That's On Point: The Web Site

"Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." -- Mark Twain

Nary a few weeks ago, a lot of pundits were writing off Wayne Rooney -- the one-time Boy Wonder -- as not that good. All style, no substance.

There was some reason to the argument. Rooney went goalless in all competitions in February, and was particularly toothless in the England shirt.

After Tuesday's brace vs. AC Milan in the Champions League, it's safe to say Rooney Tunes is back -- in a big way.

In April Rooney's scored seven goals in seven games, including four in the Champions League.

Yes, Dida probably should have stopped his 91st minute winner at Old Trafford. (And should probably spend a little more time on his game, and not carving lines in his hair. Then again, he did get hit in the face with a flare.)

At this point though, we should all know what Rooney is -- a goal scorer -- plain and simple. He might not do a lot for the full 90, but in that split second he can change the game. Tuesday his winner literally came right out of thin air, just as ESPN showed a bunch of Mancs heading for the exits.

As for the entire game itself? It was damn entertaining, good end-to-end stuff.

Naturally, Kaka is among the Top 10, if not Top 5 best players in the world right now. Though, his second goal was a result of a 'Three Stooges' caliber collision between Patrice Evra and Gabriel Hinze.

By the same token, you wonder if Rooney would have scored if Gattusso, or especially Maldini was still in the game for Milan.

If anything, Rooney's winner saved us of 90 minutes of boredom next week at the San Siro, as Milan certainly would have sucked the life out of the game if it remained 2-2.

At this yet, United isn't going to win anything with the current incarnation of its backline. Still, a good, not great day, thanks to the Boy Wonder -- who's back in flight.

Also, you can say it once, you can say it again, it's hard to find three dorkier-looking human beings that the Glazer brothers. They're crummy action movie villains. Yikes.

Here's one thought to ponder in closing, any chance, I mean any, that Rooney has ever heard of Mark Twain. I'd rate it at about 0.0000000001 percent.



Tomorrow: Chelsea/Liverpool...beware the roads, Michael Essien is about.

Labels: champions league, Soccer