to operate much more effectively in a 4-3-3, although the argument can be made that he did not play here enough for the statistics to be very reliable. Certainly he was not as effective as Rooney. This will need a deeper investigation.

Let’s compare the passing patterns of Rooney in a 4-3-3. Being in a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 isn’t a simple case of Rooney looking to be attacking himself or creative, respectively. In a 4-3-3, he contributes more to the build-up play. His creative passes generally go out to the wings, and are unlikely to be assists because of that. We can see here that Rooney generally tries to drop deep and distribute his passing out wide: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/1w5aHWX02c03bR2Y0r1y

The difference between Rooney in a 4-3-3 and a 4-4-2 is seen best in the home game against Aston Villa, where we started with a 4-3-3, only for Michael Owen to come on at half time and force a switch to a 4-4-2. In the first half, Rooney make very few passes into the box:http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/014Ht58S3C2iVf6V324b

But in the second half, he puts far more balls directly into the penalty area: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/4N3N9BkD5ZRYt2s4QQ85

Arguably Rooney is therefore more ‘creative’ in a 4-4-2 as he is looking to set other players up – the difference is that he does not contribute to the overall build-up play as much.

All this still points to Berbatov surely being able to fulfil this duty. So what’s the problem? Well, let’s take a look at his passing.

Against Blackburn, the most obvious thing to point out is that Berbatov’s passing is generally a lot shorter than Rooney’s. When Berbatov plays up front on his own, we can see here that he generally takes the short option. And crucially, unlike Rooney, he almost never passes the ball from the centre out wide – the wings have been the basis of our creativity this season, as we have become a team that does everything best, defensively and offensively, out wide. He does not compensate in other ways either – only four of his passes are into the box, and these are all around the perimeter: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/3P1M5I19GB4J8K836k0t

Against Chelsea is even more astonishing – the same is true, but the sheer number of passes Berbatov makes, as the focal point of a team who was on the pitch for 90 minutes, is astonishing. He failed to impose himself on the game and had a lower pass completion rate:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/89K3u7m5323E73Kh63xj

Ultimately, Berbatov again takes the safe option – but in a game where we had little posession, we needed to use it when we had it in as dangerous a manner as possible. Whether it is a lack of understanding of the role or a mental problem, we do not know, but it is clear that Berbatov is too eager to play the safe option when thrust up front on his own.

What this also points to, however, is that Berbatov is a very strange sort of player. Generally, the ‘second striker’ will not play a huge amount of passes, but will look to provide key passes that will lead directly to goals. You can have two players who are very good at passing, but will still be very different – a classic example would be Sneijder and Xavi, or our own Giggs (playing in the centre) and Scholes. Whilst the former will play farther forward, and generally contribute a lot more assists, the latter will generally have a better range of passing, and make a lot more passes but look to keep play ticking over and take control of the game. Berbatov is unique in that he appears to be a hybrid – he plays very far forward, but he also, if you watch him, actually contributes very few ‘defence-splitting’ passes – his game is generally to keep attacking play ticking over, to keep posession in tight situations, and to generally keep play progressing without necessarily providing the killer move.

Having said that, against all but the best opposition, we still tended to play well without Rooney when we played with two strikers, Berbatov and a goalscorer like Macheda or Owen. With both unlikely to be injured at the same point next season, and the addition of the prolific Hernandez, this will hopefully be a problem which we will avoid next season.

The United striker hopes the rest he has had will reinvigorate him for the World Cup in South Africa this Summer.

England odds are currently 11/1 on Partybets World Cup to end 44 years of hurt since lifting the trophy in 1966, and that is due in no small part to Rooney’s fantastic form for Manchester United.

“Of course I always want to score, but if it doesn’t happen I’m glad it’s in a friendly and not in the World Cup,” he said. “Hopefully I’m saving them up for South Africa.

“It has been a long season for everyone and, of course, players can feel jaded. But I’m quite fortunate because I haven’t trained a lot in the last six weeks.

“I will have another full week’s training in Austria and I felt good against Mexico.

“I had a bit of a stiff neck after the match, but that should pass. Fingers crossed, my break out injured this season will be of benefit during the World Cup.

“I have trained in every session with England and there is no problem with my ankle. You have to hold back sometimes in tackles in training. It can be difficult, but you must be careful not injure yourself or your teammates.”

The reds striker collected the 2010 Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year award on Thursday to add to his growing number of personal accolades, but he believes his best is yet to come.

“I am only 24. Hopefully I can progress and the best years are still ahead of me,” he said.

“I am always learning every day, and take things in from all my team-mates, both at United and with England.

“As a player you are never the finished article. I want to keep learning and getting better.”

The Old Trafford club lost their Premier League crown this weekend,following a season dogged by injuries and an over reliance on Wayne Rooney to provide the goals.

United winger Giggs believes they need to share the goals around the team if they’re going to succeed next season.

We need to be scoring more goals from different areas and from different players, even though as a team we scored more than we did last season.

‘We were also better defensively this season than last, but we can’t rely on Wayne as much as we have done this season in terms of goals.

‘It was unfortunate for us that Wayne got injured at a really important part of the season, because we’d relied on his goals more or less throughout it. So to get to the business part of the season and not have him, then to have him for one game without him having really trained, wasn’t ideal.

‘But whether the manager does or doesn’t bring in any other strikers this summer, the other players know we need to score more. Whether that’s defenders coming up for corners or midfielders chipping in, we all need to contribute a lot more.’

The PFA Player of the Year wants a return to the treble winning side of 1999 which featured four top strikers. Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer combined to make history by winning the treble that year, and Rooney believes United need similar firepower if they’re going to challenge next year.

The champions look set to lose their crown today, where a win for Chelsea against Wigan at Stamford Bridge would see them win the title by 1 point, if United beat Stoke at Old Trafford.

“If we can bring in two big-name players in it would give us a good chance of getting the league back if Chelsea do win it,” he told The People.

“If you look at the team in 1999 that won the treble we had four forwards, all capable of scoring goals.

“Now there is me, Berbatov and Michael Owen. There is Federico Macheda too, but if we can get one more top forward in it would give us the right balance.”

Rooney’s thoughts will be echoed by the Old Trafford faithful, who feel Dimitar Berbatov has not proven to be worthy of his price tag. While the Bulgarian forward hasn’t been as a big a flop as many claim, he certainly hasn’t quite lived up to expectations, particularly when asked to lead the line in the absence of Wayne Rooney.

Federico Macheda will undoubtedly get more game time next season as Sir Alex Ferguson continues to oversee his development. And Mame Biram Diouf should get plenty of games under his belt too. There’s also new signing Javier Hernandez to come into the fold, while Danny Welbeck may also be in contention after returning from his loan spell. And Michael Owen rounds off the list, however it’s unclear how big a role he can play next season after undergoing surgery.

United are not short of strikers by any means, but Sir Alex may feel he needs a clinical proven goalscorer who can ease the burden on Rooney to win games.

A groin injury looks to have put an end to his actions this season, but his 34 goals have helped United fight for the Premier League title after losing Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

Rooney was joined in the team of the year by fellow United players Patrice Evra, Darren Fletcher and Antonio Valencia.

The Manchester United striker has scored an incredible 34 goals this season, including 26 league goals and has been the key figure in United’s title challenge.

Rooney is considered to be the favourite to win the award, but faces stiff competition from Chelsea‘s Didier Drogba and Arsenal‘s Cesc Fabregas.

PFA Player of the Year nominees:

Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

Carloa Tevez (Man City)

Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)

Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

PFA Young Player of the Year Nominees:

Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

James Milner (Aston Villa)

Joe Hart (On loan at Birmingham)

Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)

The in form striker has spearheaded United’s attack this season, scoring 24 goals in the process. He has become crucial to United’s style of play and will be a massive boost to Sir Alex if he’s able to name him on the team sheet this Saturday.

Rooney aggravated an injury playing against Bayern munich a week ago, after defender Daniel Van Buyten deliberately targetted his ankle.

But Sir Alex insists the injury isn’t severe and is certain Rooney will be able to take to the pitch against City this weekend.

“It’s not serious and I think he will be ready for the City game,” Ferguson said.

The former striker, once voted the world’s best player, had his own career cut short due to a recurring ankle injury, and he was shocked to see Wayne Rooney play on Wednesday despite clearly not being fully fit.

“When I saw Rooney limping against Bayern in the first few minutes I was begging for him to be substituted.

“I still cannot believe why Alex Ferguson, who I rate highly as a manager, did not take him off. I’ve been where Rooney was. I know what it is like. If your ankle is damaged and you get another heavy tackle on it the pain is always with you.

“It can do more damage, and a great striker needs to feel free of pain, if you want him to perform.

“I was watching every step Rooney took on the pitch.

“After hurting his ankle so badly again in the early minutes, I could see quite clearly that he spent the rest of his time walking on his heels. That means pain.

“A top-class striker normally plays up on his toes, so he can sprint or go for every ball that falls in his direction.”

Ferguson’s decision to persist with an injured Wayne Rooney suggests a complete lack of faith in backup striker Dimitar Berbatov. Does Sir Alex’s lack of faith mean he would rather risk Wayne Rooney’s long term career rather than play the Bulgarian in an important match?

1. Robbie Fowler celebrates in front of Manchester United fans, showing his  fingers to symbolize their success in Europe. No punishment. Gary Neville kisses the United badge on his shirt in front of Liverpool fans. Fined £5,000 and warned about his future conduct.

2. Steven Gerrard and Neil Mellor sent off in the 2003 Amsterdam tournament. No bans are handed out to the two Liverpool players. Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes are sent off in the 2006 Amsterdam tournament. Both players are forced to sit out the first 3 games of the Premier League season as the FA bans them for the red cards.

3. Javier Mascherano swings an arm at Leeds’ Jermaine Beckford, leaving the striker on the floor. No action was taken by the FA. Weeks later, Rio Ferdinand is involved in an identical incident with Hull’s Craig Fagan. He was banned for 3 games, which was extended to 4 games on appeal.

Today’s decision by the FA to let Steven Gerrard walk free just compounds the problem.

The FA have consistently shown that they’re completely incompetent and incapable of applying the rules properly. And that they continually like to ban Manchester United players while letting Liverpool players off with the exact same offences, and I haven’t even gone into his two fingered salute to the referee last week, another offence he got away with!

Is it so wrong to expect them to actually do their jobs and apply the rules?

United currently share the record of 18 league titles with their Merseyside rivals, but are in contention to win number 19 this season, thanks to the form of the Liverpool born forward.

“I’ve always felt the league is the most important one to win, but especially this year. If we do that it will be four on the run, which no one has done before.”

“And we would go above Liverpool’s number of titles so to do it this year would be a big, big moment for everyone at the club.”

The champions have suffered unprecedented injuries this term, at one point having eight senior defenders injured and having to play Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher in central defence, but Rooney believes the squad has coped well with the injuries and has enough quality to get over the finish line ahead of Chelsea.

“We’ve had some injuries but those who have come in have done good jobs. We definitely have a strong enough squad.”

Last season’s title win finally silenced the dippers and threw their famous banner back in their faces. It read, “Au revoir Cantona, come back when you’ve won 18″.

United won number 18, and after winning the Carling Cup a few weeks ago became the most domestically successful club in England.

The Manchester United striker has struggled to force his way into Sir Alex Ferguson‘s starting line up this season, partly because of the form of team mate Wayne Rooney, and partly because the united boss has often opted to play a 4-5-1 formation with no room for a second striker.

“He is one of the best English goalscorers of all-time but if he doesn’t play, I cannot pick him,” the England manager told The Telegraph.

Only a few days ago I wrote 5 reasons why Michael Owen was a poor signing. Rightly or wrongly, his inability to break into the first team on a consistent basis has made it impossible for Capello to select him. And with Rooney showing no signs of ending his scoring spree, it looks as though Owen may be watching the World Cup from his settee.

With 27 goals already, Rooney is enjoying his most prolific season in a United shirt and is hoping his form continues to the end of the season. He did admit though that it’s frustrating being substituted when chasing a hat trick, but that he understands the manager’s reasons for doing so.

“I am just enjoying playing and scoring goals,” he told Sky Sports.

“Hopefully it continues but I have never really set targets.”

Asked if it’s frustrating to be brought off, he said: “A little bit but you can understand the manager’s thinking and I’ve no problems with that tonight.”

Rooney also praised fellow goalscorer Michael Owen, who scored United’s third after replacing Dimitar Berbatov. The former Liverpool and Newcastle striker has made just two starts since scoring a hat trick away to Wolfsburg in the Champions League, but Rooney still believes he’ll have a big part to play in the title run in and in Europe.

“It was a great run and great finish and I’m pleased for him because he hasn’t played a lot of football, especially over the last few months, but he showed what he can do.

“He’ll be a big player for us between now and the end of the season. We know what he gives to the team and he’s a great player for us.”

After missing out on last season’s Carling Cup final victory against Tottenham through illness, Rooney is hoping Sir Alex names him in his squad to face Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday.

“Obviously I missed it last year because I was a bit ill before the game so I didn’t play but hopefully I can play this year,” he said.

1. He isn’t playing enough

We were led to believe Owen would be used sparingly. His injury record over the last few years has made Louis Saha look like the Iron Man, so Sir Alex was expected to rest Owen’s aging legs as often as he could. The problem is he’s barely used at all. Since scoring a hat trick against Wolfsburg he’s found his way into the starting line up twice. That’s twice in 16 games. For a player Sir Alex expected would score 15 goals this season, he simply hasn’t been used enough.

2. He makes no impact off the bench

For a player touted as having “a goal in him”, he rarely makes an impact when brought on as a substitute. The ‘impact sub’ role has been his this season, with Sir Alex throwing him on towards the end of games because of his fox in the box abilities and a tendency to be in the right place at the right time. We haven’t seen this though. Apart from THAT goal against Manchester City in injury time at Old Trafford he’s been largely ineffective as a sub.

3. He doesn’t do enough for the team

Some of the top strikers in the world like Fernando Torres need not contribute anything to the build up play of attacking moves. Their ability to get themselves on the end of the move is what keeps them in a job and it more than makes up for their deficiencies in other areas. Michael Owen used to be one of those players, but not anymore. He contributes nothing to the build up play, and rarely finishes off our attacking moves. His finishing ability has been on show sporadically, but not often enough. An argument could be made that he’s not getting enough playing time, and it’s a point of view I happen to share, but you have to put yourself in the shoes of the manager who watches Owen in training everyday and if he isn’t seeing enough quality to put him in the starting line up then we have to trust his judgement.

4. The gamble failed

Ferguson took a risk in signing Michael Owen. His injury record has been bad over the last few years as I mentioned above, so anyone willing to sign him was putting their neck on the line. As it happened we signed him on a pay as you play basis, so the risk is relatively low in monetary terms, but it’s not risk free in terms of how it affects the team. You could argue that even if he scored no goals this season it wouldn’t matter as there was no transfer fee and no signing on fee, but you’d be wrong. What if signing Owen prevented us bringing in a better striker? If Owen wasn’t here, the chances are that Danny Welbeck wouldn’t have been sent on loan to Preston and he’d be our impact sub instead, gaining valuable game time and training with the senior team on a regular basis. Instead, he’s stuck in the Championship with Preston North End.

5. Fergie made a mistake

It’s rare, but it happens. From Kleberson and Liam miller, to Veron and the Djemba twins. Sir Alex has been known to make mistakes in the transfer market. Although it looks like Owen was signed with the best of intentions, it now appears that it was a mistake to sign him. Owen wanted to prove himself and break into the World Cup squad for the Summer in South Africa. Fergie wanted a decent back up striker for Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov. For whatever reason, neither will be satisfied with the current situation. Barring an injury crisis of epic proportions, Owen has zero chance of boarding a plane with the rest of Fabio Capello’s men this Summer, and Sir Alex doesn’t have an able backup to Rooney.

Disclaimer: I’d be fecking delighted if this article was thrown back in my face in May after Owen scores the winning goal in the European Cup final. Unfortunately that’s very unlikely.

The Manchester United striker scored his 21st league goal of the season yesterday in the demolition of Portsmouth, and is in the form of his life. And Ancelotti believes Rooney is improving with each performance.

“United are using Rooney very well in this moment. Every game he proves his quality. He’s a fantastic, fantastic player.

“I am surprised because he never drops, he always improves his performance.

“It’s a good thing not only for Manchester United, but also for the national team because to have Rooney in this condition is very important for England at the World Cup.

“Is he the best in the world at the moment? I think yes. At the moment he’s the most decisive player in the world.”

The England striker has suffered from inconsistency in the past, but has this season emerged as a consistent goalscorer, having netted 20 league goals already.

“Hopefully we are now seeing him mature into the centre-forward we always thought he would be,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“Young players develop in stages. I said last season that he was producing bursts here and there, scoring for four or five games and then having dry spells.

“But that’s what you expect from maturity. I think we are now seeing a more mature player.”

The England striker has been in inspired form this season, netting 20 league goals so far, and Giggs believes Rooney can only get better.

“He is getting nearer that group,” he said. “You have seen it for England and for us on the bigger stages. That is what all the top players do.

“The best thing is that Wayne is still developing. He is 24 now but he is only going to get better.

“His appetite is strong and he is a great player to have in your team.”

The Welshman believes his team mate still causes problems for defenders, even when he’s not at his best and that’s what sets him apart from most centre forwards.

“Even if he is not playing well he still causes problems for the other team,” he added. “That is a very rare quality.

“Even with players who are genuine match-winners, if they are not playing so well, normally you don’t see them.

“But if Wayne is not having the best of games, which is not very often, he never gives up.

“He believes he is going to create chances. He believes he will get them and he believes he is going to score goals.

“More often than not, he does.”

The company are claiming £4.3million in unpaid commission and the case has pened the books of the wealth of Rooney and wife Coleen.

At the time the claim was begun, Rooney was earning £90,000-a-week with Manchester United, as well as £760,000 a month from his image rights.

Nike were also paying him £1million a year, EA Sports £200,000 a year and Coca Cola £600,000 a year.

The figures were revealed on the first day of a three week hearing between Proactive Sports Management and the Rooney’s and Paul Stretford, Rooney’s agent, at Manchester Mercantile Court.

PSM claim the £4.3 million is owed for commission earned while Stretford was still working for them, but the Rooney’s refused to pay after Stretford quit to start his own agency.

The Rooney’s claim they’re being exploited because of their celebrity status.

Wayne and Coleen are expected to give evidence next week.

The striker is in the form of his life at the moment, and is hoping the easy win away to Arsenal will spur them on to retain the title.

“I hope we can kick on and win the title,” Rooney told The Mirror. “We’ve won the last three and nobody’s won four in a row, so hopefully we can break the record.

“It’s closer this year and more exciting. Chelsea and Arsenal are there. Liverpool have struggled but are a quality team and will be competing at the end of the season.”

“Wayne is clearly unstoppable right now,” said Evra.

“He has developed and understood that his job is to score goals. He channels his energies more and stays in the penalty area.”

Evra attributes much of Rooney’s form to the fact that Cristiano is no longer in the team, thus allowing Rooney to step out of his shadow.

“The fact that Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer with us has truly given him freedom.

“He has increased responsibilities, particularly in attack. Sometimes it is down to him alone to decide matches for us, but we are not dependent on Rooney. You could see that was the case against Arsenal, when our best player was Nani.”

While some ex Chelsea stars like Jason Cundy and idiots like Darren Gough have defended him, most neutral pundits and journalists seem to be in agreement that Fabio Capello should strip Terry of the captain’s armband. Of course if he had any sense of decency he’d have resigned as captain when the stories broke. The man has no shame, but that’s another debate entirely.

Today we’re talking about his potential replacements. The only alternatives touted at the time Terry was appointed were Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard.

Rio is no stranger to controversy, after being handed an eight month ban for missing a drugs test in the 2004/2005 season. It’s hardly in the John Terry catalogue of shame, but it’s a dark spot nonetheless.

Gerrard is no saint either. In December 2008 he was arrested for assaulting a nightclub DJ for refusing to play a Phil Collins song. CCTV coverage showed Gerrard attack the man without provocation, but a jury somehow found him not guilty.

If Terry does indeed lose the captaincy, neither Ferdinand or Gerrard are being tipped to replace him. Instead, striker Wayne Rooney is at the top of many people’s lists to lead England to the World Cup in South Africa.

In recent seasons he has sacrificed himself for the Manchester United team, at times performing a thankless task out on the left wing for European away games, allowing Ronaldo to hog all of the limelight. But since the Portugueser moved to Real Madrid in the Summer Rooney has finally stepped out of his shadow.

Whilst not always playing well in the early months of the season, he became a clinical goal poacher to make up for it. As the season has gone on he has added all of the other elements to his game that make him such a joy to watch. He has developed into the complete striker, capable of dropping deep and playing the creative role we’re used to seeing him in, as well as getting himself in the box at the right time to spearhead United’s attacks.

England boss Capello had spoken of his desire to see Rooney play in a more advanced role and it looks like the absence of Ronaldo has forced Sir Alex Ferguson‘s hand, allowing Rooney to grow into one of the best strikers in the world on current form.

His leadership skills are there for all to see. He leads by example with his hard work and dedication, and has the quality to inspire those around him.

He is not squeaky clean either, it has to be said. But after getting married and becoming a father he seems to have done something that John Terry will never do. Wayne Rooney has grown up.

He is the best person to take over from John Terry, should the Chelsea defender resign in disgrace or be stripped of the captaincy in even more disgrace.

Many will say England would lose a great leader. I say they’ll be gaining a superstar who will thrive under the pressure of leading England to glory.

The Welshman has long been one of United’s most exciting players, with blistering pace and fancy footwork.

He would reap the benefits of the passing ability of the likes of Paul Scholes and David Beckham, but now classes himself as a creator rather than a runner.

“I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded with good players throughout my career,” he told Esquire magazine.

“In my younger days when I was quicker, if Eric got the ball I’d make a run. If Scholesy got the ball, I’d make a run. If Becks got the ball, I’d make a run. I knew they could deliver a pass. Now, it’s the other way around because I deliver to the other players.”

Giggs also praised team mate Wayne Rooney who is currently in the form of his career.

“If Wayne makes a run, I know where he is going more often than not because he’s such an intelligent player. He shows me where to put the ball, rather than the other way round.

“He’s got unbelievable physical attributes. He’s strong, he’s quick but he’s also a very clever footballer.”

Rooney’s best position was thought to be in “the hole” behind a centre forward. Henry believes Rooney has always had the ability to be a central striker, but his all action performances have meant he’s arrived in the box out of breath and his scoring rate has suffered as a result.

‘People were having a go at him before because he wasn’t scoring,’ said Henry, who scored 174 Premier League goals,’ Henry told the Daily Mail.

‘But how can he score when he was running like a nutter to get the ball? When he was arriving in the final third he was not fresh enough to finish, and this year you see the difference. If he stays up there for 10 years, he will score goals for 10 years.’

“I thought Rooney was much better today than he was on Saturday (against Hull City), and yet he scored four goals on Saturday,” he told Sky Sports.

“His control, leading of the line and penetration was absolutely fantastic. It was a true world-class performance.”

The United boss believes the atmosphere contributed to the game.

“The atmosphere tonight, and the fact it was a semi-final tie, added a lot of spice to the match.

“And the fact we scored so late in the game brought a special type of celebration.”

“Nothing really happened in the first half. They sat very deep.

“What we said at half-time was to keep playing our football and keep spreading our play.

“I am proud of the team. I also must pay tribute to our support. They were unbelievable.”

“Everyone is very happy. It’s great to be top of the table and it has given everyone a lot of confidence.

“We’re playing well, scoring goals and feeling good.

“The match against City will be very hard, but it’s great that we have someone like Wayne Rooney, who is in good form and feeling confident.

“It’s great to see one of your strikers score four goals and it gives everyone confidence because we know we have someone who can score goals in every match.

“I’m sure that it will be a fantastic atmosphere against City and I would love to be involved. Hopefully we can get the win.”

United’s financial woes have prompted wildly speculative stories about the future of the England striker, but he has moved quickly to reassure United fans that he’s here to stay.

“There’s always speculation, and when other big teams are talking about you, it’s nice that you’re talked about,” Rooney told Manchester United’s official website. “But as I’ve said many times before, I’m a United player and I’m very happy here.”

“I hope we can win the title again this year. We’ve won the league the last three years and nobody has ever won it four times in a row. We want to create history.

“The title race is much tighter this year and it’s probably more exciting for the neutrals or fans around the country. But we’re hoping that now we are top we can go on and remain there for the rest of the season.”

United scored early through Wayne Rooney and then spurned several chances to secure the points throughout the first half.

Nani was in fine form and created numerous chances for Michal Owen and Rooney, but they went in at half time just 1-0 in front.

The second half was no different. United dominating play while Hull only threatened from set pieces. HOwever, united’s profligate finishing meant hull still had one foot in the game. It took until late on to grab the second goal.

Rooney was again the scorer as he thrashed the ball past the helpless Craig Fagan. And it was Rooney to complete his hat trick minutes later after an inch perfect cross from Nani.

He grabbed a fourth in extra time after berbatov’s vision set him up beautifully. Despite the attention of three defenders, Rooney showed his excellent finishing ability to round off the scoring.

It was a comprehensive victory for United and they’ll be happy to be top of the league again, albeit having played a game more.

Special mention to the fans who were magnificent with their anti-Glazer chants.

Rooney has repeatedly been tipped for a £60 million move to the Bernabeu stadium recently to follow his old team mate Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Sun says Madrid have brought in super agent Pini Zahavi to get the deal done, and have quoted an unnamed source close to him.

“Zahavi has been told to do all he can to try to bring Rooney to the Bernabeu. The club are confident a deal can be done.”

So is there any truth to this? It would appear not. I would guess it’s just a typical tabloid picking up on United’s financial woes and letting their imaginations run wild.

The Argentine labrador impersonator has been in good goalscoring form recently and that has prompted De Jong to claim that Tevez is a better forward than the likes of Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba.

“It isn’t just about the goals he is scoring at the moment. Even before that his work rate and determination for the team made him a special player for us,” he told Sky Sports.

“Now the goals have started to come, I’d have to say that he’s the best forward in the league at the moment.

“Rooney is a fantastic player as well but, for me, Carlos has the edge.

“I know people will think I have to say that because he is a team-mate but Carlos is on fire at the moment. I wouldn’t swap him for anyone else.”

No Nigel. I don’t think you said that jus because he’s your team mate. It’s pretty obvious that the delusion of the fans spreads to the players.

The Senegalese striker came from Molde, the same Norwegian club that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came from, and Diouf emulated the United legend by scoring on his debut.

“It feels good to score in my first game here,” he told MUTV.

“I was nervous for the first two or three minutes but then you forget about all the people in the stands and you do your job.”

“I’m just going to work hard and do my best and we’ll see when the manager needs me. I’ll be ready, though.

“I want to give my best for my new team and be ready when they need me. I’ll work hard in training, never give up and be ready for the next chance that comes along.”

He believes he can learn a lot by playing alongside United’ senior strikers, Michael Owen, Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney.

“I’m sure I can learn [by playing alongside Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov],” he said.

“They are top players, some of the best in the world. They’ve done so much in football and in this league so I’m going to try and learn a lot.”

He celebrated his debut by scoring against Burnley after coming on as a late substitute and that can only be good news for the future.

Antonio Valencia had floated a long ball up towards him and he was able to head in past Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen to make the score 3-0 to United.

He’ll have tough competition though if he wants to become a starter at Old Trafford. Rooney continued his excellent goalscoring form today and Dimitar Berbatov also got on the score sheet.

Michael Owen – with 5 goals in his last 5 starts – will also provide competition, but has seemingly fallen out of favour with Sir Alex following his hat trick against Wolfsburg.

The so-called “controversy” occurred when defender Scott Dann put the ball into his own net from a Patrice Evra cross.

The linesman initially flagged Wayne Rooney offside, but referee Mark Clattenburg over ruled his assistant because Rooney didn’t actually touch the ball.

The fact that seems to have been missed is that Rooney was at no point standing in an offside position, so even if it was him that got the final touch on the ball, the linesman would have been completely wrong to raise his flag.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a bad decision, but it’s a stupid law and a stupid rule. The linesman flagged for Rooney being offside but because he never touched it, it doesn’t count.

“If he is not there then Scott Dann doesn’t touch the ball so it’s a stupid rule.”

James McFadden should look at the replays before coming out with such idiotic comments.

All credit to Birmingham for battling for a point, albeit a lucky one, but the growing number of people suggesting we got lucky on Saturday is ridiculous.

You can see the moment Evra played the ball into the box on the image below, and you can notice the Birmingham defender clearly playing Rooney onside.

What’s all the fuss about?

From just reading match reports in the media you’d think we were lucky to come away with a point from St. Andrews yesterday, despite dominating the entire game.

For almost 40 minutes it was constant pressure from us on the Birmingham goal, then they went to the other end and got a bit lucky with their first meaningful attack of the game.

The second half started much as the first did, more United pressure, until eventually it paid off. Patrice Evra drilled a low cross into the 6 yard box and defender Scott Dann turned it into his own net under pressure from Park.

The linesman raised his flag for offside. Birmingham players protested to referee Mark Clattenburg, who then consulted with said linesman before deciding the goal should stand.

The first thing to note is that replays showed that no United player was standing in an offside position when Evra played the ball into the box.

The second thing to note is that the ball came off the Birmingham defender, making any potential offside irrelevant anyway.

The goal was perfectly legitimate, yet countless reports have billed it as a “controversial” goal that “saved” United.

If they simply criticized our lack of cutting edge up front, or lapses in concentration at the back, that would be fine. But to claim we were lucky to escape with a point in a game we dominated from start to finish is an insult to the game.

Antonio Valencia was brought in for £16 million. Gabriel Obertan arrived from Bordeaux for £3 million. Michael Owen signed no a free transfer, while Mame Biram Diouf and Paul Poga’s fees are undisclosed, but thought to be nominal. If you assume Ferguson has been given no extra funds, that leaves around £60 million.

Sir Alex Ferguson has repeated the same mantra since last Summer, that there’s “no value” in the transfer market. But it’s a mantra that’s becoming increasingly hard to believe for many United fans.

Was Ferguson worried about “value” when he signed Dimitar Berbatov for £30.75 million? Or OWen Hargreaves for £17 million? Or Michael Carrick for £18.6 million? Or Rio Ferdinand or Wayne Rooney for around £30 million each?

He has repeatedly broke the bank to secure the signatures of star players in the past and there was never any mention of “value”.

We’re Manchester United, the fee is always higher when we come calling, but we’ve always paid what was required to bring the player to Old Trafford. Why is Ferguson suddenly obsessed with “value”?

My guess, and the guess of many fans, is that the Glazer’s have used the majority of the Ronaldo money to pay off some of the interest on the huge debts they’ve placed on the club and that Ferguson’s budget for new players is close to zero.

But no doubt he’ll keep peddling the same “no value in the market” mantra and hope that some of the more gullible fans believe it.

Where do you think the Ronaldo money has gone?

To my surprise Owen has proved me wrong. He’s shown that he’s still able to be a fox in the box when the need arises, most notably with his injury time winner against the bitters and his hat trick away to Wolfsburg in the Champions League.So surely after proving how clinical he can be, he was certain to be pushing for a regular spot alongside Rooney some time soon? Not according to Fergie, who has only started him once since his hat trick at Wolfsburg.

Apparently Owen isn’t competing with Berbatov for a place, so it doesn’t matter if he scores more than the Bulgarian. Fergie has revealed that Owen is in fact in direct competition with Wayne Rooney for a starting place, thus completely eliminating any chance he ever had of becoming a regular at United. It’s a good job Owen likes coming on as a sub.

“It is difficult to leave out Rooney. That is the thing because I think Owen is identical to Wayne in the position he plays in terms of being further up the pitch, with Berbatov in the team.

“The combinations are more likely to be Berbatov and Owen, or Berbatov and Rooney. Rooney and Owen together, well then you have to have Rooney dropping in, I prefer him up the pitch a bit more, I must admit.”

Wayne Rooney is our best player, meaning Fergie is never going to drop him. Even when he goes through dry spells he never gets dropped because he’s the type of player who can produce something from nothing at any given moment.

It looks like Fergie’s comments could not only end Owen’s chances of becoming a United regular, but could also end his dream of making it into Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad.

I think we can all agree that Berbatov hasn’t hit the heights he did at Spurs yet while wearing a United shirt, but his recent performances suggest he’s finally finding his place in our team.

Fergie has revealed his high hopes for the partnership, claiming their contrasting styles compliment each other well.

“I think the partnership between Berbatov and Rooney is growing, he told the Daily Star Sunday.

“They have a good partnership. I think there is a combination there, between the two.

“I think they are different types of players but they are suited to that combination.”

Fergie added: “There are some partnerships which click right away like Yorke and Cole. That was amazing.

“It just happened. When I brought in Yorkie my thought was maybe playing him with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Or Yorke with Teddy Sheringham.

“My immediate thought was not Cole and Yorke. But when they played together they were unbelievable. They seemed to develop their partnership really quickly.

“It was brilliant. Cole’s form that first year of them being together was terrific. Hopefully this one with Berbatov and Rooney will be the same. It’s bubbling along nicely.

Fergie also said that Berbatov was carrying an injury for a while that may have affected his performances. The threat of surgery would certainly affect the way he played.

“We certainly hope that Berbatov will explode for the second half of the season. He was carrying an injury for a bit and it was affecting his game.

“It was also affecting, his own confi dence about whether he should have an operation. But he’s come through that now and he’s okay. He’s a very good player. A very talented boy.

According to their “unnamed source”, Real Madrid are preparing a 60Million bid to bring Wayne Rooney to the Bernabeu next Summer. The “source” says they will pursue Rooney with the same relentless approach that saw them eventually land Cristiano Ronaldo for a record 80Million last Summer.

“Rooney is the top name on the list for next summer. Madrid will pursue him in the same way they did with David Beckham and Ronaldo. They are always successful and will do what it takes to get Rooney.’’

Funny how these “sources” are always anonymous isn”t it?

He’s currently on 15 goals halfway through the season and with the form he’s in now, you wouldn’t bet against him doubling that total in the second half of the season.

His finishing has improved massively this season, but he’s also been slightly unlucky. He hit the post and the bar on Wednesday night against Wigan and will feel unfortunate not to have scored a hat trick.

14 of his 15 goals this season have come in the league, making him joint top scorer alongside Jermain Defoe and Didier Drogba.

Rooney needs just 8 more to beat his previous best.

“I would hope to beat my best total,” Rooney told FIFA.com.

“If I don’t get another eight goals from now until the end of the season there is something seriously wrong.

“I hit the post before I scored and the bar afterwards. I am doing well and I feel fit. Hopefully that will continue.”

Goals from Dimitar Berbatov as well as an own goal, were enough to see off Hull, but Ferguson also pointed to the returns of Nemanja Vidic and Wes Brown to the defence as being important.

“Today is a step forward for us,” Sir Alex told MUTV. “We’ve got the win which is very important as we’re entering a crucial stage, and we’ve got two of our centre-backs back which will make a big difference to us. And they were absolutely magnificent.”

Sir Alex praised Stoke’s battling performance and the way they attacked United in the early stages.

“We have to give credit to Hull because they got really stuck into us and put tackles in everywhere. They gave a lot of fouls away which that had an affect on our momentum, but you know that games like this away from home will be tough.”

Special praise was reserved for Wayne Rooney, who gifted Hull a goal with a horrible back pass in the second half, but recovered fantastically by creating the second and third goals to seal the points.

“He was a threat all day,” declared Sir Alex. “He’s a natural winner and his desire is inborn. Yes, he made a mistake, but aside from that one bad moment, he was exceptionally good. He would have been more sick than anyone by his mistake, but he’s rectified it in a nice way.”

Rooney was uncharacteristically at fault for United conceding the equalizer yesterday, but his determination to put right his error led to him creating the second and third goals to ensure united took home all three points.

“Wayne did fantastic for us – we were joking in the dressing room that he had three assists to his name!” Berbatov told MUTV.

“He bounced back after their goal and made both the second and third ones which was great.

“If he can keep playing the way we know he can then I don’t think anyone can stop him. He’s still young and the future is ahead of him.”

The striker opened the scoring for United just before half time, but an unusually careless back pass led to youngster Rafael conceding a penalty, which Craig Fagan duely scored.

Rooney then pulled himself together to play a key role in United’s win. It was his cross that forced Andy Dawson to put the ball into his own net. He then play a beautiful pass to Dimitar Berbatov to tap in the third goal and seal the points.

Rooney admits Sir Alex Ferguson could have unleashed the hairdryer is United had not gone home with maximum points and that’s what spurred him on to rectify his mistake.

“Obviously when they got the equaliser it was a mistake by myself and thankfully we got the win, or I don’t think the manager would have been too pleased with me.

“It wasn’t a nice feeling, I didn’t want to let the lads down and at the time it looked like that but it happens and we got the win in the end.”

“We knew it was a big game. We had some good breaks and thankfully we got some goals at the end.

“It was quite open. Hull committed a lot of men forward and it did leave us spaces to counter-attack.”

The Manchester United and England striker had travelled down to London for the West Ham game the following day, but somehow drifted off to sleep watching television.

“I was asleep until 10pm,” he told Sky Sports.

“We got the train down to London and got to the hotel about 5pm.

“I lay down on my bed to watch television.

“I fell asleep and didn’t find out what the draw was until five hours later.”

Having seen the draw, Rooney is confident England will progress from their group, but singled out the USA as their toughest opponent.

“It was a good draw. I saw USA beat Spain in the Confederations Cup. That will be the difficult game,” he continued.

“I don’t know too much about Algeria but I’m sure the manager will have loads of information for us before the game.”

The Manchester United striker often has a run of games without scoring, then scores is several games in a row.

Phelan believes the frustration from Rooney’s latest barren run prompted the hat trick he scored last weekend and hopes more goals are to come.

“Yes, he was a bit frustrated,” Phelan told ESPN.

“He sets good targets for himself, targets he wants to hit. But he is a great character to have around the football club.

“His work-rate never wanes and you can count on one hand the number of games he has not played to his best.”

“We would hope Wayne can score a hat-trick in every game. It’s good for us and him.

“He is a determined character. And when Wayne is scoring goals it means this football team is doing well.”

The striker insists he wouldn’t want a World Cup winners medal if it meant sacrificing his Manchester United medal haul.

“With all the trophies I’ve won so far, it’s involved so much hard work from myself and my team-mates, so I’d never give them away for anything,” Rooney told the Mirror.

“But to win a World Cup would be an unbelievable feeling.”

Rooney believes Fabio Capello has a genuine chance of bringing the World cup back to England and it’s his attention to detail that makes him stand out as a manager.

“He’s a great manager,” said Rooney. “On the training pitch, if he sees anything, instead of carrying on the session, he’ll stop everything.

“Then he’ll go over it time and time again until he gets the small details right. When you get the small details right, then everything else is right.”

Rooney believes England do have a chance of wining the competition in South Africa, but knows that you can be out of it after just one bad game.

“You’d like to hope so, but anything can happen in a tournament,” said Rooney. “You could be flying in all of the games and then out of the competition in the next.

“We have to make sure we get it right and go further than we’ve done in previous years and hopefully try to win something.”

It was Brown who was adjudged to have fouled Rooney, but he insists Rooney admits he slipped over and that it wasn’t a foul.

“Wayne Rooney said to me that he slipped,” Brown told portsmouth.co.uk.

“I’ve watched it on the video and there looks like a tiny bit of contact, but it looks like his right foot goes from underneath him. To me, it looked like he slipped but it’s one of those things.”

The England and Manchester United striker is repeatedly forced in front of the word’s media when on England duty and Sir Alex believes the FA are exploiting him. According to Ferguson, the duty should be shared out with other players.

“Every time England go on a trip, who gets on the television? Wayne Rooney. Every blinking time!” Ferguson said.

“He must get bored answering the same questions, but that’s because of his sponsors and the FA. They love that kind of thing. But it’s not fair on the same player continually having to go on television and do the Press.”

The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid this Summer left United with a 30 goal per season deficit that they had to replace, and Rooney thinks he should be contributing more to the cause.

“I’ve still got a lot to improve on and a lot to learn,” he told The Sun.

“I can score more goals.

“I need to score more goals, particularly now Ronaldo’s gone.”

Rooney has scored 8 goals so far including 7 in the league.

He put in a typical all action performance in Qatar, but couldn’t help a mainly second string England side succumbing to a 1-0 defeat to Brasil.

Rooney admitted England are capable of much better, but the performance didn’t stop him from enjoying captaining the national team.

“It was a great moment for me to lead the side out, something I was really proud of,” Rooney told Sky Sports. “When you are a young kid, you dream of captaining England but never think it will happen.

“Tonight it has happened and I’m proud, and my family will feel the same, but I don’t think it was the best game we have played. We can do a lot better.

“The first half was quite even, but in the second half they were the better side and deserved the victory. We looked tired at the end. We did okay, but we can do better.”

Rooney believes a full strength England team would cause Brazil a lot more problems, and thinks Spain are a better team than the South Americans.

“Can we beat Brazil with a first XI? I think so. It was probably Brazil’s strongest side bar one or two players and we had nine or ten missing.

“That is difficult for any team to overcome, especially against Brazil. At full strength we definitely would give them a better game than tonight.

“Are they the best we’ve faced at international level? I don’t know. I think Spain are better. I didn’t play in that game, but I watched it and Spain were a bit better and created more chances.”

The Argentine international has played alongside the best players in the world for Manchester United and Argentina, including World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.But he says the most complete player he’s played alongside is Wayne Rooney.

“I’ve had the honour of playing with some great players. At United I had Cristiano in my team and, obviously, I have Messi in the national team.

“But the one I like the most is Wayne Rooney. He is very complete, plus we share the same humble origins, though what he experienced growing up in Liverpool was a bit more bearable than mine in Fuerte Apache!”

Mr. Penalty twisted his ankle in training yesterday blocking a shot from Jemaine Jenas and will not play “unless he is 100% fit”. This will allow Rooney to take the first step towards becoming the long term England captain in the future.

Fabio Capello has likened Rooney to Pele, Beckenbauer Platini and Maradona by insisting he will shine with the captain’s armband.

“He is ready to be a captain,” said Capello. “When you choose who is to be captain you look at who is a leader in the dressing room or who is a leader on the pitch. For me that’s really important. Rooney is always a leader on the pitch. In the dressing room he’s still young. Less there. But he can be. The captain is John Terry. The vice-captain is Rio [Ferdinand]. They are good in the dressing room and on the pitch but now we need one leader on the pitch. That’s why I will choose Rooney if Terry does not play.

“Why not? I remember the best players in the world – Pelé, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Platini – were captains, no? They scored goals, too. So why not? You have to be a leader on the pitch and all the best players were captains. They were also captains of the national teams. Maradona is another example. Rooney was not the only one who was not happy but he will be focused for this game because he will be the captain of the national team.”

As a youngster, he watched the likes of Romario and Ronaldo unlocking defences and scoring wonder goals and believes Ronaldo could be the best forward ever.

‘I don’t look much like a Brazilian,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘But playing against them is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid.

“They’ve had so many great players. Romario, Ronaldo. I think Ronaldo was one of the best, if not the best, forward ever. When he was at Barcelona, the things he did were incredible. I remember that time when he went clean through, did four stepovers and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way — that was one of the best goals I’ve seen.

“In more recent years we’ve seen Ronaldinho and Kaka, who have both been world player of the year. They’re unbelievable at times.”

He played down the skillful side of his own game when questioned, and insists it’s not something he practices in training.

“I’m happy when people say I play like a Brazilian because I love the way Brazilians play, but there are other players who are a lot more skilful than me in the England team. Joe Cole, for example. I never really work on skills. If it happens in a game, it just happens. I don’t really try to be skilful.”

The Liverpool born striker is enjoying life at Old Trafford and aims to extend his contract in the coming months to prolong his stay with the Champions.

“I feel good,” he told the Daily Mail. “I’m playing for one of the biggest teams in the world, I’m here preparing to play for England against Brazil and I have just become a father. Things couldn’t get much better.”

“It’s nice to be noticed, but I’m really happy at United and, unless they tell me otherwise, I can’t see myself leaving. I’ve got two years left after this year on my contract so I’m sure we’ll be negotiating a new deal in the next few months. But I love the place. It’s 30 minutes from home and all my family and I’ve got a great chance of winning more trophies.”

The England midfielder was speaking to Zoo magazine about which players would be likely to earn a place in Brazil’s starting line up.

“I’m certain they’d look at some because we’ve got top, top players, who are some of the best in the world,” said Lampard.

“You’re talking about Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. Those guys could be compared to any player in the world and I’m absolutely sure Brazil would want them in their team.”

He was then quizzed on who he believes to be England’s best player and the answer was unequivocal. Wayne Rooney.

“I would say Wayne Rooney, because he’s the one who can make special things happen. He can create and score goals out of nothing.”

England take on Brazil on Saturday 14th November in Qatar.

The referee – Martin Atkinson – made a series of poor decisions over the course of the 90 minutes which swung the game in Chelsea’s favour, and Rooney was seen mouthing the words “twelve men” at cameras as he left the pitch.

The Manchester United striker will not face any punishment for making the comment, but could face sanctions for any similar incidents in future.

Given the newspapers lack of accuracy with transfer stories, this move seems a very unlikely one.

Rooney has recently expressed his desire to emulate United legend Ryan Giggs by staying at United for the rest of his career, so it would appear that one of two possibilities are correct:

• The News of the World were experiencing a slow news day.

• The author – Chris Bascombe, former writer for Kop Magazine – is a bitter Kopite stirring shit ahead of today’s game at Stamford Bridge between United and Chelsea.

“I have always said I would love to end my career at this club,’ the England striker told MUTV. ‘If I can get anywhere near what Ryan has done it would be an amazing achievement because I regard him as the perfect role model.

“You must have great respect for the way his life is and the way he handles himself. The things he has done throughout his career and the things he has won are unbelievable.

“Everyone looks up to him and if I even get close to the number of games he has played I would be delighted.”

While it may be an admirable goal, Rooney still has some way to go before getting close to Giggs. His 252 appearances pale in comparison to Giggs’ 815, and his 3 league titles are some way short of the Welshman’s 11.

Nevertheless, his pledge of loyalty will be received well on the stands and if possible; elevate him even higher from the hero status he currently enjoys at the club.

Kai Wayne Rooney was born at 14:20 GMT at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, according to the couple’s spokesperson.

“Mother and baby are both absolutely fine,” the spokesman told the Press Association.

“Wayne and Coleen are thrilled with the wonderful addition to their family life.”