Moyes keen to protect Rooney
Wayne Rooney will return to Goodison Park with another piece of England history under his belt and even more demands on his shoulders.
That is what continues to worry manager David Moyes, who has been quick again to state his position over Rooney’s advancement with England.
Rooney will be up front tomorrow against winless Newcastle at Goodison, on a day when the fans will honour his achievement of becoming England’s youngest ever scorer at the same time as welcoming four new players to the club.
But Moyes is still more concerned about the pressures on Rooney, and candidly points out Everton’s view on the 17-year-old in contrast to England’s.
Moyes said: “We have always thought that if we were going to play a 17-year-old in every game it would show we had problems. That is the same for England.”
Rooney will remain centre stage tomorrow, even though Everton can unveil Nigel Martyn, Kevin Kilbane, James McFadden and their returning loan star Francis Jeffers.
Just how many of that quartet Moyes will play from the start against Newcastle remains to be seen - it might just be Irish winger Kilbane.
But the manager will not be silenced over the protection of Rooney.
He added: “He is still only 17 years old and there are a great deal of expectations on the lad which should not be there.
“He is a good lad who wants to learn and wants to listen. We are really pleased at Everton that he is playing for England.
“But he needs looking after. I am pleased he is involved at the moment because he needs the games. He is an exceptionally talented footballer and we are trying to make sure he remains that and becomes better in the future.”
Moyes does have a problem over his goalkeeper position tomorrow, with Richard Wright still recovering from a knee problem that forced him out of Everton’s last match, the 3-0 home defeat by Liverpool.
Steve Simonsen took over for that match and was to blame for the third goal. This week Martyn has been held back from reserve duty at Aston Villa, in case he has to step in for Wright against the Geordies.
Simonsen played at Villa Park and was on the wrong end of a 6-2 defeat, which will not have improved his position in the goalkeeping pecking order.
Everton will have to make a change in midfield as Mark Pembridge has now moved to Fulham. Lee Carsley played in Tuesday’s reserve game as well as the Republic of Ireland’s weekend draw with Russia, and could step in.
