From his column in The Sunday Times:
Some people are suggesting that because neither Arsenal nor Manchester United are in pole position to win the championship, their game on Tuesday will not be as intense as recent meetings. Dream on.
If anything, the fact that each side have to win to remain in the title race, while a draw would end the hopes of both of them, makes their latest clash more highly charged than ever. Chelsea haven’t proved anything yet. It is Arsenal and United who have run the Premiership since it started and each remain the club the other measure themselves against. There are 20 years of bad blood between these teams and a rivalry between the managers. For me, United are favourites to edge it. To be winners, though, they have to play Wayne Rooney from the start.
Quinton Fortune was preferred to the youngster last Wednesday but I feel that if Rooney had been on from the first minute against Chelsea, Sir Alex Ferguson’s proud record in domestic semi-finals would still be intact. Ferguson played one up front and Fortune as an extra central midfielder as a defensive measure, but since when did Roy Keane and Paul Scholes need help winning the ball? United are a better team playing 4-4-2, with a deeper striker supporting their front man.
Fortune is a fine footballer and a great professional but I see him more as a left-back than a central midfielder and his distribution may not quite be good enough for the sort of football we have come to associate with United.
You could see in the first half against Chelsea, when United had 60% of the play but did not make a single chance, that they were not doing enough in possession. Suddenly, when Rooney replaced Fortune with 31 minutes left, and went up front to support Louis Saha, they started creating chances. Chelsea were in trouble and almost cracked — they would have done had they had to face Rooney all evening.
This was again emphasised when he scored his two goals against Middlesbrough last night, after being joined up front by substitute Saha.
Rooney might not have done as many spectacular things as people expected when he hit that hat-trick against Fenerbahçe on his debut for United, but he’s contributed enormously. United have lost only once in the League since he arrived and their attacking football has been magnificent. Rooney has spent much of his time playing out of position on the wing. Has he moaned? Not at all. He’s worked his socks off and made a success of things.
He’s a genuine person. The money, the nice car and fame — I don’t think they mean anything to him.