Arteta warns Everton fans about cornering (dirty!) dog Rooney

There is an old Spanish saying that warns against taking the Iberian Lynx by the tail. For Mikel Arteta, nothing is more pertinent today.

The lynx, or perhaps even more appropriately, the tiger that is Wayne Rooney, returns to his old Goodison Park stomping ground today, after one of the most difficult weeks of his life.

Given the lurid revelations about his off-field antics with a prostitute, there is little doubt that the one-time darling of the Gwladys Street will be provoked by an animated crowd.

The Everton faithful need little encouragement to subject the England star to some robust attention, given their feelings over his departure to Manchester United six years ago.

Even Blues centre half Phil Jagielka, who played alongside Rooney for England in midweek, admits that the reception will be hostile this afternoon.

But Spanish star Arteta fears that winding the young striker up could have quite the opposite effect the fans intend.

“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,” he explained.

“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.”

Arteta has replaced Rooney in the affection of the Goodison crowd, to become their pin-up boy during the success of the David Moyes era.

He knows that the support still hasn’t forgiven Rooney for walking out on the Blues after declaring his undying love for the club, but he urged them to try to resist the temptation to wind the striker up today.

“To be honest I don’t like to see the people behaving badly towards Wayne. He’s been a terrific player, he loves Everton - and he needs very little to create an opening or score a goal,” he added.

“He left for a massive club and brought a lot of money to this one. He’s not said anything bad about this club and the players and staff like him here.

“Wayne is a terrific player and we should respect him. Obviously we’ll do everything to try and stop him, but I’ve a lot of respect for him.

“If I am in a position where one day I came back here, I’d want to be respected. But hey, we all understand the crowd sometimes wants to give out a bit of stick if they have the opportunity.”

Rooney’s travails this week may have arrived at just the wrong time. The Everton fans had seemed to have moved on from their campaign against him last season, but the current situation is ripe for exploiting.

Last season saw only minimal booing and the England star was surprisingly as Everton produced a famous 3-1 victory.

For Everton, United’s annual appearance at Goodison often heralds a surge in form. Last season it sparked a run of just one defeat in their remaining 12 league games, while the year before a draw against United was followed by only two losses in the next 16.

Now, after yet another nightmare start to the campaign, which has brought just one point from three matches, Arteta is desperate for another kick start from their Manchester rivals.

“After a poor first half on the opening day of the season at Blackburn, we have dominated all the games and the play after that,” the Spaniard explained.

“All the stats have been unbelievable, up there with the best in the Premier League, but we’ve conceded three goals from three mistakes and ended up with just one point.

“But we have to maintain the way we’re playing because I honestly believe if we do, we’ll end up winning most of them. This game can be the start of that for us.

“We just need to put the ball in the net. But overall we have been better than the other teams in all three matches.

“We are frustrated because we don’t want just one point from three games, because we deserve so much more.

“But I’d prefer to not get the points when we’re playing well than playing really badly and not even getting close to it.

“We need maximum points from the home games because that is what’s going to mark out your season and hopefully things will change soon.”