Thirteen years after leaving Everton for Old Trafford, Wayne Rooney could be about to return - but does Ronald Koeman really a need a player who seems to have his peak years behind him?Romelu Lukaku was always going to leave a big hole to fill at Everton but few would have predicted a combination of, say, Wayne Rooney and Olivier Giroud, perhaps to take over in the likely event of the Belgian striker’s departure.Reported overtures to Arsenal’s Giroud make perfect sense; he is a reliable goalscorer, proven in the Premier League, at 30 he will have a few good years left in him and he was no longer a regular starter under Arsène Wenger. Those imagining Everton would seek a...
Manchester United’s record scorer most likely has 10 games left, at most, for the club he signed for in 2004 and his chances of a fitting finale look slimIn the middle of the pitch, under the lights of the Bernabéu, one man could be seen going through his victory poses. Cristiano Ronaldo has choreographed these routines over the years. He kept his top on this time, maybe reserving that particular treat for the final, but you are probably familiar with the rest of the act. Ronaldo pointed at his chest. He nodded with appreciation at his own night’s work and it was the look of self‑adoration you might remember from the Fonz after a particularly impressive chat-up line to one...
Gareth Southgate’s world is brave and bright; Jake Livermore and Michael Keane show promise in Dortmund, and Wayne who?“We have to think differently and work differently. I’m trying to open their eyes to what we believe is possible.” So said the manager on taking charge for the first time as the permanent incumbent and so he proceeded to oversee a bright and original-feeling England performance. This featured fluid movement, a high press when possible, and a defiance that even after Germany scored on 69 minutes allowed them to keep on playing in this fashion. Too much can be made of fresh dawns when it comes to Three Lions football, of course. But what Gareth Southgate has over his predecessor, Roy...
Without Wayne Rooney the manager can concentrate on creating a side that recaptures the imagination with a strong team ethic and a game planHere we go again. Time to fire up the sirens, unfurl the St George Cross flag and rattle off once more on the charabanc of doomed hope and certain despair. The Gareth Southgate England era has at least been notable for its ability to cut straight to the point. This is already the first England reign to begin rather than simply end with an ashen-faced apology, Southgate spending those first few weeks looking sad and saying sorry for all that stuff with Big Sam, Iceland and pretty much everything else for the last 50 years or so.Six...
N’Golo Kanté’s impact at Chelsea has been phenomenal but he has not carried his team in the way the brilliant Swede has carried José Mourinho’s UnitedIf all the friends of Wayne Rooney quoted anonymously in the media are to be believed, the striker has not been making much of a secret of the fact that he is unhappy with his present position in the pecking order at Manchester United. It is not difficult to see why. While losing one’s place in the starting line-up is an occupational hazard for a goalscorer in his 30s, it must be galling to lose it to a player who is four years his senior.Yet Rooney can have no real complaint. José Mourinho kept him...