Can you believe it, Rooney is back in training for Manchester United and has recovered and is expected to be fit for the Premier League match against Fulham next Monday.
The Old Trafford striker injured his ankle whilst training earlier this month resulting in him losing out on England’s final group match in the Euro 2008 championship qualifiers. England went onto lose that game 3-2 and are sure that Rooney’s absence was key.
Rooney has also missed United’s last two Premier League games against Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, which ended in one victory and one defeat, as well as last night’s Champions League fixture against Sporting Lisbon.
Following that 2-1 victory at Old Trafford, manager Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed Rooney has now made the step up to full training and was likely to play some part against the Cottagers in five days’ time.
“Wayne’s making good progress,” the United manager said. “He did some running last week and he has resumed training this week. We are looking at him making his comeback against Fulham.”
United clearly missed Rooney during the surprise 1-0 defeat at relegation-threatened Bolton last weekend.
The 22-year-old has struck up a good understanding with summer signing Carlos Tevez, despite many pundits suggesting they would not complement one another, and Ferguson is keen to see the pair back together in the team.
Does this level of tenacity REALLY suprise anyone? It’s this level of comittment that shows that Rooney should become captain.
I think it’s his level of tenacity that *should* keep him from being captain – at least for now. A captain is supposed to keep their team in check and set an example on the pitch. Rooney (and to a lesser degree Ronaldo) tends to lose his cool and pick up silly fouls/cards. They are both fierce competitors – which is what makes them successful on the pitch, but neither has matured to the point where they should be captain. How many times have you seen Wayne lose the ball on an attack, then chase the play back all the way to his defensive third where he throws in a clumbsy blatant tackle that get’s him a yellow card? You know you’ve seen it.
Hmm…Yellow cards a problem, eh? Well, I remember a little Irishman named Roy who didn’t seem to have too big of a problem picking up cards and was still one of the greatest captains United has seen.
And as for those blatant challenges, fault a guy for wearing his heart and colors on his sleeve? Please.
All the scores from Tevez in Man U here:
http://www.tevezmania.co.uk
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