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Rooney a doubt for Wolves match
Friday 5th March 2010, 11:00AM GMT.
England striker Wayne Rooney has emerged as an injury doubt for Wolves’ clash with Manchester United.
The 29-goal forward is being assessed on the minor knee injury that made him a doubt for England’s 3-1 win over Egypt, despite playing the full 90 minutes in midweek.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admits his star player’s chances of playing at Molineux tomorrow hang in the balance.
He said: “We have to assess Wayne because he played almost 90 minutes for England the other night at Wembley, which I was disappointed in.
“When you’re playing on that pitch for almost an hour on Sunday in the Carling Cup final and then nearly a full game on Wednesday, it’s far too much. He’s a doubt for Wolves.”
Mick McCarthy’s men have been boosted by news defender Jonny Evans is out after picking up an injury on international duty, although Rio Ferdinand is fit to start.
Should Rooney play, Wolves defender Jody Craddock has admitted chances of stopping him rest on his shoulders.
The 34-year-old is likely to be charged with marking arguably the world’s greatest player, who has hit 12 goals in his last nine games for United.
Craddock is the club’s only survivor from their shock 1-0 win at Molineux in 2004 and knows Rooney, if passed fit, is the man they must stop if they are to have any chance of a repeat.
He said: “If selected, I need to think that if I’m on top of my game, I can stop Rooney.
“We know how good he is – seven of his last eight goals have been headers, so we’ve got to be wary of that. He gets in the right positions and he gets shots in as well – that’s why he’s one of the top centre forwards in the world.
“I need to dominate in the air, I need to be tight when he’s got the ball at his feet, and I need to organise people around me.”
Craddock is confident of an upset, taking heart from the surprise double over top four contenders Tottenham this season.
He said: “No one expected us to take six points off Spurs, but we did and there’s no reason why we can’t get three from this game. If we defend right, it can be done. We must not chase the game, because they’ll pick us off.
“But it makes sense to give ourselves something to cling to. That’s what we did at Tottenham when we got an early goal.”
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Sorry Jody, LET GEORGE mark him, you know what I mean.
Nothing nasty like just the presence.
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Nice idea Badge! :)
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Fergie mind games? Will he save him for Champions league?
I think he will play especially with Owen out for the season
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George Berry ! he he
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Come on bring em on we can do this the Mol will be sent in raptures tommorow evening and all the suburbs will wonder whats happened cause they will hear this almighty roar
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As a nutural you’d want Rooney to play, as a Wolves fan I think we’d love him not to lol
Owen out, Wellbeck on loan, Rooney a doubt……. a lot hangs on Berbatov for them tomorrow.
Anyhow, we may only get 2 or 3 chances tomorrow and we need to take at least 2 I feel. More clinical and we have a chance. Look at Everton the other week against them.
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WOLVES TO WIN 2-1,EBANKS-BLAKE TO COME OFF THE BENCH AND GET THE WINNER!!!!!!!GET YOUR MONEY ON IT
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Get real!!
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We all live in hope. If we did’t then what a miserable world it would be.
I am with ya man.
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Top man Golden Blood lets raise the roof!!!!!!!!
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Dude, do you do the clubs? You must have a great stand up act. I bet Man U are crapping themselves. Still, come on Wolves, make me look like a dickhead, no one would be happier than me. Keep the faith Jono.
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Dream on HC’S.
If Rooney gets anywhere near the pitch Craddock will mark him.I doubt if Craddock could get within 20 yards of him.Craddock was the defender who let Zat Knight get 10 yards off him to score for Bolton last week.He is also the player who will probably make history this season.
1.Played for Sunderland when they went down with a record goals against and least points until Derby.
2 Wolves central defender in the 2003 -4 relegation season.
3 Wolves central defender this season.[another relegation]
He is now a lot older and slower.
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Loving the optimism but the fact is if we stick to MM’s master plan of 1 upfront utds defence may aswell get the cigars out! We have managed 4 goals in league from 7 matches since the tactic has been deployed! Utd have scored 20 from there last 7 league games, so to win the game in my opinion we will need atleast 2 goals as i cant see them not scoring!
The problem is like bolton last week, playing this formation invites the opposition onto you as you have little or no way of retaining the ball in there half, so when you concede its very difficult to then say right chaps now lets go to 442 and get a goal, A because you then have got to make a sub (which MM wont do until 20 25 mins to go no matter how bad we are playing and B the opposition then finds it easier to pick you off when ur trying to get your goal back! So the formation in my view is only ever going to get you a point!
I will as always be shouting the lads on tomorrow even though they are being led by a man with little or no clue about tactics! No matter what the game, who the opposition they remain the same! What ever happened to horses for courses??
One final point, i was one of the fans that were at old trafford for the reverse fixture and was disgraced by what MM did, but in his own stubborn mind he was absolutely correct in his decision due to having a 6pointer the week after against burnley! So my point is what has changed from then til now? I doubt very much he will do it tom yet we have the same fixture next week against burnley which is probably more important than the last outing! If it was in the best interests of the club and in his words the right thing to do, why is it not going to happen tomorrow? ? Just a thought!!
Good luck fellas!!
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It wont happen tomorrow because it has been a week since our last game and will be a further week before we play Burnley. Last time around the Man Utd game was in midweek and we had just beaten Tottenham on the Saturday. By the way, I’m not saying what Mick did was right, just saying why it is different this time around. Up the Wolves :)
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For the simple reason that we have a fine hanging over our heads and if we were so blatant as to do it again – especially with Man Ure again – there would no doubt be a points deduction as well.
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Both valid points fellas, but dont even get me started about why on earth these players cant play sat, wed, sat 360 mins in a week!! Do you reckon he would do it if we didnt get fined first time round? I do!!
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He will not do it again tomorrow, because we would have another fine, and possibly have even worst punnishments, from the FA. As for what he did last time, i dont agree with what he did, because the players in todays game should be able to play midweek games without a problem, due to the training, fitness and diet regimes in place, but it ended up getting us 3 points against Burnley which was clearly the more important game.
I cant help but thinking the injury to Rooney is just a cover up so Fergie can rest some of his players for the champions league game. Why didnt Mick think of that last time round. I would love to see sir alex field an entirely different team, to see what the FA have to say. As for the result, 1-0 to Wolves.
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It will be interesting to see what Burnley do. They have Arsenal tomorrow and stoke in the week. Maybe they will rest players away at Arsenal, will they get fined? What is the rule anyway? how many changes can you make 2,3,4? What is the number of changes before you get fined? The fine we had was a joke. If they keep the same team for all three games we like have a much fresher team, so no excuses. We have to win. UTW.
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After reading that Michael Owen is out for the rest of the season Man U may be forced to play Rooney, or at least keep him on the bench in case they need him for the last 30 minutes.
With their recent injuries and a huge game in midweek there is no better time to play Man U. I hope our players recognize this and have a real go; this will be the third time this season we’ve played them so the nerves should be a little more settled.
This is why we’re in the PL; let’s have a go and surprise a few folks with a result. Reading the Man U blogs you get the feeling Fergie would settle for a draw and no further injuries. That would see them leap frog Chelski and go top.
UTW
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I think they will start him in the hope that they will get a couple of goals up and then will be able to take him off and ‘rest’ him for The Camps Lge.
We have to keep things tight for as long as we can (not easy given our recent record defensively !)and hope we can take whatever chances come our way at the other end.
I doubt we will score 2 so we have to be at our best at the back – whoever we play against.
I’ll be there,as always,cheering the lads on.
UTW
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crowfish-the utd away game was in midweek so to-morrows game is a completely different scenario as we havnt had a game for a week
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St Louis – Fergie is out to trounce Wolves, make no mistake about it. This is a must win for them and he will play his strongest team. They need to win as much as us.
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i agree with Crowfish, if we have any optimism in getting a result against a weakened man u team, this has to be tempured by our 4-5-1 formation, lack of cutting edge and goals. We faced a weakened Chelsea team a couple weeks ago and couldnt score,and the best chance fell to our defender foley playing in an attacking role. wonder if Miljas might had done better?
This is a game we should play 4-4-2, and have a go, but MM will stick to 4-5-1. Why not consider placing doyle or Miljas on the wing instead of foley? and possible put SEB upfront on his own. With doyle and Jarvis getting forward on the wings I think we would pose more problems for Man u.
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If the mighty Mick keeps to his game plan for the rest of the season we are doomed. He needs to attack united not play for a nil nil as if they score we have no chance of coming from behind. We can only hope that Ronney is left out of the squad and the rest have a bad day and we play out of our skins. Can Henry be left alone as he has tried his hardest perhaps he is jsut not good enough.
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The bad news is Johnny Evans out and Ferdinand ready to start. Evans has been decidedly dodgy recently along with Wes Brown (how does he get in the England squad ?)but, Ferdinand is at another level.
We came into the Premiership and bought our season tickets to play these teams and see players like Rooney, Ferdinand, Fletcher and dare I say, Valencia (are you ready Stephen Ward ?). It’s gonna be tough and IMO a point will be brilliant.
Let’s hope we see the Green and yellow of Newton Heath next year at Molineux…. and not Norwich !
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Yes Wes Brown is dodgy but so is Ferdinand. He was at fault v Holland and one of the following games.
We need to forget about who might play for Man Utd as the reserves are not rubbish. We need to be on top of our game tomorrow.
Team I would go with is:-
Hahnemann Foley Berra Craddock Ward Keogh Henry Guerdioula Jones Jarvis Doyle
With this line up we are capable of getting goals!
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I hope MM puts someone up front with Doyle.He left it until the last 30 mins against Chelsea
when Wolves were getting back into the game.
I think Wolves should come out,get into it,upset the Man U pace and go all out for the win,forget the draw…we need points not point now.
Good luck lads. I’ll re howling in Carolina.
Get to watch the game on Foxsoccer channel.
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Rooney will be on the bench and will come on with 30 minutes left if Man U aren’t winning by then. On his current form that should give him time to score a couple.
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I actually think 4-5-1 works quite well against the better teams.
It’s when were against the likes of Hull and Palace where we should be playing 4-4-2
Simple fact is though doesn’t matter what formation we line up with.
We have been very wasteful in front of goal and quite frankly I don’t see much changing tomorrow. Still… There’s hope if Shrek is actually out.
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Wolfhead,,,,do you honestly think that the only reason we got three points off Burnley was because we rested ten players against ManU?? Iff thats the case we are in a bad way.
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Leave the side alone tomorrow,no changes,lets have a go at them,,iff we get beat,no shame,but at seven o clock tomorrow night let us be able to hold our heads up.
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You cant have a right go leaving the side alone! Thats the problem! Jeeeeeez!! Heads might be held high at 7 a clock but im more worried about where our heads will be at 20 mins after that when the match actually finishes!
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I think you’re developing an unhealthy obsession with Mick McCarthy mate! he he. I HONESTLY believe that if it was possible, and I know its not, to sit down with the guy you would understand why he does what he does. He could explain what he sees in training and why he fields the team he does with the tactics he uses. The fact is , whatever anyone says, he knows the team better than we ever will. This is the reason I back him. I am now awaiting all of the comments about him being stubborn and only playing his favourites etc etc . I am just saying it as I see it. Have a good weekend all and lets get behind them.
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If Rooney plays, why not detail Mancienne to follow?
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Could we all get into the mindset of Jono. I don’t know what he’s on but I’ll have a pint. Maybe we are dreaming but isn’t it refreshing to hear someone on here with a not of optimism. Go for it Jono I’m with you all the way.
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This is absolutely like a cup game. By that I mean the pressure is off us as no one will expect us to get anything! Sort of like a break from the league for a week!!!
Let’s hope it does us some good and we keep our superior goal difference reasonable – its the only thing keeping us out the bottm 3…
…and you never know…
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GOIN UP TOMMOROW FROM MARGATE IN KENT COME ON WOLVES!!!!!!!!!!!
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Sir Ferguson states Rooney may not play because he played Sun and Wed.Blimey,after all
the games the ALBION lads have played on heavy pitches the last couple of months.Sir Ferguson you ought to be ashamed to utter those words.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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The drugs don’t work wolves fans United only have to score a goal and it’s over[goals for]Mick shortens the pitch to subbuteo size and likes to play wingers don’t wingers like open space’ whooooo Wagstaffe not rocket science.
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What tactics and formation did Burnley adopt when they beat them 1-0 earlier this season I would like to know?
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If I were a football manager I could win the Premiership with a squad like Portsmouths.The only thing I would need is to be looked on favorably by the referees,you know,like Manchester United are.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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Does it make any difference if Rooney the Looney is out?
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