Man Utd trio better than Salah, Firmino, Mane – Rooney

Wayne Rooney still rates Manchester United’s fabled attacking trio of himself, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez over Liverpool’s current forward line.

Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino have scored a combined 56 goals in all competitions this season, and are one of the most productive attacks in world football.

Salah was included on our list of the top ten players of the season so far, but Rooney says United’s combination of himself, Ronaldo and Tevez was better.

That trio led the line for the club in the 2007/08 season, which ended in a Premier League and Champions League double.

Rooney believes trophies set the two front lines apart.

“I think they’re very dangerous,” he told Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football. “They’ve got a lot of pace and Firmino works really hard in winning the ball back for Liverpool, which is what they want. As good as him and Mane are Salah pips them though because he takes them to the next level.

“Sir Alex Ferguson used to say to us go and play and attack how you want but when you lose the ball then get back and help out. We had a good compromise because me and Tevez would probably do a lot more defensive work than Cristiano but we knew in the big games and moments he would win them.

“With any other player we probably wouldn’t have done it but Cristiano was that good you have to accommodate that. I would gladly sacrifice goals any day of the week if he is going to help us win trophies.

“I think it would be difficult to match us. The difference we had is obviously Premier League winner’s medals and we had real quality behind us who would support us in different ways and the defence was solid. For those three to get to that level they need that wall behind them to help them flourish a bit more.”