The mind games before Wednesday's Champions League final intensified on Sunday, when the Manchester United duo of Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic questioned the mental strength and gamesmanship of Didier Drogba, the Chelsea centre-forward.

“Sometimes, he seems as if his head is not quite there,” said Rooney, although the United forward was also keen to stress Drogba’s more positive qualities.

“When he’s at his best, he’s an unbelievable player. He’s big, strong and he scores goals -left foot, right foot, headers but at times he is unplayable.”

Drogba will be marked in Moscow by Vidic, who described him as a “great player”, but also highlighted United’s concerns about the striker. “Sometimes, he goes in very strong and sometimes he pretends he is weak,” the Serb centre-half said.

“He plays with your mind and tries to make the defender think about the next tackle. He can pretend he fell down to win a penalty, but referees know that.

The Champions League final is a big game and I’m sure the referee will know his job,” the Manchester player said.

Lubos Michel, the highly respected Slovak referee, is in charge.

United’s singling out of Drogba could prove a dangerous strategy. The emotional Ivory Coast striker was fired up by “diving” comments from the Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, before the second leg of their semi-final, last month. Drogba scored twice as Chelsea went through, and he allowed himself a celebration in front of Benitez.

Drogba scored the winning goal in the last season’s FA Cup final against United, and Rooney is afraid that Chelsea might be hard to break down if he scores early.

“Chelsea may be a little bit more defensive and if they go one up, it’s very difficult to get back at them,” he said.

“If we go one up, we’d keep trying to get a second goal,” Wayne said.

He added that he wanted his attacking axis with Cristiano Ronaldo, a target for Real Madrid, to last for many more years.

“I’ve got no problem, if Ronaldo scores 60 goals in a season and I don’t get anywhere near that,” Rooney said.

“I hope the partnership will continue for years. Ronaldo is a great player and it will be brilliant if we can keep him at the club for as long as possible.”

The Daily Telegraph