Once again the answer is of course he can. Every year he returns to his former club and every year he receives an intimidating reception, so today will be no different. Rooney needs to do what he does best and switch off from the crowd and perform to the best of his ability, if he does that Everton fans might just regret not giving Rooney a warm welcome
Toffees midfielder Mikel Arteta is well aware that Rooney will try and use any criticism from the home crowd as inspiration. He said: “Great players use that for themselves as motivation and it can make it worse for you. They tend to use it to show what they are able to do.
“Look at Cristiano Ronaldo after the 2006 World Cup when he was involved in that stuff with Rooney. He showed what a big player he was because at every ground the fans were getting on his back and he reacted by having his best season. Wayne is the same sort of dangerous player and he needs very little to motivate him.”
With Rooney coming in to the game off the back of his first international goal in nearly a year, he doesn’t need any extra motivation anyway, and this could be the perfect way for him to return to club form with a bang.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was one of the main winners of the international break. Not only did he see his players survive unscathed, but with Rooney’s goal, his talismanic figure has been given a timely boost to his confidence.
Sir Alex now must use this as a boost for Rooney; however it must be noted that the 24-year-old striker, was playing a slightly different role for his country. But to be honest the role that Rooney plays is off irrelevance, he will go out and play his own game and has the ability to play either role. My backing is for him to return to Goodison Park, and continue his gradual return to form.
UPDATE
Just seen the teams! Maybe he won’t deal with the pressure. Must admit I am shocked at this one. Maybe Rooney isn’t invincble to criticsm after all. Having said that though he did look fine against Switzerland, has something developed further since that game?
