Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney will be not spotted up in three weeks of action for club and country, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed on Tuesday.
The striker, who has been diminutive of structure and goals all season, was replaced with half an hour left against Bolton in the Premier League on Sunday and did not travel with the United squad for their Champions League match against Valencia.
The injury update from Ferguson means Rooney will miss the league game at Sunderland on Saturday and also England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro on October 12.
Ferguson also long-established that midfielder Paul Scholes will be sidelined for 10 days with a calf problem. “It will be two to three weeks,” said Ferguson. “But it depends because Wayne has done quite well with his recovery from injury in the past.” Rooney’s absence against Montenegro will be a blow to Fabio Capello given he has already lost Frank Lampard, Theo Walcott, Jermain Defoe and Bobby Zamora in a growing injury list, plus James Milner through suspension.
However, it could be squabbled it is just what Rooney needs after an dreadful period, during which point in time his hush-hush life has been thrown into mayhem and his form has buckled. He has still only scored once this season – from the penalty spot – evaluated with three in a week for Michael Owen and seven so far this season for top scorer Dimitar Berbatov.
Former England skipper Kevin Keegan claimed on Sunday that Rooney’s confidence was “shot”, adding the forward only had himself to blame for the press intrusion into his life because of the number of endorsements he current has.
“It is a straightforward ankle injury,” he said. “And it is not the same one he did in Munich.” Rooney’s form collapse can be traced back to that injury in the first leg of last season’s European quarter-final against Bayern Munich.
Ferguson has previously insisted he did not rush Rooney back too quickly, although he will hope when his star man does return from his present lay-off, he is more like his old self than the shadow player he seemed to have become.
“Nobody likes to be injured but he is. There is nothing you can do about it,” said the united boss. Unfortunately for the Red Devils, Rooney’s is not the only injury for them to contend with. Although it was assumed Scholes had simply been rested after completing the full 90 minutes against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium, Ferguson has revealed the 35-year-old has instead picked up a niggling calf problem.
“You don’t want to lose your best players that go without saying” said Ferguson. “The problem is with one of those small injuries like Paul has got, when you are traveling and sitting on a plane, stiffness comes into it and doesn’t make it any better.
“It was a big decision to leave him behind. Because it is only a little one, you are tempted to play him when it is not wise. “He should be ready in 10 days.” said Ferguson.
Tags: Bolton, Champions League, Football, Manchester United, Premier League, Sir Alex Ferguson, Soccer, Sports, Valencia, Wayne Rooney
