Let’s face it, a leopard can’t change its spots. There seems little point trying to remove the aggression from Wayne Rooney’s game for fear of making him half the player he is. Nevertheless, it’s clear that whenever he’s pulled on an England shirt recently, the boy has become nothing short of a liability for his country. ‘Wazza’ wasn’t far away from a red card on a Wednesday night, despite the match only being a friendly against the US. The BBC report that Fabio Capello will be having a quiet word in the striker’s ear about throwing his weight around.

“I have to speak to Rooney and explain not to do these tackles the next time I’m with the team,” Capello said.

“I like players who have quality but also who do not fear to tackle.

“He is young, he is a good player and I think the future will be better. For this reason I think I have to speak with him.

“When you play you need to tackle very hard. He did two very, very hard tackles, possibly yellow cards but not red cards.”

It’s been a frustrating few months for Wayne Rooney, who has not scored nearly as many goals as he would have liked this season. While injury prevented him from playing an entire season, dare we say that he was Manchester United’s worst performer in the Champions League final and that the pressure heaped on his shoulders has gotten a little too much for the former boy wonder?