US captain Donovan says Man Utd star Rooney burned out
USA captain Landon Donovan is convinced Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is burned out.
Rooney has been troubled by an ankle and groin injuries in recent weeks, the latter of which forced him off early in Manchester United's final Barclays Premier League encounter with Stoke last weekend.
That match was Rooney's 49th for club and country in a season when the 24-year-old has shouldered United's hopes like no other time during his Old Trafford career.
And Donovan, who will lead the United States against England in their World Cup opener in Rustenburg on June 12, believes Rooney is showing signs of being "worn out" after his heavy workload.
"Rooney is a top player. In my opinion, he is one of the best players in the world right now," LA Galaxy captain Donovan, who enjoyed a successful loan spell with Everton, told Yahoo! Sports.
"But the other part of it is that he has played a lot of games and he is tired. He is probably worn out.
"Injuries are a part of that. Things happen when players are tired. When they just keep adding games to the schedule, it makes it difficult.
"Any time you come into a World Cup, because of the timing of it, big players who play a lot of games in Europe are coming right at the end of their season, so it is always an interesting dynamic how to balance that."
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Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun May 13th | |||
| Chelsea | Blackburn Rovers | 2 - 1 | 14:00 |
| Stoke City | Bolton Wanderers | 2 - 2 | 14:00 |
| West Bromwich Albion | Arsenal | 2 - 3 | 14:00 |
| Everton | Newcastle United | 3 - 1 | 14:00 |
| Sunderland | Manchester United | - 1 | 14:00 |
| Wigan Athletic | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3 - 2 | 14:00 |
| Manchester City | Queens Park Rangers | 3 - 2 | 14:00 |
| Swansea City | Liverpool | 14:00 | |
| Norwich City | Aston Villa | 14:00 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Fulham | 14:00 | |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 64 | 89 |
| Manchester United | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 56 | 89 |
| Arsenal | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 70 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 25 | 69 |
| Newcastle United | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 65 |
| Chelsea | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 19 | 64 |
| Everton | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 56 |
| Liverpool | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 52 |
| Fulham | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | -3 | 52 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | -7 | 47 |
| Swansea City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -7 | 47 |
| Norwich City | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -14 | 47 |
| Sunderland | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | -1 | 45 |
| Stoke City | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | -17 | 45 |
| Wigan Athletic | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | -20 | 43 |
| Aston Villa | 38 | 7 | 17 | 14 | -16 | 38 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | -23 | 37 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | -31 | 36 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | -30 | 31 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 | 5 | 10 | 23 | -42 | 25 |
Related Stories
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May 29 Everton boss Moyes convinced Gary Neville will be England success
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May 27 Neville will stick close to Man Utd's Rooney during Euros
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May 23 LA Galaxy's Donovan: Everton loans made me better player
-
May 22 LA Galaxy captain Donovan hopes for third Everton spell
-
May 15 Man Utd striker Rooney: Everton draw wrecked our title chance
Comments (5)
Donovan is gay....so yeah.
Landon Donovan is shite. He is mediocre and always has been...American football is garbage and the fact that he does well in a shite league gives him a bit of publicity. If Rooney is 'burnt out', then Landon Donovan is a pile of crap...and that's already saying a lot. Stupid yank.
As fergie and most other manages say constantly that while we hve no winter break in the premier league while most of the others do england will not win the world cup. you wouldn't have thought that to get a week or two break instead of an international friendly was beyond the wit of man. or the manager can view it purely to assess fringe players and leave the star players to have a rest
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