Rooney vows to end goal drought after slow start to season

Alam Khan - Reporter 03:35 20/08/2015
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  • Frustrated: Rooney.

    Wayne Rooney has vowed to strike back after admitting he has fallen short of his standards this season. A run of nine club games without a goal – 667 minutes, more than 11 hours – dating back to last season, has seen the United captain come under fire.

    It has also left Old Trafford fans concerned over their frontline strength after boss Louis van Gaal made Rooney his main centre-forward following the sale of Robin van Persie and the end of Radamel Falcao’s loan. But Rooney won’t let any criticism bother him.

    — Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) August 18, 2015

    Nor will he be worried about being taken off like he was in Tuesday’s 3-1 Champions League playoff first-leg win over Club Brugge – when his replacement Marouane Fellaini scored in stoppage-time after Memphis Depay’s earlier brace – or like Chelsea captain John Terry was at Manchester City.

    “No, of course not,” said Rooney. “You want to play the games, obviously, but Felly gives us a different style if you like, in terms of getting the ball in the box earlier and try and push for that goal, late doors, which has obviously paid off for us.

    “No, I don’t feel any more pressure. I always set myself standards and I try to reach them.

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    “I understand obviously it’s on me to get the goals, but Memphis has chipped in with two goals, Felly has come on with a goal, and we all have to chip in. But I understand I need to be the one who leads that line for us and try to get the goals for us.

    “I know how to play the role. It’s just a case of getting the chances and taking them, which I’m hopeful I’m going to do soon.

    “I’ve had one bad game this season and everyone’s all over it. I know I’ve had that all throughout my career, but hopefully at the weekend I can get off the mark.”

    That bad game was at Aston Villa last Friday, but Rooney still insists he can reach his target of 20-plus goals in this campaign.

    “Yeah, of course,” added the England skipper, 29. “I’m an honest guy, I know when I haven’t played well and against Aston Villa I was below my standards and I know that.

    “I think obviously I lost the ball too easily a lot of times and I’m aware of that. It’s not a game I’ll want to look back on but obviously you have games like that happening. It’s football, you have nights like that and you have to move on.

    “Fortunately I had a much better game [against Club Brugge], could have got a goal or two, but that’s football. It was a great night for us with the victory and hopefully we can kick on from here.

    “It’s early on in the season. Everyone will write about the end of last season and the beginning of this season, but we’re three games in to the new season so it’s down to me to keep going. But I’ve experienced this before and the goals will come, I know that, and hopefully that day will come on Saturday against Newcastle.”

    Mane in demand

    Meanwhile, Southampton insist Manchester United target Sadio Mane is not for sale. In a surprise development, United sources claimed the club made a bid to sign Mane last week.

    Southampton deny any offer has been submitted for the Senegal winger, but a spokesman for the south-coast club said Mane is “not for sale” anyway.

    Despite making five signings this summer, Van Gaal believes his squad lack pace and creativity, and Mane has both those qualities in abundance.

    Southampton signed the 23-year-old from Red Bull Salzburg last summer for £10million (Dh57m). In his first year at Saints he scored 10 goals in 32 appearances, including the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history in the 6-1 win over Aston Villa.

    The move for the player still comes as something of a surprise, however.

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