Soccer

Rooney situation has not changed, says Moyes

United manager expects striker to feature in Sweden at the start of August

Manchester United manager David Moyes said on Tuesday that unsettled striker Wayne Rooney is not for sale.
Jamie Jackson
Tue Jul 23 2013 - 17:00

David Moyes still expects Wayne Rooney to play for Manchester United in their pre-season friendly against the Swedish side AIK Fotball on August 6th despite the striker wanting to leave, with the manager saying the striker is able to jog now as he recovers from a hamstring injury.

Moyes, speaking after United’s 3-2 defeat by Yokohama F-Marinos in Japan, was asked if Rooney would be available for selection for the friendly in Stockholm. “Yes. He is coming on,” the Scot said. “He is doing light jogging now. The feedback I am getting from home is that he is progressing. We have said he is not for sale, and that hasn’t changed.

Regarding Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick, who were not in the match-day squad, Moyes said: "We decided to give Rio a rest. I wanted to give Smalling, Evans and Jones a game. Michael felt his groin was tight and there is no point in taking risks. I can't see it keeping him out for long."

United were sluggish and appeared disjointed defensively against the F-Marinos, conceding within 27 seconds before taking a 2-1 lead, only to concede a late winner.

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Moyes said after the second defeat in three tour games: “I am disappointed with the goals we conceded. We had a lot of opportunities to finish the game off. We had great chances at 2-1 and had other chances after that. We didn’t take them. It was a tough game. They are decent and played well.

“The biggest thing was the effort the players had to put in. The players worked really hard. You could tell how hot it was and we were trying to get as many of them through 90 minutes as possible. Some did very well and we were pleased with that.”

Shinji Kagawa entered as a 61st-minute substitute to make his first appearance under Moyes. "It was the first time I had seen him play," the Scot said, before joking about the Japanese being made man of the match. "He had a great chance to score and almost another chance when Ashley Young could have played him in. If he had scored then maybe the man of the match award would have been justified! I was pleased to have him back, though."