Moyes’ young guns shoot down rueful Rooney

AFTER his stellar performances of recent weeks, it took an off-day for Wayne Rooney to really show the alarming level of Manchester United’s reliance on their talisman.

Of course the work-rate and desire were there but with less than an hour gone, he was already showing the signs of frustration he is supposed to have stamped out, throwing his arms and screaming at his team-mates as yet another attack did not even result in Tim Howard being worked.

Alex Ferguson has dismissed any suggestion of Rooney burning out over the next few weeks, with a World Cup to worry about in four weeks, but the manager’s acknowledgement that there is tiredness in his ranks must be a major concern. Poor old Dimitar Berbatov must he exhausted.