Wayne Rooney must be real player of the season - 7M sport

Wayne Rooney must be real player of the season



I have a say

Posted Thursday, April 28, 2011 by Dailystar.co.uk

Wayne Rooney must be real player of the season
ABOVE: Alex Ferguson knows the outstanding player in the country is Wayne Rooney

WITH ALL due respect to Gareth Bale and Scott Parker, they have won nothing this season.

The Footballer of the Year should surely be combined with achievement and an end result.

We choose our top player too early in this country, the PFA on April 17 and The Football Writers’ Association four days later.

There is still too much to play for, so many issues to be decided and time for individuals to have a huge impact on the season.

If  Manchester United do the double of the Champions League and Premier League, climaxing their season at Wembley on May 28 against Barcelona or Real Madrid, surely they should be rewarded.

The outstanding player in the country at the moment is Wayne Rooney.

If he maintains his form and leads United to a glory finish to the season then he is undoubtedly the real Footballer of the Year.

It has been a remarkable turnaround by Rooney.

From little boy lost in a mountain of controversy, on and off the pitch, the England international is now playing without a care in the world.

In Germany on Tuesday night he produced his best performance of the  season to inspire United to their Champions League semi-final first-leg romp over Schalke.

His form has been slowly improving and is reaching a climax at the sharp end of the season.

Bale, the PFA winner and FWA choice Parker, will agree that Rooney’s impact on this season will be greater than their own.

Bale’s form has fallen off in the second half of the season while Parker, as courageous and inspirational as he is, is struggling to keep West Ham in the Premier League.

My vote went to Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic but had I been allowed to wait until all the prizes had been won or lost, then Rooney would have ticked the box.

He began the season in turmoil, a wretched World Cup behind him and allegations of romps with prostitutes dominating the news pages.

Then he took United to the brink by demanding a move and was even linked with a switch to Manchester City.

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson stepped in to persuade him that his future lay at Old Trafford and no wonder in Starsport this morning Rooney accepts he would have made the biggest mistake of his career had he left.

He says the second half of the season has been a lot better. That is a huge understatement.

The change in him has been dramatic. He has said sorry for his foul-mouthed rant to a TV camera at West Ham, served his suspension and come back in even better shape.

Perhaps those swear words at Upton Park were the pinnacle of his fight back against all odds.

Who knows what goes through the mind of the best player in English football?

What we do know is that he is in the form of his life.

Rooney’s workrate for the team is incredible while his movement and passing creates so much.

He is also in the middle of a run of scoring vital goals.

In Javier Hernandez he has found the perfect strike partner and Ferguson now has a team and a formation peaking at the perfect time.

Remember what Sven Goran Eriksson said at the completion of his final press conference as England manager.

“Don’t kill Rooney,” he said.  What he meant is that you have to accept him, warts an all, if you want to enjoy him.

There will always be controversy; yes some of it unacceptable, and Eriksson knew how important Rooney would be over the coming years.

Current England coach Fabio Capello calls Rooney one of the greatest players in the world.

Finally, this season, he is showing that form and others around him are pulling United towards their double goal.

Michael Carrick, apart from the mistake he made in the FA Cup semi- final, has never played better.

He has a gift of finding space.

Veterans Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs are enjoying themselves.

Giggs, at 37, is still a major force with Ferguson saying he will nurse him through the rest of the season.

One thing we do know is that Giggs will start the Champions League Final.

It goes without saying that the showpiece will be Rooney’s kind of stage.

His chance to really dominate in the biggest club match of all, whether against Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

If only we could have waited a little longer to vote.

I find it slightly embarrassing that neither the players nor the writers have selected a player from United as their season reaches such a huge moment.

No one would have thought that Rooney would be the player of the year after the start he made. Yet that is what he is heading towards. He is proving us all wrong.



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