Ferguson, Rooney issue warning

MANCHESTER: Sir Alex Ferguson and Wayne Rooney have warned Manchester United’s rivals that the best is yet to come from the England forward after he continued his remarkable goalscoring run in the 4-0 victory over West Brom at Old Trafford.

Rooney scored one goal, and laid on others for Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, with Dimitar Berbatov also claiming his first Premiership goal for the club as United kept pace with the early season title chasers.

But it is the promise of yet more lethal form to come from Rooney - who turns 23 on Friday - that most excited Ferguson as United start to show the form that made them champions of England and Europe last season.

“He’s 23 and you expect players to improve,” said Ferguson. “It’s a natural process, like when Ronaldo was younger. The boy has that incredible individual talent and as players get older, they learn to make the right decisions more, time their game better as they get more experience. I think we will see players like him improve at this club all the time,” he added.

Rooney took his recent tally to eight goals for club and country in the last six games although Ferguson believes he will see more consistency from the forward as he matures. “Wayne tends to go in spurts and that’s probably a sign of his immaturity,” added Ferguson.

“When he gets older, his goalscoring will spread out better, that’s a natural thing that will happen. But, at the moment, when he is on one of these spurts, he is fantastic. He is young, so he will hit barren spells again but he will come back again.”

Rooney himself could barely conceal his delight as he, and United, prepare for the eagerly-awaited “Battle of Britain” when the English champions host Glasgow Celtic, the Scottish champions, at Old Trafford on Tuesday. “Possibly, I am playing the best football of my career,” said Rooney. “I’m really enjoying it at the moment and feel fit. The team is really helping me with everything I do.

Hopefully, that will continue and, hopefully, I can help this team win more trophies. Everyone will tell you I work hard in training and in games. I want to learn and listen to different people at the club to try and get better. If I can continue like this, I will be happy,” he added.