Ferguson: 'With Wayne's energy he wants to play all the time'
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Your support makes all the difference.Wayne Rooney revealed once again that his temperament is not one that can be tamed last night as he threw down a boot in anger at his substitution in Manchester United's 1-0 Group C victory at Besiktas and proceeded to remonstrate with Turkish fans behind the dugout at the Inonu Stadium.
Sir Alex Ferguson, who offered Rooney a pat on the back after the striker had trudged forlornly from the field with 64 minutes on the clock, insisted that the striker, who seemed to respond to words from the Besiktas supporters, would have to accept the decision. "He is never pleased to come off," Ferguson said. "With his energy, he wants to play all the time. But I always planned to make a change and bring on [Dimitar] Berbatov and [Michael] Owen because Michael needs playing time. I'm, pleased [Owen] got involved. Wayne had played as a lone striker for an hour and it was always going to be the case that he came off."
Rooney has never relished the lone striker's role either for United or England but it fits within a 4-2-3-1 system that Ferguson likes to deploy on the club's travels in Europe. Rooney reflected before England's World Cup qualifier against Croatia last week that he was trying to "mature" on the pitch. "Sometimes I do get frustrated. It's normal," he said. "Every player does. But I try to channel it in different ways."
Meanwhile, the Chelsea captain John Terry was knocked unconscious by an elbow from Porto's Bruno Alves (below) but recovered to lead his side to a narrow 1-0 victory in Group D. Terry lay motionless on the pitch at Stamford Bridge after the pair clashed attempting to head a high ball in the eighth minute of the match. The England captain then got up and played on for the rest of the game, as Chelsea ran out winners thanks to Nicolas Anelka's 48th-minute winner.
Terry said: "I was out for 10 seconds, but I'm okay now. The most important thing was that we won the game and started well." Terry and his manager Carlo Ancelotti, who has now led Chelsea to six straight victories, both praised Anelka's matchwinning contribution in the absence of the suspended Didier Drogba.
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