Rooney focused on Marseille Challenge

Wayne Rooney still has a key role to play if Manchester United are going to be successful on all fronts this season.

There has been widespread reports over the weekend that Rooney and the club have fallen out with each other. However, this is nothing new and Rooney has often been in the headlines in the past linked with a variety of top European clubs. Every single time these reports have proved to be nothing.

Rooney is likely to be focused on the Champions League match because the UEFA competition is the best chance for the best players to express everything they are about in professional football. Sir Alex Ferguson will also know that Rooney is one of his best players when push comes to shove.

Rooney is likely to be part of a two man attack during this game that will see United going for the tie and looking to knock the stuffing out of their French opponents. It will be important for United to get a goal early and Rooney can cause chaos by dropping off from the attack and exploiting the gaps of space in the midfield.

European occasions are often the stages for players who create chances and goals out of nothing. Rooney’s goal against Manchester City in the recent Manchester derby showed that he is better than anyone else in the United team when it comes to improvisation, timing and pure skill.

Marseille are not going to be an easy team to beat and they will set themselves up as being hard to break down and get through. This means United will have to work hard and no player has a better work ethic than the former Everton man. Rooney often does as much work off the ball as he does when in possession.

This gritty organisation from Marseille is also going to produce a lot of set pieces which Rooney can exploit. He is one of the best strikers of a deal ball in the United team and he also takes the penalties because he rarely bottles things with under pressure. Rooney will be one of the first players to throw his hat into the ring if United get a set piece just outside the Marseille penalty area.