By NEIL CUSTIS
ALEX FERGUSON believes Wayne Rooney’s injury is a ‘blessing’ — and will give him time to get properly fit for action.
SunSport revealed last weekend that the Manchester United boss had not been happy with the England striker’s fitness.
It lead to him being axed for the home game against Fulham after being off the pace in the defeat to Everton.
He then suffered a gashed leg in the Fulham game after coming on as a substitute. But the boss says he is not overly concerned about the player’s lay-off as it will give him a chance to get in the gym.
Ferguson said: “I think this may be a blessing. We can concentrate on his fitness now, in the gymnasium in particular. In that respect I’m not too worried about that.
“The fact it’s a gash, not a ligament or muscle injury, means he can do a lot of work in the gymnasium. We’re not too bad with that.”
Ferguson admitted he left him out of the Everton game because he simply was not as fit as some of the other players.
He said: “He wasn’t as fit. He said himself he needs a few games and I wanted to play Van Persie at the start at Old Trafford.
“Wayne, as he said himself, needs games. He’s behind the rest. He’s not as advanced as Kagawa or other midfield players.
“So it wasn’t an easy choice, simply because you’re leaving out a really good player and you’re leaving out a player who can get you goals.
“His scoring performance over the last few years has improved each year, it’s getting better every year, the goalscoring. So that’s not an easy decision.”
Rooney’s poor fitness has raised a more than a few eyebrows at Old Trafford.
After all, he trained with England ahead of of Euro 2012 and played in two games. He was also involved in three pre-season games.
Rooney undoubtedly has a battle on his hands to win back his first-team place even when he is fit — and prove to the manager that he is still a player who can take United back to the top at home and in Europe
Fergie’s relationship with Roo has not been the same since October 2010 when he said he wanted to quit the club.
Since then there has also been off-the-field controversies which have led to Ferguson leaving him out of some games.
His performance at Everton was a tipping point. The club would even consider selling in the future if he does not buck his ideas up.
The loss of Roo for up to eight weeks is no longer the blow it would have been. Fergie now has Robin van Persie and attacking midfielder Shinji Kagawa to call upon.
The boss was still purring yesterday about Van Persie’s stunning volleyed leveller after 10 minutes against Fulham. He said: “Excellent goal, tremendous timing. Out of the blue.
“ You don’t really expect him to draw back his foot like that and it bounced a little bit in front of him too. It was a great goal.”
Kagawa has impressed in both of United’s opening two games, which is reward for the work the club have put in identifying Kagawa as a key man in United’s bid to win the title back.
Ferguson admitted it was his tremendous performance in winning the German Cup Final for Borussia Dortmund over Bayern Munich that convinced him to make his move.
He said: “We did a lot of work on Kagawa. Last season there was more authority in his game and his goalscoring was good from that position.
“I went to see him in the Final against Bayern and he was absolutely magnificent — his movement, awareness of a pass, awareness of space in front of him, he did everything.
“He was the sort of player we were looking for and that’s why we moved.”
RVP and Kagawa line up again tomorrow when United are favourites to add to their win against Fulham when they take on promoted Southampton.
Ferguson said: “Southampton obviously lost the first two games, which is not the best start for them.
“Nigel Adkins has done a great job down there, bringing them up to the Premier division. It’s a good set-up at Southampton — a good training ground, a good stadium, I think they have got a bit of money behind them now.
“They have a chance of staying in the league but they need that first win — hopefully not on Sunday.”
