FOR several weeks now, Alex Ferguson has used the 42 goal-mark as a carrot for Wayne Rooney to strive for but yesterday he admitted that the striker really could match Cristiano Ronaldo’s haul of two years ago.
Rooney scored twice in the comprehensive defeat of Fulham to take his tally to 32 for the season and Ferguson feels that the remaining games in the Premier League and Champions League offer his forward the chance to beat the Portuguese’s tally.
He said: "I said a while ago it’s impossible for a player to get 42 in the present day but he’s on 32, what can I say? It’s a challenge for him, he is capable of scoring in the next eight league games and possibly five European games so he’s got 13 games possibly and you never know.
"I won’t put it beyond him but I’m just happy he got over the 30 mark and we’re enjoying his form at the moment."
Just as pleasing for Ferguson was a third straight clean sheet in the Premier League and the United manager feels that keeping Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Edwin van der Sar in shape is vital to his hopes of securing a record fourth straight league title.
"I keep praying I can keep that back four together, with the experience they’ve got and Van der Sar’s experience will give us a massive chance," Ferguson added.
"You have to think about goal difference. At this moment we’re four goals ahead of Chelsea and I wish it was 14. It’s something that’s in our advantage."
Rooney, himself, is adamant that overhauling Ronaldo’s feat is not on his list of priorities but he was able to reflect on what he felt was another crucial victory.
"Being honest it wouldn’t mean a lot to me and it’s not something I’ve looked at," he said. It’s nice to score goals and I want to score goals in every game but what Cristiano achieved is unbelievable but I’m a different person and a different player so I’m not comparing myself to him.
"We knew it was a big game for us and we had to win. We’re confident and playing well, we have had a job to do and we’ve done that."
The Fulham manager Roy Hodgson was left to count the cost of a chest injury to Brede Hangeland that could keep the Norwegian defender out of his team’s Europa League last 16 second leg against Juventus on Thursday.
And refreshingly the veteran manager was not about to get involved in yesterday’s Rooney-fest.
"I think it’s fairly pointless for me to waste everyone’s time here by saying that I think Wayne Rooney is an excellent player because you can get that from the man in the pub," Hodgson said.
"What difference does it make if the man in the pub says he’s good or Roy Hodgson says he’s good? It’s the same thing. We don’t have that sort of money to spend anyway."
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, March 15, 2010
