Manchester United fans do not have a lot of time for Wayne Rooney at present. When he originally signed for the club he was accepted quite quickly, helped, no doubt, by scoring a hat-trick in his first game, a Champion’s League match against Fenerbahcé.
He then went on to have a few relatively successful years even though he could only watch as better players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez moved on to more success. He never reached their level despite his early promise. It appeared that he reached his comfort zone and stayed there.
As everybody will be aware he blotted his copybook on not one, but two occasions. Firstly when saying that the United team wasn’t good enough and that he wanted assurances that they would be strengthening during the close season. At this time he was linked with moves to Chelsea and Manchester City.
He should have been sold to Chelsea but he was prevented from moving altogether by the fans barricading him inside his house, outraged by the thought of him going to the Etihad. His reward for his insubordination was a new contract and a pay rise.
On the second occasion he was more or less accused of having asked for a transfer by Sir Alex Ferguson who, had he stayed in charge, would almost certainly have sold him. This time Rooney wanted the fans to know that, in fact, he hadn’t asked for a transfer. He would still be happy to talk to Chelsea, but he hadn’t asked for a transfer.
It was his way of trying to smooth the waters with the fans if he did leave as he was wary of the reaction after the last transfer fiasco. He didn’t leave, David Moyes arrived and guess what? He got another new contract and another pay rise. Amazing!
Ever since these days of transfer talk Rooney has gone from being a better than average player to being a below average player. His assertion that he has nothing to prove to anybody borders on the arrogant and he can’t get into the United team despite his assurance that he can play in more than one position. Obviously not well enough for the manager’s liking.
With all this evidence of mediocrity over the last few years, yet another yes-man England manager has not only picked him to play but has kept him as captain. He deserves neither. It is time for Wayne Rooney to head into the sunset whether that be in the USA or China doesn’t really matter.
Jesse Lingard has time to improve but probably won’t. He will never be as good as Rooney was and Rooney was only ever better-than-average at best. Lingard is simply not good enough even for this mediocre England team.
Judging Lingard on performances alone he has been abject. Granted he has scored a couple of decent goals but he needs to add much more to his game. He lacks concentration, skill and the ability to keep possession. He was even taken off at half time in the recent Manchester derby because he was THAT bad.
Judging Lingard as a person, he acts like an idiot when representing Manchester United and this is unlikely to change when he is with the national squad. Forever sticking his tongue out like a five year old and generally behaving like the kid he undoubtedly still is. A lesson in manners and general all round behaviour would not go amiss with this one.
Incredibly, he has also been picked to represent England despite his woeful performances in a United shirt this season.
When England return home from the next World Cup having failed to qualify from the group stage, people should question why, in games such as the one against Malta at Wembley, new players weren’t blooded and the old school were wheeled out yet again to prove absolutely nothing except a remarkable lack of ingenuity within the England set-up.
UPDATE
As this article was intended to be published before the game there is obviously no mention of the performance of the two main chatacters. They both managed to stay on the pitch for the duration and, in fairness, they did very little wrong. They also did very little right. In fact, they did very little and this against an opposition which offered virtually no resistance, (apart from their goalkeeper). The laboured 2-0 win was neither convincing nor particularly enjoyable.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 