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Jack Wilshere has praised England captain Wayne Rooney for his performance in the 1-1 draw with Russia.

Even though England were unable to get the victory that they were seeking so desperately, there were some positives for the national team in the form of Rooney’s performance. Despite playing in a midfield role, Rooney was at the heart of everything good done by England. It was rather surprising to see him substituted for Wilshere in the second half. However, England manager Roy Hodgson seems to have been thinking about preserving the 1-0 lead rather than going for scoring more goals.

The decision ultimately proved to be the downfall for the national team, as they now face an uphill task in order to qualify from the group. Wales are known the biggest competitors after Chris Coleman’s team secured a 2-1 win against Slovakia. A match between the two teams comes up in the next few days and it is a must win for England. However, they will feel rather confident about doing well since Rooney has given them a major boost. Wilshere feels that if England perform just as they did against Russia, they stand a good chance of winning against Wales.

The Arsenal midfielder, though, expressed his doubts initially as to whether Rooney can perform in the midfield after having been a striker throughout his career. “He is fantastic. I watched him towards the end of the season playing for Manchester United in that deeper role.People saying can he do it? I’m sitting there thinking he’s doing it and he is the best player on the pitch. He is that type of player, he can understand the game. He can pick up on the ball. He is comfortable on the ball and you saw his range of passing as well,” said Wilshere.

England and Manchester United Skipper Wayne Rooney has his testimonial details confirmed by the club.

The club will face Rooney’s former club everton FC on august 3 in what will be United’s first home pre season fixture in two years now. The testimonial is confirmed to be Mourinho’s first game in charge at the club.

Rooney wants the game after making his 20 million Pounds move from Goodison Park in 2004 and Mourinho has hailed him as the best player for the England. He said:

“Wayne is and has been England’s best player for over a decade and this game will be a fitting tribute to everything he has achieved. I’m looking forward to what will be a very special night for us both.

“I’m sure the fans will make this s memorable occasion and help Wayne to raise a lot of money to help support vulnerable children.”

The game will mark the beginning of a year of fundraising events by Wayne Rooney Foundation. The foundation wants five million Pounds raised for disadvantaged and vulnerable children. Rooney says he is very excited at the opportunity and even pledged that he would “never play for another Premier League club” effectively killing speculations that he could return to Everton much later.

Some fans and pundits have asked that England manager Roy Hodgson bench the player at the Euros, preferably brining in the forward as substitute, considering his tournament records in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups and Euro 2012. Many are excited at the chance at Jamie Vardy pairing up with Harry Kane with Dele Alli playing the number 10 but Hodgson will most likely give Rooney a starting spot.

Rooney overtook Sir Bobby Charlton’s scoring record for England and is set to break the club’s record of the 1966 World Cup winner in his first season under Mourinho.

Wayne Rooney is reported completely fit after he suffered from a knee injury months back.

He could feature in the sixth round FA cup replay against West Ham on Wednesday. He was given a chance to play as Manchester united youth team took on Middleborough on Monday.

Coach Louis Van Gaal gave the English captain an opportunity to play in the reserves in the game in a bid to prove his fitness. The English skipper has missed 12 games for The Red Devils since his knee injury.

In the game for the youth team, Rooney had a rather quiet affair but for a second-half free-kick that curled over the crossbar. Paddy McNair scored the only goal of the match.

Manchester United were disgraced by Spurs on Sunday by 3-0. The loss drew huge criticism as their UEFA Champions League hopes were almost dashed with fourth placed Manchester City going on to win their match, stretching the points’ difference to four.

Manchester United will travel to Upton Park for a quarter-final replay of the FA Cup. LVG says his team’s defense would have to improve in order to deal with West Ham striker Andy Carroll. This is possibly the last chance of silverware this season for The Red Devils.

The Dutch Coach said: “I’ve seen the Andy Carroll show and I think our problem against Tottenham was also the miscommunication of our central defenders.”

With Wayne Rooney’s 61-minute performance for the club’s Under-21 team at Old Trafford, he has set himself up for a recall into first team action that will possibly begin with the FA cup replay with in-form West Ham.

For the international scene, the England captain has from the game till May 12 to prove his fitness before Coach Hodgson names his final 23-man squad for France. He has seven games before then to prove his fitness to the England manager.

Premier League fans are always proud to state that the Premier League is the best league in the world? Is it really the case?

With only Manchester City still in the Champions League at the moment, this is not really a proof that the league is the most competitive one. So why do Premier League clubs fail to make it to the big stage?

Ever since 2009, there have not been more than 2 English representatives in the later stage of the Champions League. Gradually it has become worst with English clubs failing to make it to the semi-finals.

One reason that has been put forward is the absence of winter break in England. Indeed, Premier League sides do not benefit from a break and keep on playing during the Christmas and New Year period. This result in players that is more tired than their competitors.

Some pundits have also stated that the strength of the Premier League plays against them in European condition. Indeed, with the teams being competitive from the top of the table to the bottom, it is difficult for the top sides to rest key players before European competition. As a result, they play in Europe with tired players against sides that can afford to rest their key players.

Opponents of the Premier League have simply argued that the league is not competitive anymore. The best players do not play there but instead in Spain or Germany. Indeed, this might be true when you see that the two best players Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi plays in the Spanish League. They are joined with players such as Neymar, Benzema, and Luis Suarez.

If the Premier League wants to retain its crown as the best league in the world, changes will be needed and quickly.

The captain of Manchester United and of the English national football team, Wayne Rooney has picked up a knee ligament injury which will be keeping the Englishman out of action for the upcoming 2 months which is hugely devastating news for Manchester United.

Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial currently are the top goal-scorers of Manchester United in this season with each of them scoring 7 goals in the Premier League so far.

Louis van Gaal is now not able to utilize one of the players who has been performing better in this season. This injury simply could not have arrived at a worse time for the Dutch coach Louis van Gaal as he is trying to save his job and avoid getting sacked. There already are rumors being spread around claiming that Jose Mourinho is already lined up as a possible coach that can replace Louis van Gaal if he is not able to push Manchester United into a top 4 finish in this campaign.

If Wayne Rooney does indeed need 2 months to recover from his knee ligament injury, this will be leaving the Englishman out of action for a number of important games of Manchester United including their upcoming Premier League match which is scheduled to take place at Old Trafford as Manchester United receive Arsenal in their own home soil on February 28.

“We have 13 players injured and Wayne is one of them. He has a knee problem so we have to wait and see. He scores a lot of goals so he is very important for us. We know that but we have to cope with that.” Manchester United’s Louis van Gaal said as he confirmed that Wayne Rooney is indeed injured as well as many of his other players.

It has been a tough season for Wayne Rooney in front of goal, although it is partly down to the striker being played out of position.

There have been seasons in which Rooney has scored more than 20 goals quite comfortably. However, it looks like he will struggle to even reach a tally of 10 this season. The 30-year-old has come up with only six goals in 20 league outings. His latest goal in the 2-1 win over Swansea was only his third in the league this season. However, it has great significance as far as the player is concerned since it helped him move past Denis Law as the second-highest scorer for the club.

Rooney had been level with Law’s record for the past few months. The United legend had scored 237 goals in his career. Rooney went past this record with a back heel effort against Swansea. The goal also earned United a much-needed victory after almost 10 games. Following the match, manager Louis Van Gaal praised the striker by saying that it is an incredible achievement for someone who is just 30 years old. Rooney will now try and aim to become the highest goalscorer for United. He can achieve this record once he gets past Bobby Charlton’s record of 249 goals.

“It is amazing and that at the age of 30 years. Of course now we are playing much more matches but still it is an achievement. Fantastic. For me, it is an achievement that he scores now and he scored today. I hope it’s a fantastic starting point for the team and also for him. I am always demanding he makes runs to the first post. He scores also a fantastic goal, with his left foot behind his right foot and you cannot imagine what a goal that is,” said Van Gaal.

Manchester United defender Chris Smalling says that captain Wayne Rooney helped him a lot with regards to improving as a player.

Smalling has been one of the revelations this season. The former Fulham defender arrived at Old Trafford as someone with a lot of potential but still far from being the finished product. At 25 years of age, United are now reaping the benefits of having signed Smalling at a very young stage. The England international will now cost in excess of £ 30 million if he is to be brought to the club.

Smalling has been a bright play for United this season and he says that the words from Rooney helped him improve his game a lot. The former Everton striker has played for more than a decade at Old Trafford. He is regarded as a legend at the club. Even though his goals do not reflect his full contribution to the team, the striker has been an indispensable part of United.

Smalling says that his role in the team was questioned during the early part of his career, but it was Rooney who came out with public backing. It was the support that helped him push on. Smalling’s performances have been so good that he has won the club’s player of the month award in October.

“It made me feel great.It is such a great feeling knowing that Wazza, who is one of the best in the world, is saying such compliments. It spurs to push me on and justify that. To keep going and show that consistency,” said the defender. Despite the performances from Smalling, it looks like Manchester United will be in the market for a new central defender. Recent signings have not given complete confidence for manager Louis van Gaal, who is reportedly looking at Rafael Varane.

Mark Hughes and Stoke City have enjoyed a fine start of the year 2015 after claiming triumphs over Leicester City and Queens Park Rangers as well as forcing a draw with Manchester United and Newcastle United.

These positive results have even turned Mark Hughes into one of the nominees for managers of the month award of January of 2015. Mauricio Pochettino, Mark Hughes, Brendan Rodgers and Ronald Koeman are the other nominees.

Nonetheless, not everything has been going perfectly for Mark Hughes or his squad as they recently experienced a 4-1 loss after locking horns with Manchester City in a Premier League match.

Sergio Aguero opened up the scoreboard for Manchester City at the 33rd minute but only a few moments later and Peter Crouch made his mark on the scoreboard as he tied the match 1-1. The first half reached it’s end with a scoreboard of 1-1.

When the 2nd part of the match kicked off both teams attempted to take the lead and it was a very tight battle as possession of the ball was being contested between each side with no squad having a clear advantage but the main difference was that the players of Manuel Pellegrini managed to make the most out of their goal-scoring chances and goals from James Milner, Sergio Aguero and Nasri sealed the game for Manchester City.

Even with this recent setback, Mark Hughes was pretty happy on how his team performed against one of the top clubs in the Premier League.

“We started off really brightly, played some superb football and really should have been awarded a penalty for handball early on. In these games, against the big sides, you need those decisions to go for you. Unfortunately tonight it didn’t.

“Even despite that I was really happy with what we were producing; we were good value going in at half time all square, and to be perfectly honest, if anything we should have been in front.” Stoke City’s Mark Hughes said after the match was over.

Christiano Ronaldo will prove to be a good role model for Raheem Sterling according to Brendan Rogers. It is the professionalism combined with hard work and persistence which is unbeatable in all comparisons. He is the best player there is no doubt about that and to reach to the top the other young English players should take a cue from him.

Rogers has got himself in a difficult situation where he has to stop Ronaldo when Real Madrid will play with Liverpool. The way Ronaldo handled the situation and the weather made Rogers admire him all the more. He again worked hard to win the World Player award. To have a long career and especially for Sterling he advised that bit of advice from Ronaldo will do him good. Every player looks up to him, at his dedication and perseverance. Even in freezing cold he performed brilliantly.

He immediately goes for work after sipping tea water from the bottle and then throwing it away. His work is of utmost importance to him. Sterling has recently gained some undesired attention and to shape up his career he has to revolve more time towards the game. According to Rogers, Sterling has the same kind of impact at 19 as Ronaldo had.

The part is coming up when he can be as good as Ronaldo but he has to strive for it. Efficiency is the primary thing which he has to learn from Ronaldo. No doubt Messi is another great person whom Rogers admire but Ronaldo keeps on struggling and fighting for every point. Both in the club and in the international football Ronaldo has shown his class. The real clash with the Real Madrid is going to be a test for Rogers. He wants change to happen soon in football.

Wayne Rooney thinks that out of all the players that he has played alongside in his career thus far, Roy Keane used to pass the ball the best.
This is a big statement by Rooney considering the fact that he has been the teammate of a number of greats of the game including the likes of Ronaldo and Scholes. But, he has picked Keane out of that whole lot.
There has obviously been no doubt on Keane’s greatness as a playmaker. He was one of the very best for United, but, Rooney had the opportunity to play with him for a solitary season only.
The Everton product joined United at the start of the 2004-05 Season and it’s only during that season that he played alongside Keane.
In the summer of 2005, Keane left United to sign for Celtic where he finished his career.
But, quite clearly, in that only season, Keane left a huge impression on Rooney.
Speaking about Keane in an interview last week, Rooney said, “I used to admire Roy even before I had become a part of Manchester United set up, but, I didn’t have the idea that he would be that great especially with the passing. I thought his game was more about making tackles and all, but, no, I was wrong. He was the most effective with the passing. It was just sensational, better than anybody else I have played with to be honest.”
Most of the people generally consider Paul Scholes the best passer for United ever, but, Rooney doesn’t enjoy a great relationship with him and that might also be the reason why he did not rate the 39-year old the best in terms of passing.
Scholes retired from professional football just a year back after playing more than 500 league games for Manchester United.