Wayne Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson left Wayne Rooney on the bench yet again for Manchester United’s weekend fixture against West Bromwich Albion thus fuelling rumours of a spat with the star striker.
Rooney, a one time favourite of Ferguson, began his troubles when he was left out of the squad that travelled to Everton after problems in his personal life went public. He but then was picked by Capello and also scored in England’s 3-1 victory over Switzerland in their Euro’12 qualifiers. But Sir Alex continued leaving him out of the squad as the Red Devils dropped points against Bolton and Sunderland with Fergie announcing that the striker had an ankle injury.
But he was surprisingly picked again by Fabio Capello to play for England against Montenegro in the Euro qualifiers. He had a disappointing game as England were held to a goalless draw as they dropped down the table. But the real talking point came after the game when Rooney went on to contradict Ferguson’s claims that he had an ankle injury.
Rooney has seen a terrible dip in his form this season, scoring only once and that from the penalty spot against West Ham United. Rooney, who despite his personal problems and loss of form remains a crowd favourite, has a year and a half left on his United contract. But if the striker shows no signs of renewing his contract, the Red Devils will be forced to sell their star asset at the end of this season before his value plummets in the transfer market. If he is up for sale, we could in all probability see the top clubs Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea or even big spenders Manchester City lock horns in a battle to secure his services.
But before that Ferguson will have to settle his own problems; the lack of a top class finisher. Right now he has Berbatov, Hernandez and Owen as his main men up front, the latter’s fitness always a cause of concern. And with Giggs, Scholes, Van der Sar all at the dusk of their career, it remains to be seen if Fergie can let go off another big name player without having much of an impact on the fortunes of the club.
Tags: Football, Manchester United, MU, Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson, Soccer, Sports, Wayne Rooney, West Bromwich Albion
