There is no getting away from the fact that Wayne Rooney is a very talented player. Regarded as one of the finest footballers of his generation, the way which he moves on the pitch is the mark of a genius. That is until he gets into trouble and that has happened quite a bit lately.
Rooney’s career goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. If it’s not his hair transplant or his dramatic return to form this season when he bagged back-to-back hat tricks it’s his disciplinary record. It was revealed today that Rooney’s sending off against Montenegro has seen him being banned by UEFA for three matches. That is a ridiculous amount of time as other players who have been sent off have received a one or two match ban but three matches? Not that the next three matches for England aren’t exactly small-scale but the opening games of Euro 2012. Important games, much? Not hardly.
But, is it all UEFA’s fault? Yes, it seems that they like to strongly reprimand England players when they misbehave but then this isn’t the first time that Rooney has been sent off. This is his second red card of his England career and eighth in total. I’m sure that over the next few days and weeks there will be uproar in the media where they will blame UEFA for it. When the criticisms fly in for this decision, will these people actually admit to having seen what happened? Rooney didn’t tap him on the shoulder and the player therefore dived but Rooney’s tackle would have made Chopper Harris wince. Rooney must understand that when he is playing, he isn’t on the training pitch anymore as he is closely followed. Actions have consequences and Rooney has difficulty in understanding that. When he swore live on television back in April 2011, it took him a while to apologise. Does the man have no common sense?
When the appeal against this decision is made by the FA, no doubt will they cite that the ban is too harsh. But, some of the blame must be pointed in Rooney’s direction. He is a role model for many around the world and he must understand that one way or another.
