Wayne Rooney is certain Sir Alex Ferguson will help swing the Premier League title race Manchester United’s way.
Another of those amazing last-gasp winners at Norwich yesterday kept United two points adrift of leaders Manchester City heading into the final 12 games of the campaign.
It is a period of the season Ferguson famously described as “squeaky bum time” due to the high levels of pressure that are placed on the competing teams.
Yet it is also the time when United’s long-serving boss is at his best.
“He is a great manager,” Rooney told
“He knows which players he can speak to and which players he can shout at, if he needs to.
“He knows how the players react and how to get the best out of them. That’s important especially in this day and age.
“His mentality for the game, his commitment and desire are obviously things that the players try and take on themselves.
“For me personally, he’s been brilliant. He is a great leader for our team.”
Rooney missed yesterday’s game with a throat infection that has also ruled him out of England’s midweek friendly with Holland.
Given United visit title rivals Tottenham next Sunday, his club would probably view the international absence as a good thing as they try to oust City from top spot and close in on their 20th championship success.
“We are only a couple of points behind and we have a lot of games to go,” he said.
“We are confident that we can push on now, and start being a bit more consistent towards the end of the season.”
And, from a personal perspective, Rooney wants to maintain his own level of contribution, having made light of his frequent appearances in midfield earlier this season to score 19 goals, only 15 adrift of his best ever tally in 2010.
“It’s been one of my best goal-scoring seasons,” he said.
“Hopefully I can kick on and score a lot more towards the end.”
