After bringing Manchester United’s ambition into question back in October, Wayne Rooney has finally shown some humility and admitted how foolish he was to ever do such a thing.
Rooney, who scored and assisted a goal against Schalke 04, had already offered up an apology for his antics, but now that he has been able to set aside his ego, and the in-form forward can rib on himself for trying to make a mockery of the club.
A lot of players, especially this day and age, often get caught up with the money and fame that has engulf itself with the game, but it is refreshing when someone actually has the audacity to admit when they were wrong.
Not all of the United supporters have allowed Rooney back in their good graces yet, and for good reason as well. When a player bad mouths the club and manager whom they feel one with, like Rooney did, it is hard for someone not to hold a grudge against them.
The old saying, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me,” pertains to, or at least did, to exactly how the majority of the supporters felt when Rooney’s allegiance to the club was in question. Their guarded-heart approach is not a bad thing, because it makes that person, or player in this case, dig down and prove their real worth to the cause.
After taking some time to get his head right, Rooney has started to buckle down and work hard so he and United can be successful together. There is no questioning the fact that Wazza was disinterested or preoccupied with things other than football, and that uneasiness was misdirected.
Some will say that it was nothing more than a contract negotiation ploy, but that does not speak well for him either way. Does a player have to stoop that low to get an extra 30K out of football club? Rooney was going to get paid, but apparently the contract that he may have been offered was not what he, or his nitwit agent, Paul Stretford, thought was not as ambitious enough as they expected.
United has never been a club that is held ransom by a player and their agent, and no matter what anyone thinks or says, Ferguson controlled all the contract negotiations from the get-go. The United manager always had Rooney in his long-term plans, but the only thing that happened is that he was forced to negotiate sooner than he would have liked.
During the whole debacle, Ferguson admirably took the high road, and used the preying press to his advantage, but, since then, they have taken every chance to rip Rooney. To his credit, the United No. 10 has taken the criticism, as unfair as it has been, on the chin and has used it as extra motivation. Rooney has quietly become the seventh leading goal scorer in the Barclays Premier League, as well as being in the top four in assists.
Although statistics are often the criteria that players are judged upon when all is said and done, but Rooney is not focused on individual honors or recognition.
Wayne Rooney, who missed out on a chance to help Manchester United to the FA Cup Final through suspension, is craving the idea of winning the Premier League and UEFA Champions League double – and that would be the perfect ending for a topsy-turvy season for him.
Submitted by The United Religion
