Rooney Will Exploit Chelsea Weaknesses

Wayne Rooney is the perfect player for Manchester United as they try and hold off a strong Chelsea challenge and defend their first leg lead.

It was Rooney who gave United this lead in a perfect display of how to play away from home in the Champions League. United defended brilliantly and played counter attacking football when their opponents were searching to cancel out the away goal.

It a break from tradition, United could adopt a similar approach for this game even though they are playing at home. Chelsea have got to come onto United because they are the side trailing which will leave a lot of space in behind the defence.

Rooney is the ideal player to exploit this because he has a number of qualities that he can use to his and the team’s advantage. His pace is deceptive but good enough to outrun most defenders in Europe. He is also strong enough to brush any player off the ball and this could be crucial as Chelsea throw in tackles and shoulder barges to stop him.

Rooney has showed over recent weeks that, despite his goalscoring celebrations, he looks a far more disciplined player on the pitch. He knows exactly when to turn it on in the middle of a game and when to take it easy. This could be the final dagger in the back of Chelsea because if they switch off in their search for a goal then Rooney will make them pay.

In terms of penalties and free kicks Rooney is better than ever. He is as good as anyone else at the club when it comes to hitting a dead ball. A lot of this could be due to the time he spent working on free kicks with former United player Cristiano Ronaldo who has since moved on to Real Madrid.

Some of the classic counter attacking goals in the Champions League in recent years have come from Rooney’s feet and head. It would be no surprise at all if he was the one piling on the misery for Chelsea and putting off their European dream for another year.