What Rooney May Have Forgotten

Well it took just 24 hours for Rooney to respond after Sir Alex Ferguson had revealed the surprising news on Tuesday that the player wanted to leave the club.

Rooney issued the following statement:

"I met with David Gill last week and he did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the squad. I then told him I would not be signing a new contract.

"I was interested to hear what Sir Alex had to say yesterday and surprised by some of it. It is absolutely true as he said, that my agent and I have had a number of meetings with the club about a new contract. During those meetings in August I asked for assurances about the continued ability of the club to attract top players in the world."

Somehow I find it somewhat difficult to grasp what Rooney is really trying to imply with this statement. He's talking about Manchester United under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson who has a proven track record of rebuilding teams for over two decades now. Clearly, it would appear, that Wayne has forgotten the challenges that Manchester United were facing when he initially joined the club !

When Rooney first came to Manchester United in 2004, Manchester United had just lost the title to an Arsenal team that went undefeated over the entire 2003/2004 season. During that summer of 2004 English football welcomed Jose Mourinho who then joined Chelsea under the Ownership of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovic. With Mourinho at the helm and with Abramovic's millions, Chelsea went on to win back to back Premier League titles in 2004/2005 and 2005/2006.

This left Manchester United now without a trophy for three full seasons. During this barren period, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, David Beckham, Juan Sebastian Veron and Fabien Barthez were all sold, Laurent Blanc had retired and influential captain Roy Keane had left. These were all key players who were involved with Manchester United winning the Premier League title three times in four seasons, including the FA Cup and the League Cup all between 1999 to 2003.

In the background however, players such as John O'Shea, Darren Fletcher, Gerard Pique, Kieran Richardson and Guiseppe Rossi were youngsters that began to emerge from the youth ranks.

Cristiano Ronaldo was signed from total obscurity in 2003 and Wayne Rooney as a young emerging talent in 2004. The Glaziers eventually took control of the club in 2005 and Edwin Van der Sar, Alan Smith, Gabriel Heinze and Evra all joined the club during this time as well.

Interestingly, none of these players signed during this period were considered "top players". During this

time we were told that a dynasty had fallen - it was the beginning of the end, and that Alex Ferguson had lost the plot and should retire. What if the stars such as Scholes and Giggs had decided to leave the team during that time then ?

Well needless to say, the critics had been proven wrong and Manchester United with this group of unproven players had gone on to dominate the English League and Europe between seasons 2006-2009 and lost the league by just a single point last season. In total, Wayne Rooney has won three (3) Premier League titles, two (2) League Cup titles, two (2) Community Sheild titles, one (1) Champions League title and one (1) FIFA World Club Cup title. A total of nine winners' medals in six years.

So what is Wayne Rooney now talking about ?

Arsenal have been unable to win the Premiership since the invincibles in 2004 and have not won a single trophy since the FA Cup in 2005. Liverpool have been trying to regain the Premier League title for over twenty years now, and Chelsea, even though they have won recent titles are still unable to successfully dominate the English League like Manchester United has done.

To say United has no ambition and to suggest that the club is on the way down is totally unwarranted. Even with the Glaziers in control and with the massive debts which they have laden on the club, the future on pitch looks bright with Sir Alex Ferguson in charge.