Rooney also missed a penalty when his left leg slipped on the wet pitch (similar to John Terry’s miss in Russia) and he his the post in the second half. What would the headlines be like if he had a third successive hat trick?

Rooney has now scored 9 goals in all 5 PL matches and leads the list of goal scorers in the Premier League.

Wayne Rooney has now scored 8 goals in 4 games and has had his best start to a Premier League season. His next big test will be against Chelsea on Sunday.

Arsenal suffered their worse league defeat in over 110 years when Man United demolished then 8 – 2 at Old Trafford. Wayne Rooney contributed 3 of those 8 goals while Ashley Young added 2 screamers.

Manchester United recovered from a shock 0 – 2 hole after 2 Mark Noble penalties within the first 30 minutes, and dominated the second half on their way to a comfortable 4 -2 win. Rooney struck a brilliant freekick to claw one goal back and them scored a second time in the 73rd minute. He completed his hattrick with a well-taken penalty and Hernandez completed the rout with a simple tap-in.

Man United won the game 2 – 1 although playing poorly on the road again. Midfielder Carrick is still a frustrating player to watch with his lack of intelligent movement and his indifference that leads to opposing players stealing the ball from him.

Paul Scholes should be back shortly from his hamstring injury.

Are Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling and Kiko Macheda really good enough to form the hub of Ferguson’s next great side? Have Nani and Anderson both been anything other than expensive flops? Are Michael Carrick and Ji-Sung Park simply making up the numbers?

In the cold light of day, a training pitch doesn’t lie and maybe Rooney has looked around, seen the future and got scared. Maybe he’s right to want only the best. Manchester United’s tradition as one of the greatest teams in the world exists only because of their success and without it, as Liverpool have found out (and Manchester United experienced too in the decades following Busby), freefall is only a few short years away.

This could be a watershed moment in the history of Manchester United. Of course they will remain a force with or without Wayne Rooney but maybe it will take a 24 year-old from Merseyside moving somewhere else to finally open United’s eyes to the bigger problems threatening the long-term future of the club.

Excerpt from SoccerReportExtra.com

Yes, he was injured. We sent him for a scan and while he was able to train, he was still carrying traces of his injury. Why he was saying he wasn’t injured, you can only guess yourself. It’s disappointing. When it came to the Sunderland game, I felt I would leave him out and give him a complete break so he could be fit for England. I thought if he went and played for England, at Wembley, we would get his form back. That was my intention, that was my idea, to galvanise him. Take a break from the games, get the training done, get his fitness back. Get rid of the traces of the ankle injury away and play for England. So why he’s come out and said that, I’ve no idea.

Have you fallen out?

We’ve never had any argument, not a bit. I think you have to understand the mechanics of these situations when people want to leave the club. It’s an easy one to say he’s fallen out with the manager, a very easy one to say. I think there are traces of that too.

We’re now hearing that he doesn’t want to sign a new contract. What is the situation with his contract negotiations?

That is true. David [Gill, the chief executive] in the early part of the summer had opened talks with his agent. And that was to be continued after the World Cup. I was in the office on 14 August when David told me he’d had a call from his agent saying that Wayne wasn’t going to sign his contract. So then David came across to see me. He said he couldn’t believe it and neither could I. I was dumbfounded, I couldn’t understand it at all because only months before he’d said he was at the biggest club in the world and he wanted to stay for life. We just don’t know what’s changed the boy’s mind. David was shocked, I was shocked.

I had a meeting with the boy and he reiterated what his agent had said. He wanted to go. I said to him, ‘Just remember one thing: respect this club.’ I don’t want any nonsense from you, respect your club. What we’re seeing now in the media is disappointing because we’ve done everything we can for Wayne Rooney, since the minute he’s come to the club. We’ve always been there as a harbour for him. Any time he’s been in trouble, the advice we’ve given him – I’ve even been prepared to give him financial advice, many times. But you do that for your players, not just Wayne Rooney. That’s Manchester United. This is a club which bases all its history and its tradition on the loyalty and trust between managers and players and the club. That goes back to the days of Sir Matt [Busby]. That’s what it’s founded on. Wayne’s been a beneficiary of this help, just as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and all the players have been. That’s what we’re there for.

There’s been no falling out. That’s why we need to clarify the situation now for our fans. Because what we saw on Saturday was unacceptable. When we were at 2-2 and the fans were chanting for Wayne Rooney, it put pressure on the players and it didn’t do any good for the team. So we’ve got to clarify the situation and try to do it right. There’s no [specific] offer on the table for Wayne [at the moment] because they’re not prepared to listen to an offer. But there’s always an offer there for Manchester United to negotiate with a player. That’s still there.

2 …Tevez is gone and Manchester City upgraded in the summer. Plus Tevez is the top scorer in the Premier league right now.

3 ….Manchester United’s real problem is off the field: DEBT. “Manchester United have become the first English club to crash through the £100 million profit barrier – while at the same time posting an £83.6 million loss.”

United’s overall debt rose to £521.7million and you can add to that the £225m in high-interest PIK (Payment-In-Kind) loans. THAT IS ALMOST £750 MILLION IN DEBT.

4 …with the massive debt Manchester United missed out on top players who recently switched clubs like:
David Villa
Mesut Özil
Rafael Van Der Vaart
Kaká
Wesley Sneijder

5 …Manchester United will find it hard to beat Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and possibly Chelsea or Manchester City.

6 …What will United do when van de Sar, Giggs, Scholes are gone? Where are the star midfielders of the future? THE FORWARDS NEED TOP MIDFIELDERS TO SUPPLY THE BALL TO THEM. Carrick is a B rated midfielder, Anderson is yet to shine, you can’t build your future on Owen Hargreaves. Fletcher is a keeper but beyond him who do you want to compete with Xavi at Barcelona or Sneijder at Inter?