1. Is Rooney right?
WAYNE ROONEY CLEARLY was not best pleased after Man United’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal today.
Marcus Rashford was preferred to Rooney up front in the absence of the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic, though Rooney did come off the bench at Old Trafford.
Not for the first time though, Rooney’s on-field exploits were overshadowed by his off-field behaviour.
The 31-year-old forward reacted with a hard-hitting statement following a midweek controversy in which he was pictured drinking late at night and crashing a wedding at the England team hotel.
The Man United star labelled the media “disgraceful” and suggested they were “trying to write my obituary and I won’t let that happen” when speaking to the press today.
It’s hard not to feel a degree of sympathy for Rooney. It was irresponsible of the England camp to allow the players to mingle with members of the general public and he was not the only England footballer enjoying himself that night.
But that said, it also suggests a lack of discipline that is part of the reason why the England star’s career has been fading, at the relatively tender footballing age of 31, for quite some time.
Speaking on BT about the incident, Harry Redknapp claimed that Rooney was “out of order” and added that he shouldn’t have been allowed to go out drinking given the almost inevitably dire consequences.
Rio Ferdinand added that the truly elite footballers such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi would never put themselves in that position.
There’s no doubt that there was an element of glee about the way in which the incident was reported, but whether Rooney likes it or not, there are different rules for such high-profile footballers compared with everyone else.
It requires impeccable discipline to be a player at Rooney’s level and on this occasion, he has failed to live up to the exceptionally high standards required.
Perhaps the media treatment has been unfair, but the overriding issue and probably the true source of the star’s unhappiness is that Rooney’s performance haven’t been good enough for quite some time, and on that matter, he has no one to blame other than himself.
2. Southampton benefit from below-par Liverpool
Not many people would have predicted a 0-0 in today’s Southampton-Liverpool match.
Jurgen Klopp’s side, who remain top on goal difference after today’s action, averaged almost three goals a game before this aftenoon.
But the Reds’ normally prolific attack was plainly off form this afternoon.
In the absence of the influential Adam Lallana, their team did not quite function as well as normal going forward, while Philippe Coutinho, who had been a doubt before the match, was plainly below his irrepressible best.
Roberto Firmino and Nathaniel Clyne also missed gilt-edged chances in the second half to complete a miserable afternoon for the Anfield outfit, as Southampton hung on for a hard-earned point.
3. From joy to despair for Randolph
Ireland international Darren Randolph will have been delighted to have finally been given a start for West Ham against Tottenham today.
It was just the Bray native’s seventh league appearance since joining the club in the summer of 2015, and Slaven Bilic before the match confirmed that Randolph was starting ahead of regular number one Adrian on merit.
And the 29-year-old stopper had been having an excellent game until the 89th minute, when he unfortunately made a mess of Son Heung-Min’s cross, allowing Harry Kane to slot home and handing Spurs the initiative to go on and win the game in dramatic circumstances.
It was one error in an otherwise good performance from Randolph, so for his and Ireland’s sake, the talented stopper will be hoping he won’t be punished unduly for this last-gasp slip-up.
4. Redemption for Yaya Toure
Not many people were expecting to see Yaya Toure’s name in Man City’s starting lineup at Crystal Palace today.
In fact, most people expected the Ivorian star’s imminent exit following an early-season falling out with Pep Guardiola.
Yet the City coach, who Toure worked with at Barcelona also, appears to have given the 33-year-old midfielder a second chance.
And today, following the veteran star’s match-winning brace, Guardiola spoke glowingly of Toure, who was also given a standing ovation by his teammates following a difficult few months.
“I’m so happy because he’s now a real part of the team and he can help us to achieve our targets because we need all the players, because it’s so demanding with the Premier League and the Champions League and the cup and so on,” the Catalan coach said.
5. Sunderland pay fitting tribute to Irish footballing legend
Sunderland showed some class today with a fitting tribute to Irish footballing legend, Charlie Hurley.
Hurley made over 400 appearances for the Black Cats between 1957 and 1969, and was named the club’s ‘Player of the Century’ on their centenary of the year in 1979;.
‘The King’ is also considered one of the best footballers that Ireland have ever produced, making 40 appearances for his country during an era in which international caps were much more difficult to come by.
And to make the celebrations today all the sweeter, Sunderland secured an emphatic and potentially vital 3-0 win over Hull with an emotional Hurley watching on.
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
