Fletcher's Rooney warning

Midfielder insists stifling star striker won't stop Red Devils

Last updated: 21st March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Fletcher's Rooney warning

Rooney: Superb form

It's a mistake to think that if you stop Rooney, you stop United.

Darren Fletcher.
Quotes of the week

LIVE ON SKY SPORTS

Man Utd v Liverpool
1pm, Sun, Sky Sports HD1, Sky Sports 1 and online with Sky Player
Click here to remote record




Related links

Teams

Players

Also see

Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher insists his team have much more to offer than the goalscoring prowess of in-form striker Wayne Rooney.

Rooney has found his element this campaign, scoring 33 times in all competitions as he looks to fire his team to a Treble-winning season.

United have already wrapped up the Carling Cup and are well placed to retain their Premier League crown, as well as reaching the final eight of the UEFA Champions League.

But while Rooney's irresistible form has delighted many ahead of the World Cup, some have questioned whether Sir Alex Ferguson's side have come to rely on the England stalwart.

Mistake

Team mate Fletcher rubbished such suggestions - insisting the Red Devils had the necessary quality across all areas of the pitch to complete their trophy sweep.

"It's a mistake to think that if you stop Rooney, you stop United," the 26-year-old told the Daily Star Sunday. "We have a lot of players who can do a lot of damage. Ji-Sung Park makes fantastic runs and Antonio Valencia and Nani have done well.

"We have experience in the team and Rooney is part of that. It's easy to say stop him and you stop United - well, I've not seen many teams stop Wayne Rooney this season.

"And there is Scholesy, who has been an inspiration for my whole United career. He might not be box-to-box any more but he can still score goals - as he did at Wolves recently."

Break every record

But while Fletcher was keen to play down the form of his colleague ahead of their Sunday date with bitter rivals Liverpool, fellow United man Ryan Giggs heaped more praise on the England international.

The Welsh midfielder backed Rooney to smash his personal milestone of making the most number of senior appearances for the club, and also said the 24-year-old could break Bobby Charlton's all-time goals record for the Old Trafford outfit.

Giggs told the Mail on Sunday: "If Wayne plays here, keeps fit and going for the next 10 years, then he will break every record. He will break my appearance record and he will break Bobby Charlton's goalscoring record of 249 goals. I hope that is something he can do.

"Wayne is at the right place. He's got the best manager and at United you will always be competing for trophies, which is what you want as a footballer. We have great players at United and he loves being here. I can see him staying."