Dirty Epic

Not much around today.
More on Rooney (whom The Sun are "humorously" labelling as "Wayne Looney" today), Capello defends him, from The Daily Star:

“We need players with this kind of fire and the spirit of England,” he said. “I remember a fighting spirit from long ago. I like this attitude in players.” He describes Rooney as one of the best in the world and the Manchester United forward remains a key to everything the Italian coach is planning.

“When the team is playing slowly it is Rooney that shakes them up,” he said. “He is red blooded, full of passion and I want this.”

Asked about his "crazy man" comment, he continues:

“I have spoken to Wayne and he knows I was joking,” added Capello.

“Sometimes his reaction is not so good, as we saw against Fulham, but you can’t always control

emotions. When I played I was the same and it depends on the moment, the result and the opponent.

“There has to be a balance in behaviour and that’s all it is. With the national team he has always been perfect and I want his aggression.

“It would be no good if he lost this desire in him and we lost his kind of spirit.

“I have a good relationship with Rooney and I am happy with him. I try to work with him on all aspects of the game in a short time I am with him.

“He is so important to this team and his relationship with Manchester United is not my problem. He will be OK in every moment with us.

“He has been scoring goals, I like this man and he is crucial to the future.”

Oliver Kay in The Times also defends Rooney in a long article, I'll just quote the most pertinant line:

Rooney feels that his qualities are too often overlooked and his faults magnified. He has a point. Whatever the term “world class” means, he ... fits it.

The Telegraph have comments from Alex Stepney on Sir Alex's retirement:

"Sir Alex's exit will present a much bigger situation for the club than Matt's departure. It will be a global event, but managers from all over the globe will want the job.

"The only way to ensure a totally smooth transition would be for Sir Alex to move upstairs in some capacity, but that never works.

"Sir Matt tried that and it failed, but then he didn't leave behind the kind of structure and depth that Sir Alex has created."

Stepney said he had yet to be convinced that Ferguson would leave next year. He said: "We'll see what happens, but from my point of view, I hope he goes on until they carry him out in a box!"

As well as some quotes from Gary Neville on life after football:

"Part of me says I'd like to stay involved in the game, but another says I should do something else.

"It would nice to be able to take on a different challenge. I'd like to think I could do something else other than football, but the reality is that's what I've done since I was 16.

"I am doing my coaching badges, but whether anyone will want me as a coach or a manager I don't know.

"I don't know, even now so close to the end of my career, what will happen. But leaving Manchester United, in football terms, is like falling off the end of a cliff.

"I just hope there's something that I find exciting and can enjoy, and in which I retain the ambition to achieve something."

Ronaldo responds to Henrik Larsson's "diving" comments from the other day, in The Mail:

'It doesn't bother me what Larsson says, because I know I don't dive, and that is all that matters,' he said.

'I may get kicked, but I don't dive. It seems everyone wants to have a go at me over that, but I don't care. I know I always do things fairly.'

A non Man Utd story (though Tevez gets mentioned in the article) from The Times which I include cos I thought it was funny (though just a little homophobic...) - Maradona on Pele:

When Maradona was asked at a press conference before Argentina’s World Cup qualifying match against Venezuela to respond to Pelé’s claim that he was a negative influence on children, he said: “What do you want me to say? He lost his virginity to a man.” ...
In his autobiography, I am Diego, Maradona picked Pelé as the best player in the world, but he damned his rival with faint praise. “As a player he had it all but he didn’t make the most of it to raise the status of football,” Maradona wrote. “I’d have liked to see him put himself forward as president of an association to defend players’ rights — like I did. I’d like to have seen him look after Garrincha and not let him die in misery. I’d like to see him fight the rich and powerful that are damaging football.”

And one last story from The Sun, designed, I imagine, solely so the headline writer could use "Dimitar Boobatov", it seems to have little other point:

DIRTY Bulgar Dimitar Berbatov has been turned into Dimitart Boobatov after a PORN STAR painted him with her breasts.

The Manchester United hitman is expected to take delivery of the saucy canvas this week.

That opening line seems completely racist - and I don't even think I'm being over-sensitive on this one. It certainly seems an odd way to describe Berbatov. Perhaps the link is meant to be between "dirty" and "porn" but it really doesn't come off.