Two shades of Wazza

By Zain Alvi | 29th January 2010

Two shades of Wazza | read this item

Related News

If you are anyone on the Hull City roster, you are familiar with a Wayne Rooney that would score all four goals by himself in a blowout United win at Old Trafford. On the other hand, if you are anyone who represents the Sky Blue half of Manchester, you saw a different Wayne Rooney; this version of Wazza showed his clinical finishing ability under some of the most nerve-wrecking circumstances.

Now the question is that if you are Arsene Wenger, you don’t know which Wayne Rooney you will be hosting at The Emirates this Sunday. As already analyzed by my colleague Brian Lofrumento in his article about this issue, the Gunners can expect to have their hands full as they try to contain Rooney without the services of Vermaelen. Either way, whichever version of the England striker shows up, Arsenal’s defense will have to make sure that striving to cover Rooney does not take away from their focus in defending set pieces.

United could very easily frustrate Arsenal by forcing set pieces and then punish the inexperienced North Londoners with staggering goals. Therefore, Sol Campbell needs to use his size and experience to lead the backline from the front rather than cracking under the mounting pressure himself. With a decent amount of composure and self-belief, Arsenal is more than capable of forcing a third shade of Rooney to emanate: the short-tempered version that has gotten him into disciplinary issues throughout his career. With that said, let’s leave it to Sunday to find out which shade it is that Rooney brings to North London.