Brooking: Wayne got his just desserts

FA director of football development Trevor Brooking believes his organisation’s decision to suspend Wayne Rooney for two matches for swearing has almost universal support across football.

Rooney missed Saturday’s Barclays win over Fulham and will also have to sit out next Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City at Wembley after he swore into a TV camera during his side’s 4-2 win at West Ham last weekend.

Brooking said: “I think that was pretty venomous, straight into a camera at lunchtime on a Saturday, and at the time I thought ‘am I being old-fashioned about it?’ but during the week I have had quite a few people come up to me and almost unanimously everyone has said the FA got that right.

“That’s mainly people in the grassroots, dads, granddads like I am, that really something like that sends the wrong message out.”

Paul Scholes meanwhile claims his Manchester United team mate has been made the scapegoat for England’s dismal failure at last summer’s World Cup in South Africa.

“He has received stick ever since the World Cup,” Scholes told United Review.

“It seems as though he has been made a scapegoat for what happened.”

Meanwhile Dutch legend Marco van Basten believes that Rooney is a better player than either of the Chelsea strikers Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres.

“Rooney is the man. Drogba’s best days are behind him, Torres does not make the difference after all that money Chelsea paid,” Van Basten said.

“Torres is a great player but Chelsea paid a big amount of money for him, but does he make the difference now? No, not at all.

“Drogba... looks to be over the hill. His strongest days are behind him.”