Fergie: Rooney missused

With Ronaldo increasingly reluctant to defend, Ferguson accepts he took advantage of Rooney’s willingness to work as he tried to forge another title-winning side.

“We probably didn’t use him properly last season,” Ferguson told US-based radio station Sirius.

“We probably exploited his eagerness and enthusiasm to play anywhere. But we know his strengths, we know where he’s best and that’s where we’re using him this season.”

“We talk about world-class players and I think that’s a misused quote a lot of the time but, when you see his performances of late, you know you’re talking about a really world-class player,” said Ferguson.

“I always said to him that to be a world-class forward you need to have a really consistent goal performance.

“He is now on 25 goals and there are still 14 or 15 matches to go, maybe more depending on how we do in Europe.

“So it does put him in the frame of not just being a great player but also a great goal-scorer.”