English Premiership
Rooney staying - Ferguson
2013-03-08 12:44
Manchester - Manchester United manager Alex
Ferguson on Friday dismissed suggestions Wayne Rooney could leave the
club in the summer after being left out against Real Madrid in midweek.
Ferguson
preferred Danny Welbeck to Rooney, 27, for the Champions League last 16
second leg at Old Trafford and Rooney only made it on to the field as a
late substitute in the 2-1 defeat.
The United manager commented before the match that Rooney "needs games"and the England striker's omission led to questions over his United future.
Reports suggested that Rooney, who joined United from Everton in 2004, could leave as soon as this summer.
But
Ferguson has moved to quash any suggestion that Rooney will be
departing and insists the striker understood his reasons for selecting
Welbeck to block the influence of Real Madrid's Xabi Alonso.
He
also categorically insisted that Rooney will be at Old Trafford next
season and will feature in the FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea on
Sunday.
Ferguson said: "There's absolutely no problem. He will be
here next year, you have my word on that. There are no issues at all
with the player. He'll be involved on Sunday, no doubt about that.
"There's
absolutely no issue between Wayne Rooney and I. To suggest we don't
talk on the training ground is absolute nonsense and he understood the
reasons for not playing him were completely tactical and I think we were
right.
You don't always get it right but I think we got it right.
Welbeck is the best player we have in terms of operating in a double
role.
"We had to stop Alonso's ability to control the game which
he did and it took away his control of the match and ability to go
further forward and be an attacking player.
"You don't always get it right but we definitely did on Tuesday."
United
led through a Sergio Ramos own-goal on Tuesday night but after Turkish
referee Cuneyt Cakir sent Nani off for a challenge on Alvaro Arbeloa,
Real hit back through Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo to progress.
Ferguson was too angry to attend the post-match media conference.
The United manager was furious with the official at the time but insists United must move on.
The
United manager added: "On the issue of the referee quite simply it's
hard to keep your faith in the game, when we see what's happened in the
last few years.
"It's the third time we've been knocked out (of
the Champions League) by of a referee's decision. It's not easy to take
but in the cold analysis of the day, you realise we're Manchester United
and we just have to get on with it.
"Nothing can be done now and
the important issue is the quarter-final on Sunday. It's clear in my
mind now and we have to get on with it.
"It's another day in the
history of our club. Not a good day but another day. My job now is to
galvanise the troops who were fantastic on Tuesday and we owe the
support a good performance on Sunday."
Asked if he had concerns about Cakir before the match, Ferguson said:
"I was definitely concerned, I said that to the staff but it's gone.
There's nothing we can do about it."
The
United manager sent his assistant, Mike Phelan, to attend Tuesday's
press conference and will use his number two for media duties on a more
regular basis.
He said: "Mick was the right one to go out. He's
calm, he's very good with the press and I'm going to use him more. That
was a nice time to have a chat with Jose (Mourinho) have a nice glass of
wine and relax a bit."
Utility man Phil Jones is set to miss Sunday's game with an ankle problem that kept him out against Real Madrid.