It is a pity what has happened with Wayne Rooney over the past few months.
Rooney had a great 2009-10 English Premier League season for which he was the PFA Player of the year. He had a great start to the year as well for which he got the January FA Premier League player of the month.
I don’t think he could have foreseen the night mare which lay ahead of him. In 10 international matches in 2010, he scored only once which included the World Cup, a sharp contrast to the previous 3 years where he scored 13 goals in 21 games. He had a poor start to the 2010-11 EPL season.
Rooney did suffer a minor injury early in the year which might have affected his performances. The big issue which occured was the sex scandal turning the Rooney universe on it’s head. The focus of the tabloids, news papers and the fans was on Wayne Rooney all the while.
Now any one who has followed even a bit of the English football team over the recent past know that it is crap and wouldn’t have been surprised by their World Cup fiasco. There were a few stars but it was never really a team. How many times was the ball passed up front to Rooney, hey?
The English are a sports crazy nation. The culture building some one a star over night when he may be too young or not good enough and then expecting the world of him is dire really. Then there are the sports tabloids which are trying to outdo each other with the bigger sensational story.
What happened with Tim Henman probably epitomises a lot of the British sports culture. Now Britain hasn’t produced a tennis champion for aeons which is fine, can happen. Not till as late as 2007 did the British build start taking their tennis more seriously again. Champions aren’t produced overnight. It was great given this background that Henman happened at all.
It was Wimbledon and Britain saw a young tennis player who was good, so what do they do? Every one started hoping he won Wimbledon. Now Henman outdid himself, he even beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon and reached the later rounds of many a Wimbledon. It was phenomenal what Henman achieved at Wimbledon. He did rise to as high as No. 4 in the world once but had only 1 Masters Title and was 11-17 in his career in finals. He was a damn good tennis player, but not one of the best. Every year Wimbledon occured, there was Henmania which swept the nation. It always ended in disappointment. It was silly really to have such expectations.
Britain does it with all it’s stars and teams and it might prove rewarding once in a while like in the case of Henman, even though he never did win Wimbledon, it usually means a roller coaster ride of emotions. It is like the Indians do just before the Olympics, though things have changed now for India in sports like shooting and is changing in sports like wrestling. Before the Olympics, every one is hyped up. Apart from a few real contenders, of course, no one stands a chance. You don’t win Olympic medals by fluke. Then, when the players or teams don’t win, it is a national tragedy. Gloom sweeps the nation, a catharsis is done and then every one forgets about it. Nothing is done to improve the infrastructure and no real tough decisions are made. In the next big competition, the drama sequence is repeated in all it’s grandeur.
I mean, it was expected the English football team would not win the World Cup. No way! Real fans knew. Why was an overhaul not done after the World Cup to give the younger stars more exposure. Why are old stars who are never going to make it to the next World Cup carried on? It is a total waste. If I was England, I would sacrifice the Euro 2012 dream and focus on World Cup 2014.
Coming back to Rooney, there were even some ludicrous stories that he might retire. Rooney had to clarify he hoped to play at least 2 more World Cups. Now here’s the biggest football talent England has produced in a long time. He is just 25 and the whole career lies ahead of him. Why turn his life into a daily soap opera? They have to do it because if they don’t find some thing new, the next tabloid won’t sell. The whole culture is a disgrace. For Rooney’s sake, I hope he makes the decision to go to a big club outside England. There are usually two big strikers in the big European clubs nowadays, so the pressure will reduce enormously. Off the leash, given the fighting bull that Rooney is, he will then revel.
The British sports culture and putting a tangle hold over another English sports person right now – cricketer Graeme Swann ahead of the Ashes. Now, Swann has had a bit of a golden run in recent times. Already, he is being compared to the greatest spinners England has produced in it’s long cricketing history. Derek Underwood himself, who holds the record of maximum wickets by a spinner for England (297) and widely regarded as the greatest spinner coming out of England, has said that if Swann continues like this, he might break his record of maximum wickets. It is a tall order for Swann to break the record as he is already 31 but that is besides the issue.
What would be, or rather, should be, playing most on Swann’s and the other English players minds at the moment would be how to win the Ashes series, which would be an amazing feat, considering as it is, the Ashes are occuring down under. Not since the exodus to Packer circus has Australian cricket been at such a low and real chance for the Poms to add another glorious chapter to their recent successes as a team. Really Derek, who cares about your record right now? A large part of the pressure will be on Swann given the build up he has got and it’s just not right. Now the Australian batsmen have struggled against spin in recent times, most notably against Shahid Afridi and Pakistan, so there is a real chance Swann may have a big series. There is also a fair chance he may not have a big series given that most Australian wickets in the past decade or so have been lower, slower and don’t provide the rip off the surface which a spinner would like.
The Australians have dropped to No. 5 in tests but England are not far ahead at 4. In India, despite losing 2-0, the Australians gave India a tremendous fight at home which is not an easy thing to do. At home, the Australians have been the toughest team to beat in the past 15 years, even ahead of India. So it won’t be easy at all and the possibility of Australia winning back the Ashes is very real. If Swann doesn’t succeed, and if England doesn’t succeed, please, please, please, don’t start pointing to individuals in your own camp like they have committed national treason.
Give the guys a break, for Pete’s sake! One can hope…
