RVP brings out best in Rooney

Manchester United dropped points yesterday but the maturity that Wayne Rooney is demonstrating is worth a great deal to the Reds, says Ralph Ellis.

 

It might just be one of the season's most significant moments. Wayne Rooney trotted to the sidelines, shook hands with Ryan Giggs, took a bench coat and just went and sat down.

 

He had been having a stinker at Swansea yesterday. All the effort was there, the runs, the chasing back - but it was one of those days when the little mascot during the warm-up probably hit more passes to the intended target.

 

Now once upon a time that would have been the cue for a surly, angry end to the afternoon. He might not have risked Fergie's wrath by showing any direct disrespect to his manager, but there would have been plenty of evidence of a strop. Instead he had something of a rueful smile on his face as he watched the last 15 minutes of United's vain attempt to find a winning goal.

 

Afterwards, as the other megastars left the dressing room area and made their way to the team coach for the long journey home, guess who was the only player who stopped to talk to the couple of reporters waiting? Not Patrice Evra, who had scored the goal, or Nemanja Vidic the captain who had made his return from injury; definitely not Ashley Young who walked arrogantly past with his head in the air, or Robin van Persie who did the same.

 

No, it was one Wayne Mark Rooney, who came across with a smile, admitted that, in his words, "I don't think this was a game I'll want to remember", said he couldn't have any complaints about being subbed, and chatted about how he hoped he and United could put it right against Newcastle on Boxing Day. He even wished us a Merry Christmas.

 

It struck me as a little cameo of how he has grown up. When he swore into the camera after scoring at West Ham in April 2011 people questioned why he always seemed to play with a snarl; why he couldn't enjoy his football. Somehow he seems to have taken all that on board and there's a smile there more often now - but without losing the burning desire to win that is an essential part of his make-up.

 

Maybe playing with Van Persie is helping. At the start of the season there were doubts over whether RVP's £24m arrival was a signal for the end of the Rooney years at Old Trafford. It was nine games into the season before Sir Alex Ferguson picked them both in the same starting team.

 

But since then they have grown as a pair and 18 goals between them from the 14 games in which they have both started tells its own story. Van Persie is relishing having a partner who can spot his runs and pick the pass to feed him - after yesterday he's a goal behind Michu, but 2.88 for the Golden Boot is so much value if it was a supermarket it would be labelled "When it's Gone it's Gone".  And although Rooney is a couple off of the pace at the moment, he must be worth a punt at anything up to 8.6 to be in the Premier League top four goalscorers.

 

Meanwhile, come Boxing Day I quite fancy a punt at around even money on Rooney to score against Newcastle. He can't have two games as bad in a row, can he?

 

Bet HERE

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