Europa League: Manchester United will face Ajax Rooney-less

After suffering a throat infection, Manchester United and England star WayneRooney is set to miss the Europa League second-leg clash with Ajax.

Rooney was instrumental in the first leg of the clash with The Dutch giants setting up Javier Hernandez’s goal to make it 2-0 on the night.

Hernandez and Rooney showed great link-up play when they played a one-two between each other, followed by Hernandez’s cool finish off of a great move.

This goal was added to Ashley Young’s earlier goal, and an all-round good performance from the Red Devils has left them in a great position to progress to the next round.

Sir Alex Ferguson announced that Rooney will not be involved in Thursday night’s game, but is hopeful that he will be ready in time for a trip to Norwich on the weekend.

“Rooney’s out for tomorrow. He has a bad throat,” the United manager told reporters.
“There were traces of it in Amsterdam last Thursday and he’s been in bed for a lot of the weekend.”

Man United will hope that they won’t need to rely on the likes of Rooney for a second-leg win over Ajax, but with the dominance shown at the Amsterdam ArenA in the first leg—I’m sure the United faithful will be confident.

United are currently sitting two points behind city rivals Manchester City in the title race, and will be hopeful of a speedy recovery for Rooney to help them push on to close the gap.

Manchester City’s Yaya Toure hits back at Wayne Rooney: Hopefully he won’t be laughing at the end of the season

Rooney used the social networking site to poke fun at the two Ivory Coast internationals after they lost the Africa Cup of Nations final to Zambia last week.

Toure told the Sunday Mirror: “If Rooney thought Ivory Coast losing was funny then that’s up to him. I like Rooney. He is a great player.

“He will know a lot of the Ivory Coast players like me, Kolo, [Cheick] Tiote and [Didier] Drogba so he’ll have an opinion.

“I think many people believed Ivory Coast would win. Even my friends said to me that they thought it was impossible that we would lose. All I can say is that losing in the African Nations has made my determination to win the Premier League even bigger.

“Hopefully at the end of the season it will be me laughing and not Rooney. That would be good.”

Zambia emerged victorious on penalties after the Africa Cup of Nations final remained goalless after 90 minutes and extra time, with Didier Drogba missing from the spot in normal time.

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Rooney backs Gerrard for captaincy

Posted on February 13, 2012 by www.soccer - facebook.com

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has backed Liverpool star Steven Gerrard as the ideal choice to be the new England captain.

England are looking for a new captain after John Terry was stripped of the role earlier this month.

A number of names, including Rio Ferdinand, Scott Parker and Joe Hart have been mentioned as possible candidates to fill the role, but Rooney believes Gerrard would be perfect for the job.

Rooney has also declared his own interest in the taking the captain’s armband, but feels Liverpool rival Gerrard is the favourite.

Rooney wrote on Twitter: “For everyone asking, I would love to be England captain. But that’s up to new manager to decide. Gerrard is perfect choice for me.”

Wayne Rooney says Manchester United have to beat Liverpool

With Manchester City now challenging Sir Alex Ferguson’s men for the title, the Manchester derby may be seen by some as more of a glamour tie as United face a Liverpool team who can, for this season at least, realistically only fight for a fourth-placed finish.

Rooney though, feels that this game will always be special for himself and both sets of supporters.

“United versus Liverpool has always been a massive game – it’s a game between the two biggest clubs in England,” he told the matchday programme, United Review.

“I used to watch the matches all the time when I was growing up and I always supported United in them! To be part of them now is fantastic but it’s a game you never want to lose.”

Much has been made in the build-up to this game about the saga involving Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra; the Uruguayan international plays only his second match since returning from suspension imposed when he was found guilty of directing racist abuse at Evra in the reverse fixture between the two teams in October.

Rooney, however, wants to focus on matters on the field, rather than off it.

“We’re all focused on the game,” he added. “There’s always a big buzz around Old Trafford for this fixture. The rivalry goes back years regardless of where the teams are in the league. There are three points at stake and that’s what both teams will be going for.”

Mancini: Rooney got Kompany sent off

The Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, last night accused Wayne Rooney of attempting to influence referee Chris Foy’s decision to dismiss City’s captain, Vincent Kompany – the pivotal moment as Manchester United knocked out the FA Cup holders and progressed to a potentially inflammatory fourth-round encounter at Liverpool.

Mancini, who also declared that his 10-man side’s second-half performance demonstrated beyond all doubt that they were capable of beating United to the title, offered a prickly reply to his counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson’s claim that Kompany has a history of two-footed challenges. The Italian said that Rio Ferdinand and United‘s defenders were frequently guilty of the same offence, though it was Rooney’s gesture, appearing to wave an imaginary red card, after Kompany’s 11th-minute challenge on Nani which angered Mancini – who will now be without his captain for four games unless City’s appeal is successful.

“Rooney told [Foy] his decision. He influenced the referee,” said Mancini. “[Rooney] was near the referee. Yes [he influenced the decision].” Mancini, already without Kolo Touré because of the African Cup of Nations, confirmed City would appeal but if the dismissal is upheld and the appeal is deemed a deliberate attempt to delay suspension, the ban – already extended to four games because Kompany was sent off earlier this season – would total five games. He will miss both Carling Cup semi-final ties with Liverpool and the League game with Tottenham.

United, meanwhile, face Liverpool twice in 17 days, and could encounter Luis Suarez if their fourth-round tie with Kenny Dalglish’s side goes to an Old Trafford replay.

Mancini, who apologised last Tuesday after gesturing to the referee that Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel should be dismissed in City’s 3-0 Premier League win, could take huge encouragement from the second half. He pointed out that his own 10-man side had not collapsed as United’s did at old Trafford in October.

“When United played with 10 men for 40 minutes they lost 6-1,” he said. “We played for 80 minutes with 10 players and didn’t concede any chances in the second half. We knew it was not impossible but it was very difficult to score three goals. We had a chance. United didn’t have any chances in the second half. This performance is important for us for the League. I think now we can win the League [because of the character we showed]. United is the top squad in England and if we can play like we did against them for 80 minutes with 10 men with that same strength and attitude in every game, we will win the League.” It was by far the firmest assertion yet from Mancini that they can depose United as champions.

Ferguson was as indignant about Kompany as he was about Foy’s refusal of a penalty for Aleksandar Kolarov’s second-half challenge on Antonio Valencia – which saw him manhandle Foy as he left the pitch. “I have seen [Kompany] do it before. He has got away with it before,” Ferguson said. “If there had been contact with Nani then it would have been a bad one. The referee was right on that one.”

Though the victory removes the pressure from a United seeking to avoid their first three-game losing run in 11 years, he rounded on his players for carelessness which, he said, had spared City a “battering”. Ferguson said: “We made them better than they were. We were careless in the second half. We took our foot off the pedal. They waited for us to make mistakes and we made them. It made it in to a scoreline that it shouldn’t have been.”

Despite Rooney’s two goals, he was a shadow of Sergio Aguero in the second half and Ferguson said last night that his behaviour would be hyper-analysed. “It is the situation that existed many years ago with Paul Gascoigne,” the manager suggested. “We have seen the good stuff today. There is no problem with the boy’s temperament at all. It is just off the field he is going to be spotlighted all the time.”

Of the decision to hand Paul Scholes a contract to play until the end of this season, Ferguson said: “Paul has been training very hard with the reserves and doing a lot of work in the gym. He came to see me and said I regret retiring. There are no negatives for me.”