Back In Business: Rooney And Nani Recapture Early Season Form As Manchester United Take Out European Frustrations On Hapless Wolves

ANALYSIS
By Rob Stewart at Old Trafford

Together Rooney and Nani put smiles back on faces in Salford as they helped themselves to two goals apiece in a one-sided encounter against a Wolves side who rarely looked capable of being party poopers.

The fact that Rooney and Co. were back among the goals and re-producing their early season form helped United provide the perfect response to the Champions League defeat in Basel.

Their endeavours raised the gloom that enveloped Old Trafford before this encounter and ensured the Red Devils ended what manager Sir Alex Ferguson had in his programme notes called a “black week” for the club on a high.

The road to redemption might be a long one but Sir Alex set the tone by insisting that while “we may gnash our teeth there is no point wailing about it”.

He even launched a thinly veiled attack at former United skipper Roy Keane, who had voiced criticism of the display in Switzerland in his role as a television pundit, with Sir Alex bemoaning “stick even from people we thought were perhaps on our side”.

Business as usual l United are back with a bang thanks to beating lowly Wolves

It was, though, crowd-pleasers Rooney and Nani who made sure that this was the morale-booster that everyone associated with the club needed following their first failure to make it out of the Champions League group stage since 2005.

On a gloomy day, it even stopped raining following the final whistle to ensure that the mood improved in more ways than one.

That they bounced back from such disappointment was down to Sir Alex’s decision to attack Wolves relentlessly down the flanks where Nani and Antonio Valencia tormented their markers and ensured that the visitors were unable to frustrate their hosts.

BACK ON FORM

NANI 8.0 The Portuguese winger put a smile back on United faces with a cracking early goal to ease the pain of the club's Champions League exit in Basel and then settled the jitters with his second goal to nip Wolves' attempted fightback in the bud straight away.  WAYNE ROONEY 8.5 The England striker showed why Fabio Capello was so desperate to have him back in action as quickly as possible at Euro 2012 with two belting goals and an all-round display that saw him torment Wolves. A much-needed big performance.

That is what Mick McCarthy’s side did last season when it required a last-minute goal from Ji-sung Park to secure United all three points, and the pessimists feared a repeat performance.

However, those fans who insisted they trusted Sir Alex to weather the storm and come back even stronger in the long term had their faith vindicated.

That there was no need for late drama on this occasion is due mainly to Rooney, who was this contest’s outstanding performer;  his goals that spelled the end of his barren spell meant that he has still never gone ten games without scoring for United.

The emphatic victory also marked a return to the club’s free-scoring ways that had seen Arsenal thrashed 8-2 here and then Bolton swept aside 5-0 at the Reebok. Before this game United had not managed more than a solitary goal in eight of nine Premier League outings.

Rooney’s exploits showed why England head coach Fabio Capello was so keen to have his Euro 2012 suspension reduced and gave United fans reason to think they might hold on to their Premier League crown despite the threat posed by Manchester City.

Rooney remains their key asset and they will need him more than ever now thanks to injuries in other key departments.

It is difficult to see United coping without injured skipper Nemanja Vidic for the rest of the season, and while Michael Carrick and Phil Jones were head and shoulders above their Wolves counterparts, they might struggle when facing leading Premier League midfielders.

That is why Sir Alex will need Tom Cleverley and Anderson back in the thick of it sooner rather than later.

It also explains why there seems to be an obsession with Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder following their ill-fated pursuit of the Dutch ace last summer as the club moved to fill the void left by Paul Scholes’ retirement.

United have eminently winnable games coming against Queens Park Rangers,  Fulham, Wigan, Blackburn and faltering Newcastle before aiming to avenge their 6-1 pasting by City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, January 8.

Given Sir Alex’s habit of proving his critics wrong, it would be foolish to write off United’s title chances just yet.