Wayne Rooney’s Ankle Injury This Time is for Real, Just Don’t Ask Him

Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed this morning that Wayne Rooney will be out for “three weeks” due to an ankle injury picked up in training this past Tuesday after a Paul Scholes tackle put him out of commission.  Whether or not Rooney will be later interviewed for the real reason why he will be sitting out important games for United (home to Tottenham on October 30 and away for the Manchester derby on November 10) remains to be seen. 

We already know the effect the Rooney saga has had on team morale in Old Trafford.  Rooney’s insinuation about how the current players on the squad are not able to win trophies was not lost on Nemanja Vidic, who stated in the Bursaspor post-match interview with Sky Sports that “it is not good for the players and not good for the team”.  Patrice Evra took it a step further in his interview to state that “if one player does not trust the other players, that player should not play.”

Although there is some validity to Rooney’s comments (United are currently sitting in fourth place with five draws in their first eight Premier League matches), his words won’t necessarily be a rallying cry for everyone to step up and play like champions again.  At least, Rooney gets to think about what he said and perhaps work up a really good apology for his teammates while he sits on the bench until mid November.