Rooney unhappy with recent displays
Tuesday, 19 September 2006 22:25Wayne Rooney has admitted his last two Manchester United performances have not been good enough.
After serving a three-match domestic ban and missing all three England games so far this season, it was little surprise that Rooney should be off the pace in last week's Champions League win over Celtic.
Much better was expected against Arsenal at the weekend but, again, the 20-year-old struggled to make an impact.
Eventually, to his own frustration and the astonishment of many United fans, he was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Rooney looked clearly unhappy as he watched the remainder of the Old Trafford defeat from the home bench.
However, he now accepts his recent displays have been below-par. 'I am disappointed with my own form in the last two games,' he told MUTV.
'It has not been up to the standard I normally play. I am disappointed with that but I will keep working hard and hopefully my game will come back again.'
Alex Ferguson has no fears on that score but, like many of his players, the Scot felt Rooney suffered at the weekend as a direct result of the effort expended in beating Celtic in what proved to be a titanic tussle.
Rooney accepts there may be some truth in his manager's assessment, especially given his brief post-match chat with Paul Scholes, who had spent a similar amount of time on the sidelines.
'The Celtic game was quite tough,' said Rooney. 'It was a big game and there was a lot of pressure on us to win it. I spoke to Paul afterwards and we were both quite tired.
'Nevertheless, losing against Arsenal was a big blow. We have made a good start to the season and we wanted it to continue. Even a draw would not have been too bad but to lose in the last 10 minutes was devastating.'
