Rooney's Goal Signals Return to Form

For a few weeks last fall, it seemed as everything was falling apart at Manchester United Football Club.

Chelsea was running away with the league, leaving everyone in their dust. Despite being undefeated, many were questioning United's form and that of their star striker, Wayne Rooney. And Rooney himself was threatening to walk out on his team.

The sports world blew up with speculation about what Rooney might do and where he might go. The biggest story: he was likely to go to cross-town rivals Manchester City.

What a coup! United fans were crying foul and worried about what the future would hold for their team.

Than, Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, performed a masterful bit of diplomacy, shed a few tears, and signed Rooney to a deal worth £ 250,000 a week. This made Rooney the highest paid player in the Premier League.

But, despite his new deal, Rooney continued to struggle to find form. Ferguson ended up sending him to the United States for two weeks to train and regain his fitness.

And despite all the struggles, on Saturday, Rooney had one of the best - if not the best - goal of the Premier League season. He stunned everyone by putting a bicycle kick winner into the upper right hand corner at Old Trafford against heated rivals Manchester City.

After the game, Rooney told the Manchester United fans that he owed that to them, according to The Guardian.

"The Manchester United fans deserve that from me," he told the Guardian. "I haven't had the best of seasons and I know how big this game is in Manchester so I hope they enjoyed that. Now the aim is to keep scoring and help us get that title back. "

Rooney's goal should give the Manchester United fans confidence that he is back and ready to perform for them. Not only did it take great skill to execute, but he also did it in one of United's biggest games of the second half of the season. United's victory pretty much put a nail in City's title chances, and even Rooney said that much after the game.

But there is something that should bring more confidence to Ferguson and the United fans than just Rooney's performance: his statement after the game. He made it clear that his focus is on scoring and winning.

This shows that Rooney is interested in shutting out all the distractions and putting everything behind him to ensure United raises the trophy at the end of the year.

That's not the mindset he had at the start of the season. After coming back from a dismal World Cup display, he got caught up in the media and everything they had to say about his form. This led t dismal game after dismal game.

But it seems that this is all moving behind Rooney now. And if Rooney is truly ready to put everything behind him and to start playing at his caliber, the Premier League better watch out. An in-form Rooney is certainly one of the most dangerous strikers in the game.