Former Manchester United legends Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand heaped praise on captain Wayne Rooney after the 30-year-old put in a stellar performance against Newcastle United in last night’s enthralling 3-3 draw.
Rooney came under some intense criticism for his poor performances in the first half of the ongoing Premier League campaign, although, he finally seems to have turned a corner. The turn of the year has benefitted Rooney and he has scored in every league match in 2016.
Rooney praised as he nets brace
The Liverpool-born striker had found the back of the net on a paltry four occasions in 20 Premier League and Champions League appearances in 2015. However, he has experienced a change in fortunes and has scored four goals and registered an assist in the three games United have played in the new year.
And Scholes and Ferdinand believe that the all-time England leading goalscorer is certainly getting back to his brilliant best. Speaking on BT Sport after the match at St James’ Park last night Scholes said that "everything he did was brilliant" and "that second goal was sensational."
Scholes hails former-teammate
The former-United midfielder said that "for the last two or three weeks, he’s been on the brink of looking back to the old Wayne Rooney," after an appalling first half of the season.
“This is the Wayne Rooney we love," said Scholes, "It’s great to have him back and I just hope it carries on.”
Meanwhile, Ferdinand was of the opinion that Rooney’s return to form was down to the inclusion of runners in the team like Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial.
“It was a real confident, immaculate looking Wayne Rooney tonight,” Ferdinand said. “The Chelsea game and this game – when he’s played something like we’ve seen before – every time he had runners."
Ferdinand says that "Wayne Rooney needs runners" because "he’s not the player he was" five years ago when he could run up and down the pitch like a Duracell bunny. "He needs people running beyond him where he can pull the strings," Ferdinand said.
It will be interesting to see if Rooney is able to build on these performances and use them as a platform to spur his team into the Champions League positions. After all, Rooney's mid-season resurgence might be the decisive factor in the rat race for the top four spots.