Alex Ferguson on England 2010: Luminary or gobshite?

[The Large One]

Expectation hindered Wayne Rooney - Sir Alex Ferguson

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson claims the weight of expectation on Wayne Rooney was to blame for his poor World Cup. Rooney failed to score in four matches and looked a shadow of the player who shone for United last season.

"There was such expectation on him, talk he was going to be the player of the tournament," said Ferguson. "That was the prelude to the whole thing. You wait, in four years' time you'll see a different player."

Ferguson admitted he had been concerned by the hyperbole surrounding his striker at the start of the tournament.

"Rooney was going to be the star, he was going to outshine them all - Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo. So that level of expectation comes into it," he added. "And he's not got great experience of playing in the World Cup really."

The Scot revealed he was "baffled" by England's poor form in South Africa. Fabio Capello's team finished second in their group, behind the United States, and were then hammered 4-1 by Germany in the second round. "That is going to be one of the imponderables - what has really happened and why are they [England] not getting better form," stated Ferguson. "I watched their games and was baffled by what I saw. Expectation was a big thing. They qualified from a group which you'd have to say was a million to one they wouldn't qualify from. So it was an easy passage into the finals.

"Maybe it would have been better if England had been in a tougher [qualifying] group. They'd have earned the right to be one of the favourites and it would have helped that they'd played good teams before they got there."

Ferguson said he had been particularly impressed with Germany and argued that their winning mentality and the Bundesliga's winter break had helped them through to the semi-finals.

"The history they've got [in Germany] is quite incredible," said Ferguson. "That organised mentality they have, the belief in themselves, it carries them a long way. The German mentality is 'we are always in the semi-finals'. Plus the fact they get a month's rest in January - it must help. All the England team are playing [in the Premier League] so they're all affected [by the lack of a winter break]."

However, Ferguson is tipping the Netherlands - who take on Uruguay in Tuesday's first semi-final - to win the World Cup. He added: "I don't think they have played anywhere near their best form.

 

[Stoo82]

Cue The Complete Bagerer...

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Gobshite.


Rooney never looked fit. Ferguson might want to look a little closer to home for reasons for his poor WC showing.

 

[Pavilionaire]

What about the weight of expectation on David Villa to be one of the tournament's top scorers? It doesn't seem to have held him back at all.

It's interesting that Ferguson seems to be citing a winter break as a factor in Germany's success. Why don't Man Utd push for this along with the rest of the Prem clubs?

The bottom line for Fergie is he has to get every ounce of energy from his players, to give their everything for Man Utd. And, because he's very good at his job, that's exactly what happened. Those that played at the World Cup were mediocre, the rest were not fit.

 

[Icy Gull]

Taking the pressure of Rooney as he was absolute shite from start to finish in SA. He doesn't want to start the season with a deflated striker, so he'll be blaming someone else other than Rooney himself. Did I mention that Rooney was absolute shite from the 1st ball to the last in SA?

 

[Withdean Wanderer]

frustratingly accurate. Rooney wasn't injured. He just bottled it under pressure.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

My own take on the Roon for what it is worth was probably told under no circumstances get booked/sent off so this msde him a shadow of the player we know (and maybe a bit unfit).

As you know he loves challenging for 50/50 balls and he seemed "scared" whenever the opportunity came up to challenge someone.

 

[DJ Leon]

He's calling his own player a bottler?

Spot on, I reckon.

 

[Easy 10]

frustratingly accurate. Rooney wasn't injured. He just bottled it under pressure.

This was the same Rooney who damaged his ankle ligaments in March, and was given a prognosis of 6-8 weeks before coming back. Ferguson played him 10 days later, and for the remainder of the season (whereby quite unsurprisingly, he stank).

I know its fashionable right now to give the likes of Rooney et-al a damn good slagging, but an acknowledgement of some facts wouldn't go amiss.

The pressure on Rooney was no greater than it was in Euro 2004, and he was absolutely TEARING UP that tournament until he got crocked. That doesn't suggest to me that he can't handle pressure, or that he's a "bottler".

He's not looked fit since Fergie threw him back in, and unfortunately for us that continued into the WC.

 

[Pavilionaire]

You could argue that United selling Ronaldo led to Ferguson overplaying Rooney, thereby f***ing up whatever chance England had of winning the World Cup.

Similarly, Real Madrid's reliance on Ronaldo this season in fighting to compete with Barca seemed to have drained Ronaldo.

 

[Tooting Gull]

The argument Fergie will get chucked at him (partly because people hate him and like to disagree with whatever he says) is that footballers don't have real pressure, they are financially secure, don't need to worry about the mortgage and food on the table, and anyway it's not like they are a fireman, doctor or nurse, etc etc etc.

The thing is, if you're a nurse, you don't have 60million people hyping you up for six months and reading that you're about to prove yourself the best nurse in the world. I daresay if they did, they'd feel a bit of additional pressure.

That is not to say the relative pay gap isn't a disgrace, because it is. And also not to say that Rooney shouldn't be able to handle it, because he should. It's just that no one, and certainly none of the pundits and journalists, can know what that pressure is like because I can't remember a tournament when everyone loaded England's prospects on to one person's performances like this one.

Where it all falls down is looking at someone like Klose, a lone striker for a major country who has had a shite season domestically - pressure, what pressure...

 

[KZNSeagull]

He's calling his own player a bottler?

Spot on, I reckon.

Ferguson would not want to keep him then, surely? Maybe Rooney's off elsewhere? Or maybe Ferguson is talking shit? The latter I would guess.

 

[bhafc99]

"There was such expectation on him..." said Ferguson. "You wait, in four years' time you'll see a different player."

So no expectation there then.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Except that Rooney didn't just fail against Germany - he was poor against Algeria, Slovenia and the United States, sides that are the English equivalent of Swansea, Wigan and Fulham.

 

[Meade's Ball]

So nervous was he about the world cup that he had to relax by making adverts about it and polishing his ego as he went. Poor love.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Have I read that right? Has Ferguson just essentially called Rooney a bottler?!

Talking of expectation....it's always trotted out as an excuse when England fail, but, really, how high exactly is the expectation? It must be much, much higher in Brazil, Germany or Italy than it ever is in England. Yet they all seem to cope pretty well with it.

 

[The Large One]

I don't recall excessive pressure being heaped on Rooney more than on too many others.

 

[Working class pride]

Rooney was poor but why? bottled it? Expectation? Or because he was surrounded by a midfield whose idea of pass and move was Gerard smacking balls 40 yards and then standing there to see if he hit touch or not. When will the FA learn that kids need 5 a side football to get rid of the hoofers? Probably not in my lifetime as people still listen to er Graham Taylor

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

"There was such expectation on him, talk he was going to be the player of the tournament," said Ferguson. "That was the prelude to the whole thing. You wait, in four years' time you'll see a different player."

Doubt Spud will even make the squad in four years time. Might not even be a footballer. He'll be four years older, four stone fatter, divorced, ripped off by his 'advisers' and ex-missus and living on beer and burgers. And happy as a pig in shit.

 

[beorhthelm]

i think its a factor, the point about the qualifiers is valid too, however...

You could argue that United selling Ronaldo led to Ferguson overplaying Rooney, thereby f***ing up whatever chance England had of winning the World Cup.

Similarly, Real Madrid's reliance on Ronaldo this season in fighting to compete with Barca seemed to have drained Ronaldo.

... this also weighs heavy in the analysis. Rooney and Barry were both key to England, and both injured too close to properly recover. Same for Ferdinand, brought back too soon i suspect. Sir Fergie seems to be overlooking his rather threadbare squad that saw two midfielders at CB