Wayne Rooney News
1 July 2006: Rooney unlucky to be sent off
Wayne Rooney got sent off after Manchester United colleague Cristiano Ronaldo pleaded with the referee for action to be taken, thereby inducing a push from the England striker.
England went on to lose 1-0, after Rooney's sending-off but no blame can be attached to Rooney, who was showing his customary tenacity when fighting for the ball and there was no malice in his challenge on Carvalho.
8 June 2006: Rooney is back on track
Whilst the official statement from Manchester United still hedged their bets, England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said that Wayne Rooney is "injury free" and will be able to play at the World Cup when he is match fit.
The Manchester Evening News has an amusing diary entry from Wayne Rooney's metatarsal!
April 2006: Rooney may miss World Cup
Wayne Rooney, who earlier this month had won the PFA young player of the year award for the second year running, is now in doubt for England's World Cup campaign after it was confirmed that he had fractured a metatarsal bone in his right foot during Manchester United's 3-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Manchester United pay the penalty for missed chances
14 May 2005: Blatter criticises Mourinho and Rooney
25 April 2005: Rooney wins Young Player of the Year Award
Nobody could argue with the decision by the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) to give the Young Player of the Year Award to Wayne Rooney.
It was presented on the same day that Rooney scored a cracking shot from long-distance to help Manchester United topple Newcastle after going a goal behind.
What is extraordinary is that Wayne Rooney did not make the Premier League team of the season:
Petr Cech (Chelsea)
Gary Neville (Man Utd)
John Terry (Chelsea)
Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd)
Ashley Cole (Arsenal)
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Arjen Robben (Chelsea)
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man C)
Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
Andrew Johnson (C Palace)
30 March 2005: Rooney's only assault is on the football pitch
It was revealed today that a student who had accused Wayne Rooney of punching him in Manchester's Tiger Tiger nightclub has dropped the claims.
This follows a fantastic performance by Rooney against Northern Ireland, which included creating England's third goal out of nowhere with his magical jinx by the corner flag, going past two and staying on his feet to cross the ball that led to Chris Baird scoring an own-goal.
When Wayne Rooney joined Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson said:
"It isn't more difficult for me to look after young players than it has been in the past, simply because in my mind things are black and white ...If I have to speak to a player about an issue, they are either doing the right thing or the wrong one. In that respect nothing has changed."
It is ironic that it is the careful handling of two Scottish managers (Ferguson and Moyes) that has been instrumental in unleashing so effectively the huge talents of England's most exciting player.
28 February 2005: Rooney continues to shine.
Wayne Rooney is pulling out quality performance after quality performance at the moment. After Rooney's two goals against Portsmouth on the weekend, Sir Alex Ferguson exclaimed:
"Wayne Rooney was fantastic. He was by far our best player - absolutely magnificent..."
Last week Rooney's temperament held up against his old club, Everton, after it was revealed that Manchester United had sent him to an anger management therapist.
According to The Guardian:
"Jeannie Horsfield is the anger management expert Manchester United have entrusted with the task and today Rooney's temperament will be tested more than ever as he reacquaints himself with Everton.
"Horsfield's task is to protect Rooney from arguably his biggest rival - himself. She has already been credited with aiding David Beckham in the wake of his petulance in Saint-Etienne at the 1998 World Cup and turning him into a worthy national team captain..."
30 January 2005: Rooney proving a real asset.
There's no doubt that Wayne Rooney rises to the occasion. Once again, yesterday, he proved himself in an important cup tie, scoring two fine goals in United's defeat of a strong Middlesborough side, reminiscent of his debut European Cup hat-trick against Fenerbahce.
There was rightly acclaim for Wayne Rooney's goals, but perhaps more significant was Steve McClaren's quote: "He has an amazing temperament for someone so young. All he wants to do is play football, and I hope he never loses that."
McClaren is an extremely good coach and it is significant that he praised Rooney's temperament. After Rooney's petulance against Spain and the criticism he received for throwing off his arm-band when he was substituted, I was amongst those who wondered whether Rooney would get niggled away from home and suffer a poor disciplinary record, as stated in a previous Wayne Rooney update page.
I am happy to hold my hands up and admit I was wrong. I do not have the figures for Cup performances. But Wayne Rooney's premiership stats are revealing.
- Appearances: 15
- Minutes on pitch: 1222
- Subs. (on/off): 2/4
- Fouls committed: 15
- Yellow cards: 2
- Red cards: 0
So, only one foul per game, just two yellow cards and no sendings-off. But there is another significant statistic about Rooney. He has scored 5 premiership goals for Manchester United, thus far, of which two were in the last 10 minutes of the game. This signifies concentration and determination.