Source: telegraph
Wayne Rooney: United must tighten up at back against Chelsea or we will be punished
Twenty-nine goals scored in just 12 matches this season for Manchester
United is an exciting return – not least when, like Wayne Rooney,
you are a vital part of that attacking machine. But it is the 15 conceded
and just three clean sheets that is concerning the United striker as he
heads for the Premier League match away to Chelsea this afternoon.
Beyond that and United have fallen behind in eight of those dozen matches, and
while they have managed to overturn that deficit on six of those occasions –
an admirable enough feat – it is a task that Rooney acknowledged cannot
continue.
“We don’t want to be doing that and against the best teams it will be
difficult to get those goals to win games,” Rooney said. “It happened
against Braga [in the Champions League in midweek] and we did well to get
back into the game and win it, but you can’t afford to be going one or two
goals down against Chelsea away – although we did last season. We went 3-0
down before we drew [Rooney scored two penalties before Hernández’s
equaliser]. But we can’t do that again.”
Chelsea
are now a different proposition. Big-money signings such as Eden Hazard and
Oscar have added to the “confidence” that Rooney said he sensed the club now
possessed after Champions League glory.
“It’s a great start and it’s clear having won the Champions League last season
it has given them a lot more confidence, they have brought a lot of new
players in and added more speed to the team,” Rooney said a side who have
won seven and drawn one league match this season.
