Many Are Called. Few Succeed. Manchester United: Beyond the Promised Land

Rooney's Slump Explained

All those feverishly seeking answers to Wayne Rooney's current impression of a lost puppy should direct their questions to Ruud Bossen, Holland. Ever since the referee ridiculously dismissed the Manchester United striker in a pre-season tournament in Amsterdam, Rooney has been assailed by self-doubt.

The red card, brandished when Rooney challenged Porto's Pepe for an aerial ball, is at the root of Rooney's distracted nature. A creature of instinct, a footballer who learnt his game in rumbustious street kickabouts in Croxteth, now fears his naturally combative approach to football leads only to referees' bad books. The street footballer finds himself trapped in a cul-de-sac.

Self-analysis does not come easily to Rooney. Where others would dissect the problem and get their show back on the road, Rooney seems to be wandering through games like a ghost, almost scared to make a challenge for fear of angering another official and triggering another avalanche of reproving headlines.

There were times during Manchester United's Premiership encounter with Newcastle United on Sunday when Rooney was clearly holding back. With Nicky Butt and Scott Parker snapping at his heels, Rooney went into a shell created by Bossen. When such natural moves, as leaping to head a ball, earn censure, no wonder Rooney has had his faith tested.

"If you watch the video, I didn't take my eyes off the ball once," Rooney observed in Amsterdam. "On the way down, my hands brushed against the player. There wasn't much contact but the lad went down and stayed down." Rooney was unfortunate that Pepe milked the accidental contact and Bossen was conned.

When the FA's independent disciplinary commission then added further insult to iniquity and banned Rooney for three games, England's best player must have felt the world was against him.

As Rooney returns from injury and suspension to the England fold, joining up with his colleagues at the squad's Salford base tonight, it is important that this gifted footballer receives help before the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Macedonia on Saturday and Croatia next week. Fortunately, 'International Rescue' is at hand.

Three wise men can turn Rooney's season around, guiding him out of the doldrums and back under the velvet ropes of the limelight club: Steve McClaren, Steven Gerrard and Bill Beswick.

McClaren first. England's head coach has publicly backed Rooney, even castigating the FA for the lack of justice in imposing the three-match ban. A manager who usually refuses to promise sinecures, McClaren has intimated that Rooney is a "fixture" in the side and will automatically return this week.

He will also improve Rooney's spirit and form by deploying him properly. When Sven-Goran Eriksson fielded the convalescent in the World Cup, it was clearly a gamble as Rooney was clinically ready, but not mentally; using him as a lone striker against Portugal compounded the mistake as frustration deepened and the fuse finally started burning, leading to his deserved expulsion.

Against Macedonia and Croatia, McClaren must tell Rooney to play off Peter Crouch, give him licence to attack, to express himself, so dispelling his melancholy on the way.

Rooney's first mission after checking into England's hotel should be to seek out Gerrard. Liverpool's dynamo also has painful experience of the Amsterdam tournament, having been dismissed at the ArenA in 2003. Fortunately, the referee, Rene Temmink, showed some largesse and deliberately did not mention Gerrard's expulsion in his report, so he was cleared to start the season.

Since then, Gerrard has learnt to keep his temper in check, channeling any frustration constructively. Some sound advice from the PFA Player of the Year to the Young Player could provide huge benefits for England.

At some point this week Rooney should have a quiet chat with Beswick, the England team psychologist. Some of Beswick's sayings on how to live with on-field vexations, such as applying the "traffic light test" of pausing for thought before acting, make sense.

Beswick, Gerrard and McClaren can show Rooney the way out of the wilderness.

I can understand the writers point. Ever since that Red Card in pre season, Rooney hasn't had the physical... 'grit' that we expect to see. He doesn't get stuck in, he seems to get the ball and immediatly look for a pass, rather than running at people, nor is he tackling back. Infact the only match i've seen the 'real' Rooney in terms of aggression, was the Benefica match.

I think the card has put a seed of doubt in Rooneys head, not because it was a red, but because it was completely unjustified, and any fool could see it didn't warrant a yellow let alone a red. I think this doubt has also come when he's been unfit, which just highlights his problem.

The Fulham match was very different, first match of the season, knowing that he'd be suspended for 3 matches. Him and Scholes put everything into that match. But if you watch the replay, Rooney wasn't physical, infact Fulham practically ignored Rooney and went for Ronaldo instead.

Here's a link to the article by the Daily Telegraph. It's pretty much spot on. I really do see where the author's coming from. Rooney's lost the physical grit which is so much of his game. He's a totally different player without that grit and determination to get stuck in. Ahh there's not much as else to say really, the authors covered it all.

Tackled By The Red Devil at 11:16 PM,
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