Queiroz backs Rooney
22 Sep 2006 - 14:54:37
Manchester United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz has backed Wayne Rooney to soon return to his best form after watching the 20-year-old struggle to impress in the opening weeks of the season.
The former Everton star sustained a broken metatarsal in April and, after being sent off in a pre-season friendly against FC Porto, only recently returned from a three-game suspension.
United won all three of their matches during Rooney's ban and he failed to find his best form in Sunday's home defeat to Arsenal.
However, Queiroz said: "It is important to remind people that in six months he has played five or six games, and not complete ones. So it is natural to expect this progression. In terms of preparation we cannot produce miracles.
"He needs to play to get back to get his maximum form and that is what will happen in the next few weeks, for sure.
"Wayne is a player with a lot of ambition and a great desire. He has a special winning mentality that, every time he goes out, there is only one thing in his mind - that is to perform and win the game.
"If that doesn't happen he feels it like any other player, or sometimes he feels it even more."