The idiots are winning

There's a short but pretty sweet interview with Sir Alex in The Times today which includes the revelation that United have someone in LA with Ronaldo:

Listen, I’ve got someone with him there. It's a load of rubbish. He’s not drinking for a start. They (newspapers) had him drinking vodka and that. I said to myself: “Drinking vodka?” I phoned my friend who’s with him and he says: “Boss, there’s no truth in that.” Ronaldo doesn’t drink, we know he doesn’t drink. Stories about some of the other stuff he’s doing are rubbish too.

So that's nice to know, and I also saw this story of Paris Hilton denying the failed Ronaldo seduction story, so there is a lot of rubbish printed about Ronaldo.

There's a good bit of comment on Sir Alex, also in The Times, from Hugh McIllvanny :

He [Sir Alex] must live with the reality that as he prepares to enter his 23rd season in charge of Manchester United he has reached the point of dominating the media’s agenda for football in this country more extensively and persistently than any of the game’s greatest figures of the past ever did. Whether stories are serious or trivial, substantial or frivolous, they are seen as gaining in impact from the inclusion of his name.

And there's an awful bit of comment from Rob Shepard in The News of The World:

THAT Real Madrid have been stalking Cristiano Ronaldo rather than Wayne Rooney is depressing.

Really? Do tell us why:

Why? Because it means the boy wonder billed as the player to make English football great again has, so far, failed to justify the hype.

OK, so the fact that Ronaldo is by leaps and bounds the most amazing player on the planet reflects badly on Wayne? And it's Wayne's fault he hasn't lived up to the hype you created? It gets even worse:

According to the script Rooney should by now be the hottest player on the planet. Yet no lesser observer than Pele has expressed what I have long been worried about regarding Rooney.

Last week in a meaningless but nonetheless high-profile money-making pre-season friendly against the Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa, Rooney had to be subbed 20 minutes before the end.

That was to save him from getting himself sent off after pathetically lashing out at at least two opponents

As Pele put it: “I like Wayne Rooney but he hasn’t reached the peak of Euro 2004.

“He had two or three good years then just lost a little in his performance.

“When he is tangling with opponents, Rooney has to learn how to defend himself not attack the opponent.”

Who am I to argue against the great man?.

You are a journalist who is meant to question things. It's meant to be your job isn't it. And when someone with a history of saying banal things such as Pele says something rubbish and banal he should be called out for it, regardless of how good he used to be at playing football. And there's more:
Good for Rooney that he is a team man.

But is that because he is hiding behind hard work? Great players don’t do donkey work. The truth is Rooney should score more goals.

Certainly for United last season he was way behind Ronaldo on the goal front and only outscored Carlos Tevez 20 to 19.

"Only outscored"?! yeah, cos that Tevez is absolutely rubbish... Maybe if he's only outscored Saha by one he might have a point.

Oh, and what's that, Rooney scores 2 in our game yesterday? Great timing.