Wayne Rooney News Archives

England’s stars may have been watching the European Championships from their living rooms in sadness and disbelief this past summer, but their pain could turn to gain when the new Premier League season gets underway this weekend.

After woefully dismal failures against Russia, Macedonia and twice Croatia in their qualifying campaign, the nation’s heroes had turned to zeros in a matter of months. Of course, Rio Ferdinand and his fellow English Manchester United teammates went on to achieve something very special with their club following their embarrassing contribution to the country’s footballing hopes, but heartache would still have been felt throughout the weeks of June.

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We hear it countless times these days: “If he’s that good at this age how good will he be when he reaches his peak?”

And if related to a player at the club we support, we drool and wonder at the prospect. It has been a long-held belief (based on the relative truism of history) that something in the region of 28 years of age is when a player reaches his peak.

Yes, there are variations; goalkeepers arguably peak somewhere in their 30’s and can be very good value in their late 30’s. Top defenders can play at the highest level into their mid thirties and often peak later than the average. Midfielders tend to hit the average. But what, I ask, of forwards and wingers, or, to lump then into a single category, the pacey, flair players who tend to steal the headlines and scoop the awards?

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Is it possible to be too old to win a title?

Sir Alex Ferguson certainly thinks so. According to him, Chelsea are too old to win a title. At least, that’s how the Guardian interpreted Sir Alex’s comments (and far be it for someone to suggest that a British newspaper somehow blew an innocuous quote completely out of proportion in order to stir up a controversy that doesn’t really exist).

If anything, all he said was that Chelsea’s key players had probably already peaked while many of his key players still had some potential for improvement (not sure if that makes it better or worse – I’m sure Ballack, Lampard, Drogba, and the others appreciated being told that they weren’t going to get any better). Still, for the purposes of this article, let’s look at the Big Four teams in the Premiership and compare the average ages of their respective starting XI’s.

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Watched Manchester United’s 07/08 Season Review over the weekend (grab the torrent here) and it was quite an entertaining 2 and half hours.

It also gave me some perspective on the season that went by - perspective that I think is useful considering the Ronaldo saga, the transfer speculation this summer and for predicting United’s performances for next season. If you’re going to watch anything this summer, the Frost interview with Ferguson and this Season Review is it.

If you’re not a United fan, this is not for you. If you ARE a United fan, this is a must read. Here we go…

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It is a well publicised and widely held belief that footballers are as thick as two short planks. The stereotype of an uneducated ruffian with little schooling and the total inability to string a comprehensible sentence together is confirmed each time you see the likes of Wayne Rooney interviewed!

That is very unfair because many of us would come over as less than the Brain of Britain if we had a microphone shoved under our noses after we had just run ten thousand metres in a European cup tie and some idiot asked us, “how do you feel?” In fact, if I’d just run ten thousand metres they would have to remove my oxygen mask to hear my reply!

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Wayne Rooney will go under the knife after the game against the United States, The Daily Telegraph says. The England striker has been suffering with hernia since getting hit in the hip a month ago while playing against Blackburn. The Manchester United medical staff found a way to delay the surgery but after England’s friendly, there can be no other delay. This will cause the United striker to miss the T & T friendly this weekend.

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England fans have not had much to smile about in recent times. The Three Lions have been playing below their capabilities for the past 18 years or so. Their one flourish? At Euro 2004, a certain boy named Wayne Rooney mesmerized every England fan with two absolute brilliant performances.

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Nike recently released a web-exclusive video of Wayne Rooney called “What Wayne Knows” – where he talks about how he plays, taking you through the technicalities of his game and approach to play. It’s part of a series of videos giving an insight into leading players - this one comes early thanks to the buildup to the Champions League final.

Watch it below and let us know what you think in the comments.

Bonus: Another Roo vid.

Peter Reid talks to Soccerlens about who should take the England captaincy, why Rooney is the best player in the Premiership, and getting one over Graeme Souness.

Peter Reid was the kind of player you’d want to have in your team. Passionate, committed, full of drive and a never say-die-attitude that saw him gain thirteen England caps, as well as helping Everton to two league titles, the FA Cup and European Cup Winners Cup.

That style’s transferred off the pitch where he’s still full of passion and drive, both during his time as manager of Sunderland, Leeds, and Manchester City and now in his latest role – as England manager.

No, we’re not breaking a world exclusive here. Reid hasn’t taken over from Fabio Capello. But his task is no less daunting – he’ll be managing a team of England legends over three matches this summer, televised on ITV4, starting with a match up against Scotland legends managed by his old Merseyside adversary Graeme Souness at Southampton on Thursday and we caught up with him as he made his final preparations.

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Here’s a list of the top scorers in this year’s Champions League (so far), plus their career stats for the Champions League:

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Before this game (and indeed, before any away game Manchester United have played in the last couple of seasons) the media trotted out figures to suggest that United were abysmal away in Europe - and few United fans would have argued against it after 4 away defeats last season (Celtic, Copenhagen, Roma and Milan) in the Champions League.

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Manchester United’s fearsome four have established their reputation not only for their brilliant football but also for their sexual exploits, the likes of which have never been revealed to the mass media before.

Sources close to Wayne Rooney have revealed the grand exploits of this foursome with their conquests ranging from the top of Hollywood to the slushpile of non-humanity (and beyond).

Their most famous escapade involves an amazing sex-filled romp on a booze-filled night with two famous sisters, a baby, a Marilyn Monroe wannabe and a goat. All this happened in late 2007, when the four Manchester United stars jetted off to a secret bonding session to Miami, where they met with their *friends* in a 8-person orgy.

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In an ambitious and somewhat desperate attempt to wipe off their debt, Manchester United have struck a stunning 40m deal with Liverpool, taking Scouser and former Everton star Wayne Rooney to Anfield.

Reports suggest that Manchester United’s need to sell, coupled with the lack of quality strikers at Liverpool and Steven Gerrard’s desire to win titles meant that Liverpool were left with no choice but to pay Manchester United’s asking price.

Of course, the deal will not be finalised till July but the work has already started, with Coleen Mclaughlin spotted in Liverpool shopping for a house with Alex Curran. The £40m will be paid to Manchester United up front and will be funded by Liverpool using the money from the sales of Kuyt, Voronin, Riise, and Carson. Of course, this probably won’t even cover Rooney’s one-year wages, so in reality Hicks and Gillett will need to borrow £40m from Roman Abramovich (or perhaps sell a share of Liverpool to DIC) to fund the purchase.

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In this week’s WagSnatch roundup, Beckham plays for his England and Hollywood future (what, you think Indiana Jones is just about the money?), Rooney is getting bald, Coleen does not want his name and Danielle Lloyd, famous for stripping in front of a lens, is in a titz over some ‘personal’ saucy photos…

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In today’s WagSnatch Roundup – is the Cole soap opera FINALLY over, Goldenballs gets chummy on LA Galaxy tour, Posh in a deal for a new reality show, Goldenballs sister celebrates her birthday (without a cat fight this time), Danielle Lloyd says no to footballers, new craze among the WAGs, Rooney likes to float and a bit of a sad news to wrap it all up.

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In this week’s WagSnatch Roundup is Gazza finally on the mend, the Spurs boys are still celebrating, not one but two WAGs get into a catfight, Beckhams exposed and moving on up, Cheryl Cole goes back to her roots and the strangest pulling technique ever.

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I won’t mention anything about what happened to Arsenal’s Eduardo over the weekend, since it’s been talked about plenty already, but I send my get well wishes towards him, and hope he’s back scoring goals (but not against Manchester United) again as soon as possible.

It was a pretty important weekend of football in the Premier League, with the race for the title and for European places getting ever tighter as we edge towards the home stretch.

At the other end, the relegation battle is ongoing, and though it’s almost a given that Derby will be playing Championship football next term, several other sides are fighting to not join the Rams in the second level.

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So, where to start?

Do I lead in with Liverpool’s crushing defeat at home, or do I kickoff things with Manchester United’s demolition of Arsenal?

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Since Manchester United’s unforgettable, treble-clinching Champions League triumph over Bayern Munich in 1999, Sir Alex Ferguson has added several more memories - and trophies - in a tenure at the club that has now surpassed the two-decade mark.

But, the one thing that has eluded Fergie since that night in Barcelona is another trip to that promised land.

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In today’s WAGSnatch Roundup - times are changing for the England squad with a new WAG ban imposed, Ronaldo becomes the highest paid footballer in the Premier League, Chelsea’s Anelka is the latest footballer exposed for his cheating ways while Rooney’s little brother has an unusual pulling technique. And lets not forget Loaded’s poll and Prawn awards - who are England’s crappiest football fans?

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In this week’s WagSnatch roundup Ronaldo’s mum begs his son to come and play for Real Madrid, Wayne Rooney is voted the ugliest footballer (but that would not stop women from dating him), Gunners lose to Spurs and get into a tussle at the pitch, Becks brings attention to Sierra Leone and Slaven Bilic put rumors to rest once and for all – he is not in it for the money.

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Wayne Rooney has just been elected the ugliest player in the world, at least according to 33% of the 2,500 women polled by www.thepeoplesclub.com. “Shrek” (as the Man Utd striker is affectionately, or not-so-affectionately rather, nicknamed) is however judged to be the perfect mate for girlfriend (and soon-to-be wife) Coleen McLoughlin, the latter indeed not being typical smokin’ hot WAG material (à la à la Abbey Clancy or Danielle Lloyd), even though her business skills are largely superior to her much sexier colleagues.

But going back to our “Ugly Top 20″ ranking, Wayne Rooney is indeed topping the list and beating footy champions of the caliber of Ronaldinho and Carlos Tevez. While the footballing skills of the top trio certainly aren’t being questioned, the feminine population that was sampled might have very different things to say about their looks. I guess the “cartoonish face and bunny smile” of the Barcelona playmaker, and the rough facial expression of the Man Utd striker (nicknamed “Apache”) aren’t appreciated at their just value?

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“Soccer is a world made of numbers”. A phrase which would make any mathematician proud, with the eternal claim that you can find mathematics anywhere.

And where better to find numbers than Goal Totals: the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), the famous (and often criticized) organization that chronicles the history of football, has just published its World’s Top Goal Scorer of 2007 ranking.

No, the results are further from probably anything you may expect.

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Towards the end of 2006, certain pundits and magazines were proclaiming the birth of Sir Alex Ferguson’s third (for some, fourth) great team stemming from his 20-year tenure at Manchester United.

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Anytime two of England’s biggest clubs face off, it makes for a must-see occasion.

But, today’s match at Anfield between north-west rivals Liverpool and Manchester United isn’t the only big ticket in England this weekend, as on Sunday, London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea battle it out at the Emirates Stadium.

Both clashes shape up to be pivotal in affecting the early-season standings, as the EPL’s ‘Big Four” are currently 1-4 in the current league table.

Arsenal - 37 points
Manchester United - 36 points
Chelsea - 34 points
Liverpool - 30 points

Aside from their excellence domestically, all four sides have qualified for the round of 16 in the Champions League for the third time in four years, with Manchester United and Chelsea topping their respective groups.

First billing goes to the showdown between the Reds and the Red Devils, and so without further ado, let’s kick off the preview of the match.

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Either Wayne Rooney stepped on the crack of a sidewalk and crossed paths with a black cat at the same time he was trying to pick up a penny on its tails side, or he hasn’t been drinking his milk.

Whatever the case may be, for the second time in three months, and for the fourth time in the last three years, the ever-rising Manchester United and England star is shelved for an extended period of time for a bad break.

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Yes, I’ve said it before: it’s ‘Top 100 Ranking’ time. Fresh from publishing their Top 100 footballers list last month, English magazine FourFourTwo just released their a list of the Richest players and club owners of the English Premiership, sort of a “2007’s Billionaire’s club” if you will. As the editors eloquently put it, the key message of this year is that “British football is getting richer, and the rich are getting richer“.

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Will he or won’t he?

With wonderkid Wayne Rooney itching to get back to first-team action there were rumours that he could be brought back, in some role, for the Manchester United v Everton game. Highly unlikely that something like this would happen, what with World Cup 2006 still fresh in SAF’s mind.

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Over at Red Rants, K9 talks about Manchester United’s need for a goal poacher.

In my view, Manchester United are not going to find the next Ruud, or Beckham, or Giggs, or Scholes or Keane or Cantona. Those players were/are unique in their ability to win games for United. What Manchester United ‘can’ do is find and groom players who can win games through sheer will - stars who do more than just impress critics with their work-rate or arm-chair pundits with their ‘reputation’.

And Manchester United already have two such players - Rooney and Ronaldo.

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This is an article I’ve wanted to write for a while now, and am unfortunately slightly late on.

I missed the window on Kaka, who would clearly be in the lineup. However I am writing it now because I don’t want to miss the window on perhaps the most important member of this team, Petr Cech, who turns 25 in less than a week.

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