Rooney Is A Happy Lad

Last updated : 30 October 2007 By editor

Rooney, "After a dodgy start, we have done well over the last few weeks. It is a big week. We want Arsenal to draw with Liverpool, then, if we can beat them on Saturday, we will have had a really good week.

"It is an honour to play in this team and having Carlos alongside me is just brilliant. He is such a clever player, really intelligent, and we are working well together. The best way to play football is to pass and move and I saw him start his run out of the corner of my eye, so I just gave him the ball.


"Carlos Tevez has come in and done really well. I'm playing like an old fashioned centre forward. I'm not getting too involved with the build-up play but I've started to score 'easy' goals which I've never really done. I am enjoying my football at the minute.

"We know how Carlos plays. He's brilliant and he's intelligent, playing just in behind the opposition's midfield. That is where I like to play as well but I feel as if I can change my game to who ever I play with.

"When Carlos plays, I know I will have to stay higher up the pitch and be the centre forward whereas if Louis Saha plays then I will have to tuck in a bit more. But that is no problem I enjoy playing both roles. And as long as you are scoring you are not really bothered where you are playing.


"It is an amazing turnaround. The beginning of the season was a bit slow. We weren't playing too badly, we just weren't getting the goals. We have been scoring, playing well and winning recently, so we have to be happy with that."


Rooney has also spoken about his improving on-pitch discipline,
"It's not really something I've worked at, I've just got older. You've got remember, when I first started playing first-team football I was only 16 and I think any 16-year-old playing in big games, like the Premier League, your emotions are going to be all over the place. You are going to be a bit short-fused.

"But I think with age it has got better each year so I don't see a problem there. When I look back and see myself shouting at the referee and some of the players, now I think it is better to show them a bit more respect really."


He also spoke about the extra training he likes to put in, and his frustration at not always being allowed to, "Footballers are quite privileged and we are lucky that we go to work to do the thing we love - football. Most days you are finished and back home by 2pm, so I think staying on the training pitch for an extra half an hour to an hour is not really anything dramatic.

"But if there is something extra you can do that is going to help improve your game then it is worth doing. There will be times in matches when the practice you put in on the training field will pay off. The only way to get better is to practice, no matter whether you are 10 or 35.

"The night before the Kiev game we trained at the stadium. I wanted to do some shooting at the end but the manager wouldn't let me. I was gutted and a bit frustrated because I hadn't been the best in training and sometimes it is good to do some shooting at the end. But it was probably for the best because it was a cold night. He is a great manager."