LONDON — When Wayne Rooney was presented with the Footballer of the Year trophy last May the prospect of him (a) leaving Manchester United and (b) scoring just one outfield goal in seven months would have been so preposterous that any discussion could only have come at the end of a long night.
Yet Rooney does indeed go into Saturday's game against West Bromwich having scored one outfield goal for England against Switzerland last month since his strike against Bayern Munich last March, a total of 1,671 minutes in 20 matches. By his standards Rooney has had only three decent games in that period.
Whether Rooney plays against West Bromwich is another matter. He has effectively said Sir Alex Ferguson was lying about his fitness, and those who challenge or criticize the Scot usually find themselves being shown the door at Old Trafford (ask David Beckham, Paul Ince, Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy and even Roy Keane).