3 Rivers Soccer

Wayne Rooney is facing a tough time as he has to make key important decisions that would affect his family, career path, legendary status and several other people. His huge pay packet is hurting Manchester United considering that he never gets to start games. His boyhood club Everton cannot even come close to Rooney’s £250,000 weekly wages demand. As a player that is not sure to get a first team call-up, even £100,000 would be difficult to cough out. Not many Premier League sides can pay even half of what United pay for Rooney with his current form and contributions to the team. The record scorer for the club would likely not consider staying away from his family or moving them to China or America even if there were offers.

Soccer Pundit Martin Keown opines that Swede striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic could turn a fallen giant next year. The former Barcelona, AC Milan and PSG striker scored a last gasp penalty as Man United forced a draw at Old Trafford against Everton. United have relied solely on the striker for goals this season. While he has netted 27 times already, the club has struggled without him. Keown insists that Ibrahimovic would struggle to deliver the goods next year if the player decides to continue. “It was very predictable. You look at Ibrahimovic, he’s 35 and he looked it tonight [against Everton]. He’s been suspended for the last couple of games and he didn’t pick up to the pace tonight. United have to go out and sign a striker in the summer,” the former Arsenal defender added.

Tony Cottee refuses to criticize Jose Mourinho for making a comment on Chelsea’s brand of Football as he reckons it is just gamesmanship shown by the Portuguese coach and if he is able to put any kind of influence on Antonio Conte through his words, it would be a success for him. Mourinho had recently tried to give the impression that he didn’t rate Chelsea that much as a team because of their reluctance to come on the attack. The Red Devils’ boss was very manipulative with his comment though and actually complimented his former side by labelling them good, but, one could easily read between his words and understand that he was actually trying to mock Conte & Co there.

Wayne Rooney is a player that in the past few weeks has been in the spotlight more than usual as the Manchester United player was spotted at The Grove hotel in Hertfordshire late at night drinking and Rooney even made an unscheduled appearance at a wedding reception. Pictures were leaked where Rooney was seen doing inappropriate things with the wedding guests where he was not even believed to be invited to. All of this occurred during an international break at the team hotel of England which was The Grove hotel. The representatives of Wayne Rooney responded to all of these recent issues as they released a statement which read:

Wayne Rooney is not playing the same influential role that he did with Manchester United some time ago and there are rumors floating around suggesting that the English attacker has been given the ticket to leave Old Trafford as Jose Mourinho gave Rooney the green light to exit if he wants to. Ever since Jose Mourinho arrived to Manchester United a few months ago on May of the ongoing year, the relevance that Wayne Rooney has with the Premier League has significantly dropped as he is spending more time on the sidelines.

Wayne Rooney has become a target for Manchester United’s poor performances of late and this resulted in the England captain being dropped for the key game against Leicester City. Rooney has been an ever present United star in the last decade. Even though there have been occasions where he has been dropped for poor form even by former boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Rooney has always bounced back strongly. This time around, former United captain Bryan Robson feels that there has been no reason and justification behind the criticism of Rooney. United have struggled in the last couple of weeks to match the zest they had in the opening few games of the campaign.

Since being appointed as the new manager of England back on May of 2012, things have not been going well Roy Hodgson and for the English national football team as the squad have consistently been suffering shock defeats and being knocked out from international competitions. During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, England failed to make it past the group D as they finished at the bottom after losing against: Italy and Uruguay while only managing to claim a draw when facing off with Costa Rica. 2 years later and England lost against Iceland in the Round of 16 during the UEFA Euro’s of 2016. This was a hugely disappointing result for an English team that had renowned players such as: Daniel Sturridge, Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling just to name a few of them.

Premier League side Crystal Palace have reportedly increased their bid for Liverpool player Christian Benteke. The London-based outfit earlier submitted a bid for the player who has fallen out of favour with the manager Jurgen Klopp. Their bid of £25 million was rejected but because of the need for a top striker, after dismissing two others, they are set to increase their bid offer with the hope that the Anfield management accepts. The Reds are seeking for offers to recoup all their transfer spending of £32.5 million when they signed the player from Aston Villa in the last season. The club is believed would sell to another party that can meet his release clause even though the player has spent just one season. Palace are set to now submit a bid of £27 million, rising to £31.5m for the player.

Newcastle United have confirmed that winger Gabriel Obertan has left the club after his contract has expired. Sylvain Marveaux has also joined the Frenchman in leaving St James’s Park before the end of the campaign. Even though the duo had a few more weeks left on their contract, they have agreed to leave the club by concerned. This would allow Obertan to quickly find a new club either in the English league or in the French Ligue One. Obertan has been playing in England since 2009, but he has played in less than 100 league matches during this period.

Thierry Henry is being targeted as the man who can succeed Arsene Wenger. Arsene has been with Arsenal for 20 years now. However, with Arsenal faltering in the race to the titles in the Premier League his leadership is coming under question. The team has exited the Champions League as well as the FA Cup. Many fans have also been asking the Frenchman to exit the club so that fresh blood and leadership can take over and help the club to get the big wins. Henry is being considered a favorite among others who has been a leading goal scorer for the club. He completed his coaching badges under Uefa A league. He is poised to become a manager at a youth academy or for teams that are below the level of the Premier League. Though he might be too fresh for the post, Ian Wright is one of the leading experts who feel that the France striker is ready for the role.