Manchester United
I suppose recovery from fractured metatarsals gets easier with practise. After just one month out, Wayne Rooney is back and raring to go, although manager Alex Ferguson admits it’s far from certain he’ll start again former club Everton:
Rooney has trained very well and will travel. But whether I start him, put him on the bench or leave him out until Wednesday night, that’s something I have to decide.
It’s a pretty rapid recovery, even for a player once dubbed a “quick healer” by Ferguson. However, with turn-coat Rooney now somewhat of a hate figure at Goodison Park, Fergie might be best advised to keep the 21-year old out of the fire until the Champions League tie with Sporting Lisbon.
Gareth Barry will continue in central midfield after the double blow of losing both Frank Lampard and Owen Hargreaves struck England. Lampard returned to Chelsea’s Cobham training ground over the weekend, whilst it was only today that a fitness test ruled Canadian-born Hargreaves out of tomorrow’s tie with Russia.
It’s a massive bonus for Barry, whose close friendship with Steven Gerrard enabled him to form an effective partnership with the Liverpool midfielder on Saturday.
The big doubt remains over who will partner Michael Owen upfront. Emile Heskey impressed against Israel, but with classier opposition less likely to be intimidated by the Wigan man’s awesome physical power, McClaren may opt for the superior guile of the wonderfully ironically-named Crouch.
Either way, it remains a must-win game for England. No amount of injuries will excuse failure to qualify for Euro 2008.
At the age of 34, persistent knee injuries have finally called time on the career of Ole Gunner Solskjaer. His father, Oyvind, confirmed his retirement to the Norwegian press this morning:
He would have liked to stay on and was hoping for a 100% recovery, but something has happened with his knee which made it impossible for him to continue.
This final complication, after his most recent operation in June, has obviously proved a bridge too far for a player whose career looked over as much as two years ago. He made a remarkable comeback last season to score 11 goals as United romped to the Premiership title - a fitting end to a distinguished career.
United fans are understandably moved by this news, but they’ve had plenty of time to prepare for it - it can hardly be considered a surprise. The question is, will Ferguson buy to replace him? Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha are both still in The Treatment Room, so could Fergie turn to one of Nicolas Anelka or Obafemi Martins to boost his striking options?
With only a few days left in the transfer window, we’ll soon find out.
Alex Ferguson described the fact that Scholes injury is not serious as “100% good news”.
What was feared to be possible ligament damage was in fact just bruising on the cartilage. Scholes is likely to miss United’s opening two games (the Community Shield against Chelsea and the home fixture against Reading), but will be free to return after that.
The fate of Owen Hargreaves remains slightly less clear. The £17m midfielder is suffering from knee tendinitis, and Ferguson is uncertain as to when he will finally be able to make his United debut. The manager said:
It’s becoming an irritant rather than a big problem.
Which, amusingly, is how most people regard Owen Hargreaves.
Of the many possibilities that this headline implies, the sole truth is that Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Ji-Sung Park may be out until 2008 with a knee problem.
It was back in April when United decided to send Park to the United States to be operated on by Dr. Richard Steadman - the man credited with saving the careers of Alan Shearer and Michael Owen. Ferguson said at the time:
There was an option to send him to Sweden or America and we decided to send him to the States to see Richard Steadman in Colorado. There was no clear reason for the injury and we couldn’t get to the bottom of it. So we decided we should send him to the best in the world.
Steadman enjoys a tremendous reputation in the world of sport, and will be the featured subject of a future piece here on peakfootball.com. United will be hoping his amazing record continues with Park’s rehabilitation in time for next year’s title run-in.
The ruptured Achilles tendon that ended Fabio Aurelio’s season in April will keep him out of the Premier League’s big kick-off. Although Rafael Benitez had hoped the Brazilian would be fit by August 11th, it now seems unlikely that he will return before September.
That makes the need to push through the £6m signing of Gabriel Heinze all the greater. Heinze has now made his desire to leave Old Trafford public, meaning it might not be long before Liverpool add another injury prone South American left-back to their ranks.
