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.”

Nemanja Vidic insists he has no intention of quitting Old Trafford. The Manchester United defender, 28, also rapped claims his working relationship with boss Alex Ferguson has broken down. Vidic said: “I have never had a conflict of any kind with Sir Alex Ferguson and speculation I want to leave United is completely untrue. I have a contract until the summer of 2012 and intend to see it through to the very last day. United have made me the player I am today and there is no substance whatsoever in rumours I have been looking for a move away to either Real Madrid or AC Milan.” Serb Vidic has been struggling with a leg injury and his last outing came in the 5-0 win over Wigan on December 30. But he added: “I think I will return to action very quickly and hopefully I will be back to my best as soon as I am picked in the starting line-up again.”
Steve Page, The Sun

Wayne Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson praised Darren Fletcher’s inspirational display during United’s enthralling 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The Scottish midfielder covered every blade of grass, blocked passes and shots with just about every part of his anatomy and was at the foundation of most of United’s moves attacking moves.

Fletcher’s performances this season, and last, point to a maturing player reaching his footballing peak. Still underrated by some outside Old Trafford, United fans know the Scot’s value and regularly showed their appreciation at his every lung-bursting run.

Surprisingly, Sky gave the Man of the Match award to Rooney, who Sir Alex thinks will gladly hand over the bottle of champagne.

“I think Wayne will give it to him!” the manager said with a smile. “Darren was the outstanding performer on the field. He really was outstanding. He always does well on these big occasions because he’s a big-game player.”

Rooney added: “I’ve said many times, forwards score goals and tend to get the man of the match award,” said Wayne. “But Fletch was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch.”

United have been boosted by news that Owen Hargreaves will return to the club on 23 September as he hopefully nears the end of a year-long injury hell.

The midfielder hasn’t played for a year, during which time he’s had operations on both knees to solve his tendonitis problems, so that return date is not his playing comeback.

He’s been doing rehabilitation work in America this summer and United first must assess at what stage he is at in terms of his recovery. Nevertheless, Sir Alex says his impending return is “a great addition to us”.

“We’re in dialogue all the time with Owen and the physio who’s conducting his rehabilitation in America,” the boss said on Friday. “He’ll come with Owen for a week for the change-over so we can jointly understand the treatment and rehabilitation he’s been doing. That’s straightforward.

“The difficulty is getting him back into football work. I say difficult because we’ve not seen him all this time. We’re relying on information we get from the States. We’re certain that his fitness work will be good, we just have to guage the right time to bring him into football training. You don’t have a player out for a year and then just throw him straight into the fire.

“The important thing is to get him back playing to his level, which is a very good level, because he’ll be a great addition to us.”

For Arsene Wenger it was one of those days when he wished he had just stayed in bed. Fifty minutes of sumptuous football wiped out by a couple of flicks from the fickle hand of fate. And to cap it all, dismissed in the final seconds for having the temerity to lash out at a stray water bottle as his side were denied an equaliser which would have been the least they deserved.

“I don’t know whether the FA will be in touch, but I am always in touch with the FA,” Wenger joked. It is to the Arsenal manager’s credit that, 45 minutes after watching his side snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at Old Trafford, he was able to laugh at himself, ruefully reflecting on the ludicrousness of it all. “It is beyond belief. We were the better team and we lost the game,” he said. The accurate assessment of a slow-burner of a game between the Premier League’s most enduring rivals could also have been put to at least half a dozen of its key moments. As fate dictated, all but one of them went against Arsenal, so it seems fairly obvious the result would too. It only served to fuel a sense of bitter injustice that Friday’s outburst has done little to soothe. For a long time, Wenger will watch matches, seize on incidents and bemoan a lack of consistency and general unfairness against his team. “UEFA have made the case against Eduardo but now they will have to charge Lionel Messi for headbutting or they will lose credibility,” said Wenger, having watched the Argentinian push his luck in Barcelona’s Super Cup triumph over Shakhtar Donetsk. “Over the weekend I could find them 50 situations where they need to intervene. If they don’t, Eduardo will be singled out and he will be the victim. “I don’t think there is any logic to the case. Look again at what happened. He was touched. We have clear proof.” Indeed, for an example of diving, UEFA need look no further than Emmanuel Eboue, who went down despite Patrice Evra clearly pulling out of a tackle with the midfielder, with whom he did not come close to making contact. The correct punishment, a yellow card, was shown by referee Mike Dean, itself a mockery given Eduardo is now facing up to a two-match European ban. Over the rest there was debate. The penalty Andrey Arshavin was denied. Yes, said Wenger. No countered Ferguson. The one Wayne Rooney got. Yes, said Ferguson. Maybe, said Wenger. “Frankly, I don’t know what to say,” he said. “I kicked the bottle because I was disappointed. I didn’t know you couldn’t do that. It was quite a good kick too. Really spectacular.” There followed a farcical couple of minutes where Wenger climbed out of the back of his dug out and onto the roof of what used to be the dressing rooms a long time ago. The Frenchman stood with arms out wide in exasperation before he was ordered back down and sent towards the current dressing rooms. He got about 10 yards, then the final whistle blew. “Maybe the referee should have just let him sit down,” said Sir Alex Ferguson. The slapstick overshadowed two pivotal moments. Culpable for Arshavin’s blistering opener, Ben Foster redeemed himself two minutes after the restart with a miraculous feet-first save to deny Robin van Persie what surely would have been a match-clinching second for the visitors. Then, after Rooney had levelled, Abou Diaby spoiled an otherwise superb display by heading Ryan Giggs’ free-kick into his own net. “Football is unpredictable,” said Wenger. “I believe in this team but we lack some calmness and maturity when we are in moments where there is no need to panic. “We assessed both goals wrongly. Partly it is a lack of communication and maybe we are missing a little bit of experience in those situations.” The result ended Arsenal’s 100% start to the season, while at the same time emphasised United’s claims on a fourth consecutive title, even if a large portion of their supporters do not share the faith Ferguson has in his present squad. At least Ferguson now has a regular penalty taker again. So used were United to having Cristiano Ronaldo take them, there were a few blank looks when Michael Carrick stepped up at Burnley, and even more when he subsequently missed Nani made it perfectly clear yesterday he was happy to have a go. Rooney was having none of it. “Nobody really knew who our penalty taker was,” said Rooney. “But since Burnley I have said I want to do it and thankfully I scored today.