The long game heading inextricably towards Wayne Rooney’s Manchester United exit began in October when the 25-year-old striker publicly questioned the club’s ambition and with it Sir Alex Ferguson’s reputation. Stories that the player is doing the same in private is merely window dressing on the many strategic forces that will drive the player out [...]
Monday, February 14, 2011
Wayne Rooney’s goal, to paraphrase a famous late English commentator, was good enough not only to win the Manchester derby but the Grand National too. As the 25-year-old Scouser twisted mid-air and sent the ball arching into Joe Hart’s top-corner Old Trafford drew in a collective breath and then exploded with joy. Great goals, those [...]
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Wayne Rooney is a complicated character. For someone whose game is based significantly on physicality, he is cavalier about his health. But the probably exaggerated tabloid stories of cigarettes and alcohol aside, the former Everton player has become something of a ‘jack of all trades’ at Manchester United, albeit a very good one. And like [...]
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Two misleading assumptions in football surround Manchester United’s strike pairing Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney; assumptions that have grown despite evidence to the contrary. Yet, something happened at the weekend that hadn’t before – the pair took to the Old Trafford field ostensibly in their ‘correct’ positions. The widely held – arguably false – view [...]
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The Prodigal Son – remarkably appropriate given the plot of the parable from which the phrase originates – returned on Saturday. Despite the sporadic chants of “Rooney! Rooney!”, the ambience was decidedly uneasy – it is unclear whether Wayne Rooney’s former hero status among the fans will ever be restored. Rooney’s thirty odd minute stint [...]
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Manchester United has moved to draw a line under the Wayne Rooney contract affair, with the striker appearing on in-house channel MUTV today. Stopping short of the promised apology to supporters and disingenuously claiming that he always wanted to stay at the club, Rooney now says he will be at United for the long-term. In [...]
Monday, November 22, 2010
Wayne Rooney returned to the Manchester United line-up on Saturday, appearing as a second half substitute against Wigan Athletic. The 25-year-old striker got a mixed reception from the Old Trafford crowd after he blackmailed the club into a new contract last month. What feelings did Rooney’s return inspire in you?
Monday, November 15, 2010
Wayne Rooney returns to Carrington today after a week’s training and ‘refocusing’ in the United States with no guarantee that the 25-year-old striker will play against Wigan Athletic next weekend. Nor, it seems, is there any assurance that Rooney will remain at United beyond next summer despite the lavish new five-year contract signed just weeks [...]
Thursday, November 11, 2010
It was perhaps the most anaemic Manchester derby in a generation, with City far too scared to lose and United not possessing the will to wrest the game from the cross-town neighbours. Arguably the most shocking aspect of the match though: Roberto Mancini’s total lack of attacking ambition in front of the Eastlands crowd. This [...]
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Reports that John O’Shea is to sign a new four year contract worth – wait for it – £80,000 a week is proof if any is needed that intense wage pressure remains in football, despite the downturn in transfer market spending. Even Manchester United, relatively prudent on the wage front for so long, is now [...]
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Sunday, March 13, 2011
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