The Foot: It’s SAF vs the FA

As could be predicted, word is trickling out that Sir Alex Ferguson wants Wayne Rooney to continue recuperating but Sven and the FA want to use the lad, perhaps as soon as the match against Sweden.

I gotta go with Sir Alex on this. If I were paying Rooney’s salary and the match on the 20th were meaningful, I wouldn’t want the kid anywhere near the pitch: what better advantage could Sweden have than seeing him carted off, after all, and how bad would it be if a not-quite-fully-healed foot got bonked?

Ditto a likely match-up against Poland or Germany in the round of 16. Can you imagine the glee with which those defenders would try to take the kid out of the match?

No, if I were a Man. U. supporter (an enormous if, by the way), I wouldn’t want to see Rooney in an England uniform until the quarterfinals. By then, he surely would be very close to fit. And by being added to the mix at that stage he might very well be the difference in getting England into the final game.