Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I’m Owen a debt to England..
England Italy Twickenham, tomorrow, 2.15pm
BY ALEX SPINK
ENGLAND captain Owen Farrell has admitted to being “massively” disappointed with himself – despite surviving Eddie Jones’ Calcutta Cup cull.
Jones axed a third of the team humbled by Scotland at Twickenham a week ago for tomorrow’s redemption mission against Italy.
Farrell lost his spot at fly-half to George Ford, but keeps both the armband and a place in the team by reverting to centre.
“We are disappointed, massively disappointed, as am I with my performance,” said the skipper, who failed to get a tune out of England’s attack. “Losing is not nice. You go through a range of thoughts and emotions, from disappointment to being a bit frustrated to excited about putting it right. We’ve definitely been through all of them this week.
“Don’t get me wrong. We are not all walking round, kicking stones and sulking.
“We are excited to see what we can do about it. We are looking forward to showing it, rather than talking about it.”
Jones claims that despite taking an hour to get a first pass into midfield against the Scots, his team’s attack has not regressed.
He likened their plight to Jurgen Klopp’s free-scoring Liverpool, who have managed only two goals in five home games.
“It’s been interesting to me watching Liverpool over the last six to eight weeks,” said the Australian.
“At one stage everyone was taking about how fantastic their front three was.
“Then they couldn’t score goals for a period and everyone’s saying how bad they are.
“Sometimes players, because of the mechanics of the team and the way the game is played, don’t get the opportunities – but they’ve got to stick at it.”
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TODAY marks 10 years since Wayne Rooney scored the most iconic goal in Premier League history.
Rooney’s audacious overhead kick, 12 minutes from time, sealed a 2-1 derby win for Manchester United against City at Old Trafford.
It helped United pip City to the 2010-11 title, with Rooney’s goal later voted the greatest in Premier League history.
Former United defender Wes Brown watched the goal from the bench that day and said the strike remains up there with the best he has seen.
“He scored a lot of goals but, for the situation and the time we were playing them, it was probably the best goal he ever scored,” Brown (below) told United’s website. “With the circumstances and the situation we were in, it was unbelievable. You can tell by the celebrations that he knows it’s a big one.
“It’s one of the best goals I’ve ever seen and especially playing City, who were starting to put a good team together as well.
“The game was very important and, to score that, topped it off really. It let everyone know we were still about.”
Recalling his famous strike, Rooney said: “To be honest, I just thought I’ll go for it. I wasn’t having the best game and thankfully it went into the top corner.
“We went on to win the league that year and it was a big game for us.”
City skipper Vincent Kompany, who watched as the ball flew in, said: “That goal was a testimony to Wayne’s talent. I couldn’t believe it because, in that game, I absolutely had him in my pocket.
“And then he pulls the overhead kick and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, come on!’.”
EFL clubs are increasingly worried about the lasting impact of the pandemic.
One manager revealed he has two players stricken by “long Covid” more than a month after contracting the virus.
Both have been struggling for breath and are unable to train fully.
Another issue is the huge fixture backlog in Leagues One and Two, made even worse by postponements in the recent bad weather.
One club fears they could easily end up playing three games a week by the end of the season – amid claims EFL chiefs are desperate to avoid extending the campaign.