The Warm-Up: Wayne Rooney off to Derby, which we all definitely saw coming
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 06/08/2019 at 08:28 GMT
There's some weird stuff going on in the world of football today. Fortunately, Nick Miller is here to guide you through it...
Wayne Rooney
Image credit: Getty Images
TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES
Is Wayne Rooney off to Derby?
In England, we are all a little bit obsessed with Wayne Rooney, still. Perhaps it’s because he’s been in our lives for the meat of two decades now, and has gone from this baby bull who barged into our collective conscious aged 16 when he scored that goal against Arsenal, to a hulking old man of the game, shuffling around MLS and occasionally doing jaw-dropping, memeable things that remind us what a talent he was.
The latest, frankly unexpected turn in Rooney’s career could well be a return to England, to be a player-coach at Derby County. That’s according to a report in the Daily Telegraph, who claim that Rooney’s contract with DC United will be fed into the shredder, allowing him to join up with Phillip Cocu and have one eye on his post-playing days, while at the same time keeping his eye in on the pitch.
Cocu was asked about this following Derby’s 2-1 win over Huddersfield on Monday, and, well, he kept his cards pretty close to his chest.
At the moment I cannot say anything. We are working on completing the team and we said it was not complete yet. It’s true we’re working to get the team done but I can’t say anything about names before things are done. We have a lot of players we think could be an asset for the team. You always try to get the best you can with the resources you have available at the club. There are a few more days, hopefully something can happen.
Well who saw this coming? Not a one of us, but it does cement Derby’s reputation as the most fascinating club to watch in the Football League. This could be a disaster, it could be a masterstroke, but as ever with Derby it’s incredibly interesting.
Lukaku on the move to…Anderlecht’s training ground
A lot of really weird stuff goes on in football, but this is among the weirdest. Romelu Lukaku – who it may alarm you to hear is actually still a Manchester United player – was training with Anderlecht yesterday. Apparently, with United’s blessing, he asked his former club if he could work with their under-18s, and he did so, training in Belgium over the weekend like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
To which the obvious question is: why? Why did he feel the need to do this? Why did Manchester United agree to it? Why did anyone think this would be a good idea? Usually clubs wrap players up in cotton wool, then some more cotton wool, then bubble wrap, then tell them to sit still and don’t move, lest a hair on their head is harmed. Even with – especially with – players they are looking to sell, lest something happens that means they can’t then sell them.
Are we overreacting to this? Doesn’t this just feel like the oddest thing? That United have so completely written off a striker for whom they paid £75million two years ago and who has scored a very respectable 42 goals in 96 appearances since, all while in a frankly bad team who often haven’t played to his strengths?
Football is weird, man.
Maguire signs for United, no idea what to make of it all
He’s overpriced! But he’s better than what United already have! But how much better is he actually? They’ve got the money, why not spend it on someone who improves them? But he’s so overpriced!
You will, we’re sure, have digested and probably formed a number of opinions about Manchester United’s purchase, for the spicy sum of £80million, of Harry Maguire. Well, we here at the Warm-Up can’t promise you many things: we can’t promise that person you like knows you exist, we can’t promise you’ll get your bonus at work, we can’t even really promise that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. But we can promise that we will offer no more hot takes on the signing of Harry Maguire.
Because who knows? Who can really tell what Maguire will do at Old Trafford? Will he be good? Maybe! Will he be bad? Also maybe! Will he be worth the money? You can see where we’re going with this.
HEROES AND ZEROS
Heroes: Chemnitzer FC
Football clubs can often be rather woolly about the political opinions of their players or employees. They can just brush it under the carpet, personal views, nothing to do with us. So hats off to German third division side Chemnitzer FC who sacked their captain and striker Daniel Frahn – who apparently has form for this sort of thing – after he watched their recent game against Hallescher in the company of some neo-Nazis.
“He could not and would not live up to the responsibility of the player and team captain of a football club, which involves more than scoring goals and letting yourself be cheered by the crowd: namely, attitude,” said a club official. Fair play.
Zero: VAR
This is going to be a theme this season, but here it is, VAR, the dweeb that nobody wants at the party, being used in a country where it is not currently used.
HAT TIP
Tanguy Ndombele could have gone either way. Back in the summer of 2016 it was not clear whether Ndombele would make it as a professional player at all. The previous season his team Amiens had finished third in France’s third tier but manager Christophe Pelissier did not trust the 19-year-old to play a single minute. He had been down playing amateur football with their reserves instead.
If you have even a passing interest in the sports media you’ll know that the Athletic launched in the UK on Monday, with a whole bunch of excellent articles. Here’s one from Jack Pitt-Brooke about how Tanguy Ndombele went from amateur football to Europe’s most exciting box-to-box midfielder inside three years.
RETRO CORNER
It’s easy to be dismissive and cynical about Wayne Rooney these days, but it’s just as easy to forget what an absolute sensation he was on his debut, when he scored a hat-trick against Fenerbahce in the Champions League, aged 18.
COMING UP
Some more big boys start their Champions League campaigns in the third qualifying round, Ajax and Dynamo Kiev among them. Or if you prefer the EFL Trophy begins, that most vital of competitions featuring some of the Premier League’s finest reserve teams.
Tomorrow’s Warm-Up will be brought to you by the ever-vital – in every sense – Ben Snowball.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement