Rooney Causes Man United More Pain

All right, so last week I wrote about how dropping Wayne Rooney was neither desirable nor viable. And then he goes out and gets himself sent off at home with a needless whack on West Ham’s Stewart Downing, leaving his side with 10 men for the final 31 minutes.

Man United won, 2-1 — though there was a late scare with Kevin Nolan’s disallowed goal — and Rooney will now miss the away trip to face West Brom, as well as home ties against Everton and Chelsea. Still, I feel like there is more than a bit of egg on my face.

I’ll come right out and say that I simply do not understand what went through Rooney’s head. There are only so many reasons you would get a straight red.

Was it retaliation for a foul? No.

Was it a desire to go and injure Downing because of some simmering Roy Keane-Alf Inge Haaland-esque vendetta? Nope.

Was it a rash, mistimed challenge in which you hope to get the ball but end up taking out the man in a reckless, dangerous way? Not really, in the sense that there was not a frozen margarita’s chance in hell of winning the ball.

Was it a rush of blood to the head, the infamous red mist that emerges when things aren’t going your way? Doubt it. United were 2-1 up at the time and Rooney in particular was playing well.

Was it a professional foul, a DOGSO — denial of a goal-scoring opportunity? Most definitely not, though Rooney tried to peddle that line after the match. “At the end of the day, I was trying to break up play,” he said. “It was a dangerous situation in that they were trying to break on us and I have just misjudged it — simple as that — but I have no complaints.”

He didn’t just misjudge the tackle then, he misjudged everything around him. Downing was running from the edge of his own penalty area. The foul happened halfway between there and the center circle. I counted no fewer than five Manchester United players between Downing and David De Gea’s goal at the time he was felled. That’s not where you commit a “tactical foul.” This is Downing, not Gareth Bale. He has to run a long, long way to get into a shooting position and you have plenty of cover behind.

Wayne Rooney’s moment of madness versus West Ham gives Man United manager Louis van Gaal yet another problem to solve.

Beyond that, if you do “break up play” with a tactical foul, a trip or tug on the shirt will suffice. There is no need for a kick to the knees. (United manager Louis van Gaal himself said he could have committed the foul in a “more friendly” manner.) Rooney’s own explanation — worryingly — shows a bit of a disconnect between what happened and what he thinks happened.

“I haven’t absolutely volleyed the lad,” he said. “I tried to trip him up and he got farther away from and that is why my leg is straight[er] than it should have been. As he pushed the ball away, my leg has straightened out and that is obviously why the referee has deemed it a red card.” OK, whatever. What’s done is done. Rooney apologized afterwards.

Truth be told, while some like to depict Rooney as a raging, mouth-foaming maniac on the pitch, his disciplinary record has actually been reasonably good given his style of play. His last red card came in an England shirt nearly three years ago — in a qualifier against Montenegro — and cost him a couple of group games at the Euros. And to find the last sending-off in a United shirt, you have to go back to March 21, 2009, and a 2-0 defeat at Fulham. Chalk it up to one of the mysteries associated with simply being Rooney.

More telling is the fact that we won’t see him until November, and effectively, the “Drop Rooney” brigade get their wish. If United find the right balance with Juan Mata or Adnan Januzaj or whoever comes in for him and nail three good performances on the bounce, the pecking order might change. And then getting back into the side would be that much harder, which is ironic because to that point, he had played well against West Ham.

For Van Gaal, it’s one more headache. He would like to put together a successful and productive United team with Rooney on the pitch. That’s why he made him captain. Now he’ll have to wait even longer for that to come to fruition.

Why Mats Hummels needs help at Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund central defender Mats Hummels is quickly becoming something of a conundrum. You are drawn to him because he plays with his head held high, has no fear, is intelligent and gifted on the ball. He has all the qualities coaches love. Some Manchester United fans still buy the line that he’d be the answer to all their problems.

The thing about Hummels, though, is that he’s prone to getting injured and he’s not quick. And the latter is not something that’s going to change for the better at this stage of his career.

Mats Hummels can be a world-class defender, but he needs help at Dortmund.

Germany’s national team coach Joachim Low (after a while) and Dortmund’s coach Jurgen Klopp understood this. With Germany, the back four really only became settled when the team was rejiggered and the more athletic Jerome Boateng came in alongside him. And, at Dortmund, he does his best work alongside quicker centre-backs like Neven Subotic or Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

That’s fine. It’s not a knock. Hummels may not be lightning-quick or athletic but with the right guys around him, it doesn’t matter, and the things he does well make his presence more than worthwhile.

But then you get games like Saturday’s derby between Schalke and Dortmund. You see Schalke — who, until that point, had won just once all season in all competitions — race out to a 2-0 lead because of absurdly bad set piece defending. And you end up wondering whether Hummels, who was making his first start of the season, is even fully fit yet.

– FC TV: Diagnosing Dortmund’s problems

Dortmund have an injury record as long as your arm — Marco Reus, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ilkay Gundogan were all unavailable this past weekend — but that doesn’t explain away bad decision-making and poor defending. Particularly when Klopp opted for a safety-first midfield tandem of Sven Bender and Matthias Ginter. They’ve now lost three Bundesliga games this season. Last year, their third defeat only came at the end of November.

You’re not going to bench Hummels to get out of his jam. But you do need to recognize his weaknesses and get him the help he needs. Do that, and he’ll go back to being the difference-maker he was.

Arsenal’s mounting injury crisis

Arsene Wenger was particularly grumpy after the 1-1 home draw against Tottenham in the North London derby. He complained about Mauricio Pochettino’s “stalling” tactics and the way Spurs looked to defend and hit on the counter.

That’s run-of-the-mill fare and not really worth commenting on; Pochettino is there to get results, not simply act as Wenger’s sparring partner. And if you really want to get into it, Spurs’ goal came following a high-pressing action that caused Mathieu Flamini to cough up the ball, not on some counterattack or set piece.

But Wenger has reason to be annoyed beyond the result. Anyone would have a right to be after losing three central midfielders — Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere — in a single game. Wenger says Arteta and Ramsey are definitely out for the next two matches, maybe more, while Wilshere is doubtful for the visit of Galatasaray in the Champions League. It’s quite a blow given that there are notable absentees — Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Mathieu Debuchy — elsewhere.

Mikel Arteta was one of three first-team midfielders to get injured this weekend. What will Arsene Wenger do?

How to resolve it? You’d imagine he’ll put Flamini in front of the back four, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mesut Ozil ahead of him and Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla wide. And he still has Lukas Podolski, Tomas Rosicky and Francis Coquelin as alternatives.

In attacking midfield, it’s not so much of an issue as there’s still plenty of quality. But Flamini isn’t exactly the second coming of Patrick Vieira, and you’re an injury or suspension away from seeing Coquelin on the pitch. Folks have floated the idea of using Wilshere or Ramsey (when fit) as an alternative to Arteta in holding midfield. But the former lacks Arteta’s experience and ability to read the game defensively, while pushing the latter further back would limit his goal-scoring prowess.

If Wenger wants to persevere with a system featuring both a single defensive midfielder and full-backs who attack at the same time, that’s his prerogative. But it’s fair to wonder why he hasn’t arranged for better options in that role.

James Rodriguez filling the gaps for Real

Balance can be achieved in two ways: you can replace your more attacking players for defensive-minded ones. Or you can leave the same guys out there but somehow cajole them into playing more defensively and working their butts off.

Anybody who has followed Real Madrid over the past month or so knows that Carlo Ancelotti did not have the luxury of option one. There is a corps of pricey attacking players who simply can’t be benched, so it’s about taking the guys you have and getting them to play differently.

James Rodriguez arrived as the golden boy with the $100 million price tag. On Saturday, at Villarreal, he played like the humblest of blue-collar midfielders. Ancelotti went with a 4-3-3 and stuck James alongside Toni Kroos and Luka Modric in the middle of the park. James worked tirelessly (as did the other two) and Real won 2-0.

You realistically can’t ask him to do this every week. It’s not his game; over time it will wear him out and what’s worse, there will be some short-sighted cretin noting how he’s not attacking as well as he used to.

But it proved that when needed, James can muck in. Or, at least, has the humility and aptitude to try it when asked. It’s still square pegs in round holes but at least it’s an option. And it’s a credit to James.

What was Walter Mazzarri thinking?

There are some things a manager really shouldn’t say. Ever. Not because they’re necessarily untrue, but because they set you up for ridicule.

On Sunday, Inter contrived to lose 4-1 at home to bottom-of-the-table Cagliari, who also missed a penalty. To his credit, Inter boss Walter Mazzarri took the blame but then added: “We were tired, I probably should have given some players a rest. Still, we did well in the second half …”

Second half? Really? How did you “do well?” Because the second 45 minutes finished 0-0 and you only had 10 men?

Walter Mazzarri needs to get real about Inter’s progress — or lack thereof.

Some coaches genuinely see the game like that, parsing out individual bits. Maybe Mazzarri really did like what he saw his 10 men — Yuto Nagatomo was sent off in the first half — do against Cagliari. But it’s not something you say, because it simply makes you look silly.

And it makes you wonder how your boss feels about it. Inter owner Erick Thohir said last week that the gap between Inter and Juve was “almost closed.” Yeah, right. If that was the case last week, the home pounding Inter took and Mazzarri’s post-match silliness only served to blow it wide open yet again.

Messi in decline? Not so fast …

Rumors of Lionel Messi’s demise were evidently rather premature. It’s not his two goals in the 6-0 hammering of an overmatched Granada; it’s the two assists and his interplay with Neymar, who got a hat trick. And at the back, Barcelona kept a clean sheet as well. Going back to last season, that’s now 401 minutes without conceding — 491 if you count the victory over APOEL in the Champions League.

– FC TV: Messi making teammates better

The impression is that Luis Enrique’s scheme is less Messi-focused than Tata Martino’s. Which doesn’t mean, incidentally, that he’s any less productive. Quite the opposite. By giving more responsibility to the likes of Ivan Rakitic and Neymar, Messi can float more and seek out better positions rather than worrying about being available every time Barca have the ball. If it keeps working, it’s the right approach — particularly with Luis Suarez’s debut less than a month away.

Bielsa working his magic in Marseille

It’s one of the most distinctive sights in the game: a bespectacled, track-suited Marcelo Bielsa sitting pitch-side on a water cooler, unsmiling and with a blank expression. Bielsa is as much a cult as he is a manager, but watching his Marseille side — particularly given what l’OM have served up over the past few years — is an absolute treat.

On Sunday they ripped Saint-Etienne apart in the first half, going 2-0 up. Then, as often happens with Bielsa sides, they dipped a bit after the break and allowed the visitors to pull one back before hanging on for the 2-1 win.

It’s Marseille’s sixth straight Ligue 1 victory and sees them top Le Championnat with a two-point margin over Bordeaux. The most remarkable part? Bielsa’s turnaround is down to one thing: a serious manager working seriously on the training pitch.

Marcelo Bielsa’s trick with Marseille? It’s simple: plain hard work. Other managers should take note.

Last year, Marseille finished sixth, 29 points off the pace. They lost important players like Mathieu Valbuena and Souleymane Diawara over the summer. Yet Bielsa has turned it around almost exclusively with holdovers from last season’s disappointing campaign. Between them, the five newcomers signed in the summer — none of whom Bielsa apparently wanted — have started just one game.

Bear this in mind the next time you hear a manager moan and whinge about the club “backing him” with money for new signings. Or complaining that he needs to “bring in his players.”

Good managers do their work on the training ground. They make existing players better because they know that any fool can go out and buy talent if given the money. That’s what Bielsa has done thus far. Whether it can last all season remains to be seen, but for now, it’s both refreshing and entertaining. And something a lot of complaining managers could learn from.

Hamburg break their duck

So it took a while, but Hamburg have finally scored. Nicolai Mueller’s strike just before the hour mark in the 2-1 home defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt isn’t much of a consolation, but it’s a start.

They’re still last and they still have two solitary points in the table. But at least that’s a weight off their back. Now new coach Joe Zinnbauer has to get his crew of players — who really aren’t that bad, from Germany U21 starlet Pierre-Michel Lasogga to creative midfielders Lewis Holtby and Rafael van der Vaart to veteran defender Heiko Westermann — to actually behave like a team. They did it defensively in holding Bayern to a draw and keeping it close against Borussia Moenchengladbach. Now, it’s a question of getting it all to come together.

Welcome back, Diego

Diego Simeone marked his return from suspension with a resounding 4-0 win over high-flying Seville on Saturday. But you wonder whether Unai Emery didn’t make his job somewhat easier by sending out a purely counterattacking lineup. You’re not going to out-grit and out-graft Atletico; you might have a shot at outplaying them.

As it happened, the game turned into the kind of war of attrition that suited Los Colchoneros just fine. They simply cashed in on set pieces, as they’ve done better than anyone this season: nine of their 11 goals have come from dead-ball situations.