Why Wayne Rooney is worse than Ronaldo

Fast Eddie and I got into an argument this morning and I had to share my opinion and see if anyone else would like to argue for or against my feelings.

If you talk to the average ManUtd fan they will tell you of the glory that is Wayne "Shrek" Rooney. I however usually respond by pointing out that he is just as big of a whiny brat as Cristiano Ronaldo was. You may not see Rooney flailing about on the pitch grasping his neck when someone poked his shoulder, but you will see him yelling, I mean YELLING, in the face of referees in about every game he plays.

I was watching a United-Arsenal match last year and Rooney didn't like a call the referee made, so he did what any calm, classy footballer would do: he threw a fit, yelling and cursing in the poor guy's face. As I was watching the "future of English football" blow his gasket over a misplaced tackle the commentators mentioned how the referees in the EPL give Rooney a lot of slack because he's young and has "a short temper". Rooney is 23, has a wife, and their first baby is due in October, I think he should be mature enough to be held responsible for his actions. And as far as the short temper goes, how is that something that isn't his fault? If he can't control his temper, shouldn't Fergie force the guy to take some anger management classes? You don't want your best attacking player to punch someone over something stupid like a stereo remote. (that sounds so familiar...)

Some may say that Rooney's short temper and shouting is just part of the way he plays football; that it shows how passionate he is about the beautiful game. As much as I love seeing Rooney fly down the field giving his all (as long as its not against Arsenal), I hate having that image tainted whenever he explodes over a missed call.

I don't care what he means to the English national team or Manchester United, I just hope the people in charge will stop letting Rooney go wild and force him to grow up on the field as he has supposedly done off the field. Too many players are coming up through the systems emulating Rooney as they once emulated Owen, and I would rather not see a bunch of 20-somethings with ill-tempers running around every Saturday.