Danny will be back... and he deserves a ‘Rooney’ as much as Wayne does
NEVER say never, I guess, but Wembley is unlikely to see the Danny Welbeck Match.
The Emirates is unlikely to see the Danny Welbeck Match, Old Trafford is unlikely to see the Danny Welbeck Match, Danny Welbeck’s back garden is unlikely to see the Danny Welbeck Match.
Fingers crossed, the time for any Danny Welbeck Match would be a long way off anyway. He only turns 28 a fortnight tomorrow.
And few are as experienced at recovering from physical setbacks as Welbeck. Few are as stoic, few are as determined.
Since making his full United debut in late September, 2008, Welbeck has been forcibly sidelined for a cumulative two years.
He has suffered various knee problems, torn muscle fibre, groin strains, plus issues with thigh, hip, toe and patella, not to mention the cartilage damage that kept him out for an eight-month period.
Now, the ankle with an injury so horrific-looking it left Arsenal team-mates tearful and the general ranks of Premier League footballers wishing him their heartfelt best.
None more so than Welbeck’s England colleagues.
He is a popular guy and anyone who has interviewed him will understand why. A smile is never more than a heartbeat away, he is self-deprecating and insightful.
Unsurprisingly, Welbeck is particularly adept at articulating the physical and, more significantly, the mental strain that goes with long bouts of recuperation.
The isolation and the doubt.
There will be more of that to come ahead of his next comeback for club and for country. And there will be a comeback for BOTH because, for the national squad, Welbeck is invaluable.
Not in a Harry Kane way, obviously. Not in a way the wonderful Wayne Rooney (above) – of the Wayne Rooney Match fame – was.
But in a way that explains why any success is founded not just on the XI that walk out for the first kick, but on the attitude of those who do not.
Not just on those who are exceptional and give their all, like Rooney, but on those who are relatively unexceptional and give their all, like Welbeck.
In a Bravo, Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson for overcoming cruciate ligament injuries in BOTH knees en route to making his first England squad. game England were not distraught to lose, Welbeck was given 13 minutes of football at Russia 2018. The England party arrived at their base camp in Repino on Tuesday, June 10 and left on Sunday, July 15. After a while, for those who knew they were nowhere near first-choice, there might have been a tendency to let training intensity slip or to become a distracting presence around the camp. Welbeck was the opposite, even more zealous in training, even more affable. As odd as it might sound, he was fundamental to England’s uplifting World Cup campaign. But, of course, you don’t make the England squad just because you are popular and a good tourist. In 42 internationals, Welbeck has 16 goals, including a memorable back-heeled winner against Sweden at Euro 2012.
For Arsenal, his ratio in Premier League games is similar and, in Cup and European matches, considerably better.
And, as the England managers he has played for will vouch, Welbeck brings a work ethic to go with a goal threat.
Hopefully, he will resume his career under Gareth Southgate and even play for other England bosses.
When he is finished, he will melt away into the background. There will be no Danny Welbeck Match.
But he is one of the good guys and, as long as Welbeck finishes on his own terms, that will be all that matters.