The striker Wayne Rooney is capable of Manchester United begin the defence of his title of the Premier League this weekend, manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday. Ferguson, who was not brought to the club's widely reported move to Tottenham Hotspur striker Dimitar Berbatov, was driven by the recovery of Rooney from a virus contracted in the United pre-season trip to Nigeria.
Looking to play on Sunday against Newcastle United at Old Trafford, Ferguson said at a press conference: "That is good news for us. He has trained all week and do very, very well. "He has been progressing very well."
With extreme Cristiano Ronaldo set to miss the first six weeks of the season after ankle surgery, the return to fitness of Rooney in good time. Ronaldo, who scored 42 goals for United last season, is moving apace, according to Ferguson. "He is well ahead of schedule. The specialist was surprised that the condition was in. For the next three weeks will continue in rehabilitation and then the final part will be the work of serious resistance and running before he goes in football."
However, the Scots was far less expansive lot about the rush to move Berbatov, saying: "I have nothing to say about that. Nothing has changed."
Ferguson is still looking to sign a new striker Berbatov expected to arrive at Old Trafford shortly. In the meantime, the director cree that has the resources to start the season successfully.
"In terms of attacking options given for the skeleton, but the backbone will be the defenders and midfield players, which are all available," he said.
"We have a good variety there and hopefully enough to get us through the first hurdle. That will be the foundation."
In the longer term, the manager said there was still room for improvement in the side that won a Premier and Champions League double last season. "That is a challenge for us," he said. "One would think with young players like Anderson, Ronaldo, Rooney and Nani there improvement in that country.
"I think that is the most natural thing can be said about our club. These players have the capacity to improve."
Club captain Gary Neville will start his 350th league game for United if selected at right back ahead of Wes Brown, after recovering from injuries that kept him away from all of last season. "I have a dilemma with the form of Wes Brown last year. With regard to the contribution of Wes that makes it a dilemma," said Ferguson.
"But we are delighted Gary is back. He is such an enthusiastic player and with the quality of his game any club to lose."
Owen Hargreaves, Park Ji-sung and Louis Saha are out of the game on Sunday through injury, while suspending Nani and Anderson is on Olympic duty.-- reuters--
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment