The Foot: A Tentative Maybe

So know we now that there’s a chance — a mere chance — that Wayne Rooney will play in the knock-out stages.

Even Sir Alex Ferguson admits it’s looking likelier — albeit with some cautions.

So now we have to ask: Suppose with some combination of Michael Owen, Peter Crouch, Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott, Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole England actually find goal-scoring form in the group stage. Should Sven then interrupt that pattern to insert Rooney even if he hasn’t sufficiently trained for two months — and against those delicate defenders from Poland and Germany?

It seems crazy….