Football Update: Ferguson expecting world cup players back early
Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney can be back in the red of United much earlier than anticipated. Rooney and the rest on world cup duty were not expected to be in action for another week, but Ferguson is expecting them to start first week of August, when United take on Aircity 11 in Dublin. United are at the end of their U.S.A tour and will resume practice in Manchester in a few days.
Ferguson said that nothing can be said for sure just yet, but it all will depend on their state of fitness once he has his players back from national duties that is on July 28th.
Wayne Rooney had a very disappointing world cup to say the least; England was knocked out of the tournament after a 4-1 defeat to Germany in the pre quarter final.
England in general played at low intensity but Rooney in particular had a tough time. It was just not expected from a man who had scored no less than 34 goals for Manchester United in the season gone by. Many before the world cup feared that Rooney is playing so well that maybe he has peaked too early, and he would outlive the form when England get to South Africa. That is probably what happened.
Other than Rooney, Ferguson will also have number of other players back who were taking part in the world cup. Michael Carrick, who was also on England duty, will also rejoin the team. Another player who suffered a bad world cup campaign that was in fact worse than England’s performance is Patrice Evra, the French captain. France got knocked out in the group stages following defeats at the hands of Mexico and South Africa. Park Ji Sung though would be coming back in high spirits; the South Korean captain guided his team to the quarter finals of the world cup. Another United player who captained his team to the quarter finals is Namanja Vidic (Serbia), but his future at Old Trafford is quite uncertain. So all these players may be in the frame to put on the new season jersey and play in the match on 4th of August in Dublin.
Sir Alex Ferguson though would have his hands full with number of injuries ahead of the season. Rio Ferdinand, who was injured just before the world cup and could not lead his team in the mega event, is still a worry. Gary Neville is also not fully fit, Michael Owen is recovering from the Hamstring injury he suffered in the Carling Cup final, but he is expected to be fit just in time for the start of the season. Antonio Valencia is also doubtful for the first week or so of the season with a groin problem. Owen Hargreaves meanwhile is the worst of all after missing nearly 2 seasons, his knee injury has resurfaced and he may be looking at another long layoff, and finally Brazilian Anderson is also struggling to get fit in time.
Sir Alex said that he is very excited about the new season and already has various strategies planned out. He said that last season started well, and till December of even February, things looked well on track for Champions league and Premier league. That could have given United a treble. He said that things just went wrong for the team at the worst possible time. He said that injury to Rooney probably was the biggest blow. He added that the squad is good enough to win multiple trophies this year, and if fitness problems do not hamper Manchester United, it would be a season to remember.
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