Source: SKY_Sports
Rooney set for wide role
Sir Alex Ferguson has hinted that Wayne Rooney will start from the left-hand side against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final on Wednesday.
The United boss has often reverted to a 4-3-3 formation for the bigger games and has experimented with the system for the past month, in which the Red Devils have won six out of their last seven games drawing against Arsenal last time out.
The man to suffer is often Rooney with the 23-year-old asked to play out of position in a role which sometimes nullifies his attacking threat - two goals in the last seven games - allowing for Cristiano Ronaldo to play through the middle.
The system worked to great effect against Arsenal at the Emirates in the second-leg of the Champions League semi-final and Ferguson believes that Rooney can be even more dangerous cutting in from the flank rather than playing as a central striker.
"When forwards attack from wide to inside they are far more dangerous," he told The Guardian.
"It's funny when I see centre-forwards starting off in the middle against their markers and then going away from goal.
"Strikers going inside are far more dangerous, I think. When (Thierry) Henry played as a striker, and sometimes, when Wayne does they try to escape and create space by drifting from the centre to wide positions, when that actually makes them less dangerous."
Sacrifice
Rooney has made no secret of his preference to play through the middle but his manager reveals that the frontman is starting to enjoy the wider role.
"That is the sacrifice he is making for the team," the United boss added.
"He is willing to sacrifice the part of the game that every forward in the world wants to do - which is to attack.
"We have other players who would not be able to do it. But Wayne's got the stamina and the resilience to keep (helping out the defence) and still cause a threat to the other side when he attacks. He's played the role fantastically."
However the player himself does not sound so convinced with the role he is likely to be asked to play against Barcelona on Wednesday.
"Some days you enjoy it, some days it's not so good," Rooney admitted.
"Some games you get a lot of freedom, some games you have to defend for the team. I've always said that playing up front, obviously with two up, is my favourite position."
