Manchester United Diaries: The rise and fall of Wayne Rooney
After Cristiano Ronaldo’s big money move from Manchester United to Real Madrid, in the summer of 2009, the responsibility of spearheading United’s frontline fell entirely upon Wayne Rooney. Rooney had to adapt to different playing roles every now and then, simply because Ronaldo was too good on his own. United didn’t bring in a suitable replacement for the Portuguese winger and so they had to rely on Wayne Rooney, to get the goals for the team; not to ignore the fact that Berbatov and Owen were struggling for form and fitness.
Rooney stood up to the challenge in a heroic manner, bringing to the table his unmatched determination and hardwork, along with the immense talent, which was evident in the 90 minutes that he spent on the pitch. He was scoring goals for fun and quickly reached the 30 goals mark for the season and was on the verge to overcome Ronaldo’s record of 42 goals ,in the 2007-2008 season; a year that saw United win both the league and champions league. The 2009 -2010 term was also promising to be a glorious season for Man United. At a particular point in time in the season, they were on top of the premier league standings, en route to a third successive Champions league final and playing some outstanding football. While the number 10’s dominance was evident on the Premier League stage, the Champions League witnessed a similar spectacle, as the unstoppable Wayne Rooney made his presence felt in the European format. The England International, scored in the first minute against Bayern Munich, in the first leg at Allianz Arena and United were looking good to come away with a good result.
However, perhaps, as all good things come to an end, things took a flip for the worst for both, club and player. In the same meeting, Ivica Olic brought back the memories of 1999 with his stoppage time winner, after Ribery’s equalizer a few minutes ago. In the build-up to Olic’s goal, Rooney got injured and was taken-off immediately. It was revealed that he had suffered an ankle injury, which would rule him out for ‘at-least three weeks’. This meant that United had to face their title rivals Chelsea, for the decider at Old Trafford, without their best player. In the absence of Rooney, Chelsea proved to be too strong for the Red Devils and came away with a 2-1 win, while Rooney looked on with frustration from the stands. With that result sealed, Chelsea went on to replace United on top of the table. For the second leg against Bayern Munich, Rooney made a miraculous comeback and was in the starting line-up to face the Germans. United raced to a three goal lead in the first half but Bayern replied strongly and scored twice to get through on away goals.
Manchester United’s season came to a tragic end but things were to get even worse, for Wayne Rooney. He was struggling to get back in form, before the World Cup and when the tournament started, he looked rather rusty and failed to score a single goal. England was thrashed out in the quarter-final by Germany. The press and fans, took out their anger and frustration, at the centre forward and the rest of the team on their performance in South Africa. The Manchester United striker couldn’t wait for the next season to start so that he could put the past behind him and hopefully rediscover his scoring touch. But for now, Rooney has to rediscover his form and reinvent himself, if he wants to win back the hearts of the Manchester United followers.
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