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| Walking away? |
The hate banners apart, it was very noticaebale as well the rows and rows of empty seats that yawned at tv audiences worldwide and cast a further atmosphere of melancholy around this most famous club in the world.
Is Manchester United being dragged into meltdown by Wayne Rooney’s below-the-belt walkaway?
What does this mean for the likes of Arsenal who have played second (and sometimes third) fiddle to the might of Sir Alex Ferguson and his Old Trafford empire?
The master of double speak that he is, Arsene Wenger has already chipped in not-a-few soundbites about the whole Rooney saga.
Prior to our game against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, he said:
"What I make of it is that I have enough problems here not to be involved in that".
Really?
"We are not in a transfer period at all. Then again, any little incident at Manchester United or Arsenal becomes a big story, but it doesn't mean that there is something real behind the story”.
Contrary to what he may want us all to believe, what goes on at Manchester United, or any of the other clubs that we perennially arm-wrestle with for the title, is of great and vital interest to Wenger. If we care to remember in the summer of 2004, when it emerged that Rooney was leaving Everton as a precocious 19year-old to move to Man Utd, Wenger described the transfer as having the potential to affect the outcome of the league.
Those days, the league title was simply a straight fight between Arsenal and Man Utd. Wenger also made that comment with the very fresh recollection of Rooney’s abilities after we were thumped 2-1 by Everton at Goodison Park on October 19, 2002. That defeat ended our 30-match unbeaten run in the league and also announced Rooney to the world. To add insult to it all, 17 year-old Rooney that day became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Premiership. No surprises therefore, that he moved onto big, glory-hunting Man Utd in the summer of 2004.
Since then Rooney has maintained a very-consistent and irritating goalscoring record against us. To date, he’s scored 11 times against us (including 2 goals for Everton). His last goal coming in that 3-1 capitulation to Man Utd at Emirates earlier this year.
Ironically, on Sunday, October 24th, the day we face another Manchester side on the ascendancy, City, in the league, Rooney turns 25. Wenger himself will surely recollect with a wry smile on his face, statements he made in January this year about Rooney which one way or the other, may have helped accelerate Rooney’s desire to quit Old Trafford. On that day, January, 30th 2010, Wenger declared:
“Frankly, I think Rooney can play abroad. I believe he has all the ingredients of a modern player plus the British attitude and commitment. He is coming to the best age now. Before maybe he was bit too keen. Now he is more relaxed”.
Little did Wenger realise then, that those words would turn out ot be more prophetic before the year runs than anything Nostradamus had ever foreseen. Now as Rooney turns 25, Wenger’s wish may be coming to reality. One of the greatest tormentors of his team - very much in the mould of a certan Didier Drogba - is about to pack his bags and exit the ranks of his greatest rival.
Will Rooney’s exit mean the demise of Sir Alex’s empire and more breathing space for the likes of Arsenal? Already, the signs are appearing of a waning of Manchester’s powers. Eight games into the current season, Manchester has contrived to draw five games, winning only three and conceeding 11 goals in the process. For argument’s sake, this is the first time in recent memory that Man Utd have conceeded more goals than Arsenal at any stage of the league.
If for no other reason, Rooney’s exit portends a significant shake-up in the-house-that-Alex-built.
Rooney joined Manchester United in 2004, the summer Jose Mourinho also arrived at Stamford Bridge. By then the Glazer family were established as shareholders at Old Trafford but did not become owners until 2005, a season that culminated in Chelsea's first title since 1955 and Arsenal also winning the FA Cup final against United. Liverpool, the other of Man Utd’s rivals, won the Champions League that season.
A year later, Arsenal again reached the Champions League final, while Chelsea retained the Premier League. Meanwhile, the Glazers restructured their takeover, piling United with debt and adding to the dissatisfaction of many supporters - especially those who actually pay to watch football at the stadium.
Since then, Sir Alex (aided by the talents of Rooney and Christiano Ronaldo) won three straight league titles and added a second Champions League trophy to their array of silverware.
The key to the Glazers' grip on Old Trafford has therefore been theteam's success; without the hat-trick of Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League, the undoubted restlessness of United supporters would have been much more greater. The "Love United, Hate the Glazers" campaign made the Americans uneasy but did not hit them that badly in the pocket.
Had enthusiasm for the team waned among the fair-weather fans, alongside the disenchantment of the hardcore, then the consequences would have been much worse.
Just as Wenger talked about Rooney’s move to Man Utd affecting the outcome of the league in 2004, so is his likely departure six years on, also affect the outcome of the league. Already on Wednesday night, the huge number of empty seats sent a very potent message as the Rooney saga drew widespread anger and frustration amongst fans.
Gooners everywhere watch this unfolding saga with bated breathe. He will surely not admit it, but Wenger will welcome the departure of one of Man Utd’s iconic stars who has helped inflict pain, again and again on Arsenal whenever and wherever we have come in contact with him these six years past.
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