WARNING: There are reports appearing in a number of newspapers, including usually highly respected ones, which had they been published a few days earlier would have certainly been regarded as nothing more than April Fools jokes. Please, DO NOT BELIEVE any stories which suggest that Manchester United’s super striker Wayne Rooney may make a miraculous comeback in Wednesday night’s Champions League quarter final return leg against Bayern Munich.
Anyone who falls for such a fairytale will also be naïve enough to throw money away placing bets on David Beckham making a comeback in South Africa for England – crutches and all. If ever a headline was solely designed to sell additional newspapers or get more website hits, this is it. The sad truth is that it may succeed in doing just that. United fans desperate to get a little bit of good news in what has so far been a demoralising week will rush to see if there’s finally something to cheer them up.
Here’s the large circulating DAILY MIRROR …Wayne Rooney is poised to make a shock comeback for Manchester United this week in a bid to save their season. Rooney, initially ruled out for two to three weeks with an ankle sprain, could feature in a return for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter final against Bayern Munich. Mirror Sport has learned the injury suffered by Rooney in United’s 2-1 first leg defeat in Munich is not as bad as first thought and has made such amazing progress he has not been ruled out of the second leg.
Under the supervision of United’s fitness coach and club doctor, Rooney has been doing bicycle work in the gym since last Thursday with the club describing his chances of playing against Bayern as “40 per cent” but if he is not passed fit for Wednesday night his progress is such that he will be included in the squad for Sunday’s trip to Blackburn.
The generally respected GUARDIAN…Wayne Rooney has been tipped to make a shock return for Manchester United ahead of Wednesday’s crucial Champions League match against Bayern Munich. The striker was expected to be out for at two to three weeks after he injured ankle ligaments in last week’s first leg in Germany which United lost 2-1. However, according to reports last night, Rooney has responded well to treatment and could be in line for a surprise recall to Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad if he comes through a training session today.
Rooney has been wearing a protective boot on his injured leg since hobbling off at the end of last week’s defeat. Ferguson will not risk the England forward if there is a chance of aggravating the injury further and last night United’s medical staff attempted to play down the chances of a comeback by only rating his chances of playing as “40%”.
And as reported in THE DAILY STAR…WAYNE Rooney will beg Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to let him loose on Bayern Munich on Wednesday night. The Champions League clash with the Germans couldn’t be any more crucial after United lost to Chelsea and Rooney doesn’t want to miss out on another epic night so vital to the rest of United’s season. Ferguson revealed on Friday that the England striker would be out for between two and three weeks after twisting his ankle at the Allianz Arena three days earlier.
But Rooney is known for his remarkable recoveries from injury and it’s typical of his never say die nature to declare himself ready for another war with Bayern. Rooney didn’t show any tell tale signs of distress on the flight back from Germany the following day according to onlookers. The bandage boot was fitted as a precaution, with medics not wanting to take any chances with England’s most valuable player.
Rooney has just days to fully recover and will be driving everyone nuts pleading for a chance to get back into action. Ferguson will be cautious about taking a risk but his ears will be burning from the Scouse striker telling him to give him a go. There is a real chance that he could be drafted onto the bench with the star forward desperate to get on the pitch to add to his 34 goals this season.
So there you have it. Take particular note of the non committal words used in all the reports like poised, could, risk, chance and not quite an even chance but only 40%. Does anyone really think that this story is believable? The official line coming out of the club is that Rooney’s not expected to make his return until the Manchester derby in 12 days time and for the striker to even get on the bench on Wednesday will be a huge surprise.
Sir Alex is well aware that the possibility of further aggravating his injury will almost certainly rule Rooney out of the last five Premier League matches as well as a possible Champions League semi final. Taking that sort of risk will surely be far too big a gamble for the shrewd Ferguson to take.
We would all love to see it, but do you expect Rooney to take the field on Wednesday night?
