Feb 19 2009
Jimmy Bullard Out For Season
photo: Nick
Poor Phil Brown, the guy finally gets to spend big money on a player that Hull City desperately needed in Jimmy Bullard, and now almost immediately after the deal is done, Bullard will be out for the rest of the season after requiring surgery on his knee. Hull City spent a club record £5million for the England hopeful, and Bullard only played 37 minutes in a Tigers shirt before re-injuring the same knee that caused him so much trouble at Fulham.
But good news is, Hull are in a great position to stay afloat after this season, meaning Bullard will have the chance to make the same sort of return he made for Fulham. After his injury is through, should Bullard be able to soldier on and continue his football career, I’d bet he’s still got enough in him to become that vital midfield player Phil Brown wants him to be.
Eduardo almost made a dream return for Arsenal, but not quite. Eduardo’s long awaited return did start well however, the Croatian scored 2 goals in Arsenal’s 4-0 victory over Cardiff in their fourth round FA Cup replay. And then the dream story ended, as Eduardo had to come off, having picked up a hamstring injury, meaning Eduardo has returned only to face another three week layoff. But at least he’s proven to be the same goal scoring Eduardo Arsenal have been missing. When they can get him to stay healthy again, no doubt Eduardo will once again play a vital role in Arsene Wenger’s first team.
And finally, for any argument as to why Wayne Rooney should always start ahead of Tevez, should there be no mitigating factors like injury, was proven without a doubt yesterday during Manchester United’s 3-0 stomping of Fulham. Rooney had missed the last seven matches with a hamstring injury, Fergie finally let him take the pitch in the 60th minute, Rooney is on for two minutes, and with his first touch, Rooney scores United’s third goal off a brilliant Ji Sung Park cross.
Sure it was a poachers goal so any striker worth their weight in the team could have put it away, but Rooney did, and Tevez didn’t. In fact Tevez was United’s one weak link in that match last night, which saw the resurgence of Paul Scholes, the emergence of Gibson as a great midfield threat, and the significance of Berbatov playing as United’s lead striker. I guarantee the scoreboard would have read a different result had Rooney started in place of Tevez. Because all those times Tevez gets a pass and is then immediately tackled because he sits on the ball, or those times Tevez puts a pass astray because he can’t read his teammate’s intentions very well, would have been played differently with Rooney’s foot on the ball. Fulham are lucky the England striker was only given thirty minutes, or else you could chalk up at least another two goals for United on the night.
