It’s Wayne’s World
Wayne Rooney is in the form of his life, another match winning performance from the world’s best player as United eased past a sorry AC Milan side consisting of ageing stars, some of whom played their final games on the European stage. Forget David Beckham, this was the Rooney show.
At 24 he has already achieved everything possible in the domestic game. With the World Cup a few months away the whole nation will be pinning their hopes on England’s most gifted player since Gazza.
Rooney’s been simply sensational for Man United this season. He’s well on the way to beating Ronaldo’s tally of 42 goals, who ironically will not be talking part in the Champions League quarter finals after sensationally crashing out after a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabéu with Lyon.
There are many other aspects of his play that show his all-round improvement. Rooney is now the key figure at United after Ronaldo’s transfer and so much more play goes through him. He is creative, works hard and is learning to lead the line by himself, an interesting alternative for Ferguson and Capello.
Thankfully he also seems to have controlled his temper without losing his will to win. Maybe it’s an age thing. Maybe being made captain on the odd occasion has calmed him down. Some say fatherhood will have mellowed him. Either way it’s a good thing, especially where England are concerned, because Rooney is now more likely to score the winner and less likely to stamp on Ricardo Carvalho’s nether regions.
Rooney is simply United’s heartbeat. He is world-class, a fans favourite and his mere presence lifts the teams and his supporters. Rooney is irreplaceable for United and is becoming as significant as Eric Cantona was for his club, albeit in a different way. Without him it’s fair to say the champions title hopes would be over. Yet it would be a lot worse for England if he were unable to feature in South Africa this summer.
A fully fit Wayne Rooney can terrorise the best defences this summer. He’ll strike fear into teams and is known throughout the world as a top player. He is by far England’s best striker. Imagine going into the tournament with Defoe and Crouch as the front two. It doesn’t bare thinking about.
Yes Gerrard and Cole can play off the striker but neither offer the genuine goal-threat and power of a potent Wayne Rooney. More encouragingly for his country he is becoming more of a ‘striker,’ playing further forward and spending more time with his back to the goal. If Capello needs him to be the target man, he can do it. If he wants him to drop deeper, he can still do so to devastating effect.
United and England both have talented players who will do well this season and summer. Yet many have a decent back-up and similar styled players who can do a decent job if they are out. Rooney is simply irreplaceable because of the way he plays the game, especially in this sort of form. He can probably cope with carrying United through the final stages of the season but let’s hope he leaves enough in the tank for this summer. If he still has enough in his engine the world could be Wayne Rooney’s oyster, and more importantly England’s’, in South Africa this summer.
