Wayne Rooney slammed for going to EA Sports events, Capello is bashed for his attitude to Lewis Holtby & Manchester City are linked with FIVE forwards in one article

Comment & analysis round-up

Quote of the day: Its an ankle injury. What do you want me to say? Do you want me to describe every ligament? Christ! I think Wayne [Rooney] will be out for two to three weeks. Sir Alex Ferguson.

Runner-up: Fabianski had a good game, we have seen the player who we see in training. He had a faultless game. I know it is in him. He got it out in the game and hopefully that will give him the needed belief and confidence. I am confident he will come out as a great keeper, I have always said that. We have to keep confidence in him and he needs to gain experience from games like this. Arsene Wenger.

Todays overview: The Champions League is the background for much of todays news.

On Chelseas victory over Marseille several scribes flag up the Blues French contingent for specific mention, while following Arsenals win over Partizan both Lukas Fabianski and Jack Wilshere earn special attention.

Moving onto to tonights action, Manchester Uniteds injury issues take centre stage. The stand-out article comes from Martin Samuel who criticises Wayne Rooney for having his priorities all wrong.

There are two individual articles worth a butchers. Matt Lawton slams Fabio Capello for seemingly being uninterested in German-Brit Lewis Holtby, while Rob Bagchi spends his time tlooking at the art of goal celebrations.

In the transfer news, the Daily Mail lie about the potential of a rugby star swapping sports professionally while the Star link a joke amount of players to Manchester City.

Professional Pensioners: Kevin McCarra wrote nonchalantly about Chelseas 2-nil win over Marseille. This win was permeated with knowhow as Carlo Ancelottis side betrayed no signs of agitation even in the periods when Marseille attacked with fervo! ur if no t precision. Following suit Henry Winter scribbled after the blip, its business as usual This will hardly be remembered as one of the great Chelsea performances but it carries a real significance.

Going for the Gallic angle, David Hytner provided a wishy-washy analysis of Nicolas Anelkas shift against his French counterparts. Anelka could not be ignored. The stealth and cuteness of his movement at the outset was unsettling to Mbia and Souleymane Diawara, the two great pillars of the Marseille defence. He dropped deep to link the play but it was when he drifted wide or in behind that Marseille pulses quickened.

Jason Burt also picked up on Chelsea French contingent, commenting that Anelka was less effective than Malouda. [Anelka] offers a different approach to Drogba. A little less power, a little more fluidity and for all Anelkas smooth skill it remained Malouda who caught the eye that bit more, setting up Chelseas opening goal with a powerful drive, tipped away for a corner which Kakuta, still just 19 but burgeoning, took and John Terry executed (his first goal since March by the way). And it was Malouda bouncing through challenges, extending Steve Mandanda in the Marseille goal with a series of crisp shots.

Mark Fleming dissected the performance of Gael Kakuta. On the evidence of his mature performance against Marseilles he may yet prove good enough to live up to the hype. His first touch was sublime, a moment of natural class that in the same movement controlled the ball and took him away from a stranded Gabriel Heinze.

Applauding Arsenal: After winning in Belgrade, Arsenal recieve their fair share of good press this Wedneaday.

For Louise Taylor, Arsene Wenger is far too urbane ever to wave two fingers at Arsenals critics but his team had a suitably defiant riposte for t! hose who suggested their soft centre faced exposure in Serbia. The doom-mongers had claimed that Lukasz Fabianski keeping goal in a side shorn of Cesc Fbregas represented a recipe for disaster amid the most hostile of Champions League atmospheres but, ultimately, Wengers youthful players made victory appear almost routine. Fabianski even saved a late penalty.

Gushing, Jeremy Wilson lauded another fine performance by Jack Wilshere. It remains impossible just now to dim the emerging talent of Jack Wilshere Most interesting was the subtle positional switch of Wilshere into the attacking midfield role usually occupied by Cesc Fabregas. With Denilson and Alex Song forming a firm midfield base, Wilshere became increasingly influential and began combining to great effect with Arshavin and stand-in captain Tomas Rosicky.

Fergies Fitness Problems: The Telegraph survey the injury situation at Manchester United. Michael Carrick could make his first-team return for Manchester United in their Champions League group stage clash with Valencia on Wednesday Carricks presence was counter-balanced by the absences of Paul Scholes and Gary Neville Rooneys ankle niggle has provided a reason for Ferguson to leave him at home.

On Rooneys absence, Chris Wheeler suggests that the forward maybe on the sidelines for some time yet. Wayne Rooney has been ruled out by Sir Alex Ferguson for up to three weeks, meaning the troubled Manchester United striker will miss Englands Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro.

Martin Samuel homes in on Rooney too, criticising the forward for a reported appearance at an EA Sports launch party tomorrow. Wayne Rooney is out of the match with Valencia tonight, but the good news is he will be fit for EA Sports on Thursday. The company is launching a new video game and Rooney is the face of it. Roone! y has de als and commitments, but perhaps it is time to reassess those priorities. A footballer plays football, and a salesman shifts products. Withdrawn from the firing line against Everton, unable to travel to a very important game with Valencia, now out for three weeks with injury and without a goal in open play for his club this season, Rooney has been damaged goods for Manchester United for a while. EA Sports, however, will still get bang for their buck tomorrow. What is wrong with this picture? Dont bother even asking. His people wont allow questions like that.

Holtby, England & Crapping on Capello: How many people have seen Mainzs midfielder Lewis Holtby actually play football? Has Matt Lawton? We strongly doubt it.

Putting those basic facts to one side, the Daily Mail hack gangs up on Don Fabio for not picking a player made out to be the next superstar. Under the headline Lewis Holtby talks up England but is Fabio Capello listening? Latwon writes Holtby has declared himself ready to talk to Fabio Capello about playing for England, but the Italian looks set to ignore the Germany Under 21 captain There are understood to be two reasons for that. First, the FAs recognition that this is a player who unlike Owen Hargreaves has been educated and developed in the German system, having represented German national teams in every age group up to Under 21. And secondly, the fact that, having watched videos of the player, Capello and his staff are not that excited anyway.

Goal Celebrations: Rob Bagchi writes an off-beat article about the art of the goal celebration, and in doing so he paid homage to the reason we decided to name this site 101 Great Goals.

Bagchi: I dont think you can beat Denis Laws salute, one arm raised with his shirt cuff gripped in his fist, for elegant simplicity nor should we forget, in deference to Ed Milibands outing of himself as a Leeds fan, Peter Lorimers resemblance to a demented circus sea lion, clapping himself fra! ntically after a goal. Mick Channons was the one we all took off at school, whirring the right arm through 360 degrees, while a slalom solo run to score would demand a re-enactment of Emlyn Hughess Crazy Horse gallop while screaming Get in there in the high-pitched squeal made famous on the BBCs 101 Great Goals video.

Transfer Tosh: The Daily Mail go above and beyond their usual nonsense reporting that an English rugby star could become a professional footballer. In a never-ever-ever gonna happen bone-faced lie, the Mails no-name reporter farts MK Dons have yet to offer Danny Cipriani a contract but will consider a deal should his move to Australian side Melbourne Rebels fail to prove a success. The Mails phantom hack continues to chat sh*t, vomiting Juventus have emerged as strong rivals for Tottenham in the race to sign Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar.

Suffering from transfer turrets, the Stars Neil Johnson manages to ridiculously link five world class players to Manchester City in just one article. Roberto Mancini has Fernando Torres, Karim Benzema and Edin Dzeko in his sights after the Manchester City boss admitted he is two or three players short. The names of Real Madrid striker Benzema and Wolfsburg hot-shot Dzeko have joined Torres on a hit-list drawn up by Mancini for when the transfer window opens in January The former Inter manager would also like an attacking midfielder as competition for David Silva, with Javier Pastore and Wesley Sneijder in the frame.

The Smut: The Sun refuse to let the Beckham-hooker story simmer for one moment, today revealing what the footballer plans to do with any damages earned from the vice girl. Posh and Becks last night pledged to take hooker Irma Nici to the cleaners but not to keep any of her dirty money. The 16million damages the soccer ace is demanding after the tart claimed! he paid her for sex will go straight to the Victoria and David Beckham Charitable Trust. A pal branded Nici a lying harlot and confirmed the fortune will go to help sick kids.

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