Wayne Rooney in deep waters
There are some sayings in English language that really make sense at times, for Manchester United striker, Wayne Rooney, the words “ when it rains, it pours” really fits the bill at the moment.
The English front man has been hampered by several problems since April this year. Just 6 months back he was seen as the man, who would lead England to World cup glory in South Africa, and the man, who was carrying Manchester United on his own shoulders.
When Cristiano Ronaldo left the club there were calls from his manager and others to step up his game and become the leading goal-scorer for the club. The man also known a Shrek to his team mates took on the challenge and started the season in 2009 with
a bang.
He took on the responsibility to get the goals for his team, and was the man carrying his team in almost all competitions scoring 34 goals. Manchester United looked well on course for a treble after winning the Carling Cup, they were in the hunt for UEFA
Champion’s League, and also for the Premier League title.
But one bad week for Rooney turned it all around for him and his club. Rooney suffered an ankle injury while playing against Bayern Munich in the Semi final of UEFA Champions League. Man United ended up losing the 2 legged tie from the brink of victory.
To make matters worse there was the all important title deciding clash with Chelsea up next, with Rooney injured United really looked toothless and ended up losing the match and also the title to the Blues.
However, the form he has shown leading up to his injury, he was still dubbed as the biggest weapon for England in the World cup. England manager, Fabio Capello went as far as to say “no Rooney, no World Cup”.
The whole of England held its breath as Rooney started the recovery process. He did make it in time and was on the plane to South Africa. But the player that took to the field for England certainly looked like Rooney but did not play like him. The United
front man had not found his touch back and looked half of the player he was for his club in the season gone by. Engalnd’s World cup ended with a defeat at the hands of Germany, and there was talk that he would look to make it up for Manchester United.
However, things did not improve much for him. He was not able to find his form even for his club. In his 5 appearances so far he has only been able to score one goal and that too from the spot. He did manage to score for England once while playing in the
Euro 2012 qualifiers.
Just as he was struggling to find his form, a tabloid newspaper in England called News of the World revealed that Rooney was involved in relations with a well known prostitute while his wife was pregnant. That is just what he did not need at a time when
he was searching for his best form.
However, England’s manager decided to keep him in the team and he did play rather well in the two Euro 2012 qualifiers.
But still his best form eluded him, the pressure and extra media attention seemed to be bearing down on him. To make matters worse, Wayne suffered a reoccurrence of the nightmare ankle injury and now he has been sidelined for a couple of weeks.
If that was not enough another bomb was dropped on him by his sponsors, Coca-Cola, who dropped him from their advertising campaigns following the revelations about his private life. The company in a statement said that at this time they did not feel that
it was appropriate to put him on the packs of their Coke Zero Packs.
It would be a test of character in more ways than one for Wayne Rooney, and would be worth a wait to see how the talismanic English striker comes out from these controversies and makes the World take notice of what he does best. That is scoring goals for
club and country, but that would have to wait till he recovers fully and is back on the pitch.
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