| Do you think Wayne Rooney is a chav? Is Federicho Macheda's assessment of his Man Utd team-mate accurate? guardian.co.uk |
Nigel de Jong 'crossed a line' with Hatem Ben Arfa tackle, says Bert van Marwijk Holland coach Bert van Marwijk claims Manchester City midfielder left him with no choice but to drop him from national squad. telegraph.co.uk |
Kevin McCarra on the striker's new deal Manchester United and their manager have implicitly accepted Wayne Rooney's allegation that the squad around him is not of a sufficiently high calibreSupporters are as worldly as players and their agents. Brinkmanship by Wayne Rooney will have wearied them, but fans make demands of their own. They may never adore him again with the former spontaneity and the Old Trafford crowd will implicitly be making a deal. Rooney has to impress them all over again and keep on doing so.In his carefree days, the forward would have found it almost impossible not to do so. That sort of irrepressibility, though, has withdrawn into the recesses of his mind. His last Premier League goal in open play came seven months ago and it is resonant that Rooney's equaliser against Liverpool at Old Trafford ushered his team towards a 2-1 victory.Had he continued to have such influence, United might well have taken the title for a fourth year in a row. Although other factors such as Chelsea's excellence were relevant, the rise and fall in Rooney's level of performance had its impact. That, of course, is also an indictment of the men around him who cannot be counted upon to make up for any shortfall in his contribution.One of the informative spectacles this week has been the implicit acceptance by United, while capitulating to Rooney, of his allegation that the squad around him is not of a sufficiently high calibre. Dimitar Berbatov, for instance, is a marvellous footballer, but nobody assumes that he is about to dictate the outcome of a game. From that perspective, it is almost practical of the club now to pay Rooney some £9m a year.There are other benefits for United and their owners, the Glazers. The new five-year deal puts the club at an advantage. Were the forward to see out his contract and depart as a free agent, United would still have had the best of his career. Rooney, all the same, has still demonstrated the revolutionary power of the star footballer at a club where insurgencies have normally been put down ruthlessly.He and his agent, Paul Stretford, have ensured that a player rebellion has forced Sir Alex Ferguson to retreat, surely for the first time in his managerial career. Rooney has proved to be the one footballer who is not expendable in the eyes of the Scot. For his part, the attacker most likely presses on with his career at Old Trafford because, in part, his own nature limits his scope.Hunter Davies, ghostwriter of the Rooney autobiography that appeared in 2006, said in a radio interview that the player had been firmly set against moving to any foreign club. Assuming that aspect is still prominent in his mind, the one place where he could have obtained better terms would have been at Manchester City.Apart from any reluctance he would have felt about switching to nearby rivals, his life would have been under siege for the remainder of his playing days. The sinister and appalling news of men in balaclavas gathering outside his house yesterday evening with a death threat on their banner was a foretaste of the beleaguered existence he would have to lead.Such a prospect has gone. It has to be assumed, too, that his marriage has survived the reports about Rooney's private life. All he has to do now is be outstanding on the pitch. There was a time when he could barely help but be enthralling there, but the old instinctiveness has been reduced, possibly because he is all too aware that other matters cast a shadow over even a football field.Rooney's call for the squad around him to be improved was one aspect in which he still had solidarity with the fans this week. It would be prudent of the Glazers to do some hefty spending and so support the value of United in their portfolio. All the same, as Rooney's actions have indicated, January is not normally a time for the most influential players to be on the market.If Rooney himself is not sufficient to compensate for limitations in a squad where there still has to be an emphasis on veterans such as Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes then the club will encounter another crisis before long. From now on the Glazers must be as obsessed with the impact of Rooney as the most besotted of admirers.Manchester UnitedWayne RooneyKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney out for three weeks with ankle injury Wayne Rooney might have agreed a new contract but he will still be out for three weeks with an ankle injury. telegraph.co.uk |
Sydney FC wield the axe Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka will wield the axe with Stuart Musialik and Liam Reddy on the chopping block. foxsports.com.au |