Nike defend Rooney's boots

August 13, 2007

NIKE insist the design of their boots had "nothing to do with" Wayne Rooney's latest foot injury.

The Manchester United and England striker faces two months on the sidelines after suffering a hairline fracture of his left foot during the clash with Reading on Sunday, the third time since 2004 he has suffered injuries to his feet.

The first forced him off in the Euro 2004 quarter-final against Portugal and delayed his debut with Manchester United after his move from Everton.

The second happened just before the 2006 World Cup, giving the player a race against time to be fit for the finals in Germany.

Some have speculated that modern boot design puts players at greater risk of foot injuries, but Charlie Brooks, head of corporate communications for Nike UK, has told Channel 4 News that the boot that Wayne had been testing was not to blame.

He said: "He himself is personally absolutely confident, as we are, that the boot had nothing to do with his injury.

"Nearly 20 per cent of the professional players in the Barclays Premier league this weekend were wearing this boot.

Testing

"I think it is a boot that stands up to all kinds of testing... and stands up to on-pitch demand.

"I think what happened to Wayne is an unfortunate football injury.

"When we were developing this boot we worked extensively with Wayne.

"He was part of the development testing process... he went over to our headquarters in the United States and he tested the boot extensively over there."

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed the injury would keep the 21-year-old out for two months, making him a major doubt for England's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia.

What do you think? Have your say.

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Happyblue, Failsworth (13/08/2007 at 20:12)

Wayne should try drinking more milk,calcium helps strengthen bones !

Gilly, Belgium (13/08/2007 at 21:19)

oh god no!!!
But united now have to get on with it and WIN!

Forward with Frank (14/08/2007 at 07:45)

Bit of a worry with the derby coming up.

edinburgh red, edinburgh (14/08/2007 at 08:22)

At least this will deflect attention away from chelsea's severe injury list, i mean terry will miss two games and drogba missed the first 70mins, devastating.Love how the press keep going on about all the england game's he will miss,who cares.

Happyblue, Failsworth (14/08/2007 at 08:45)

BOO HOO,ENGLAND HAVE MORE STRIKERS,IT'S OPPOTUNITIES LIKE THIS WHICH ALLOW PLAYERS TO GET INTO CONTENTION FOR THE ENGLAND PLACES,MATT DERBYSHIRE DESERVES A CHANCE

Palmer, London (yeah, yeah, heard it all before) (14/08/2007 at 08:56)

England don't have more strikers Happyblue-Failsworth,

They are all either injured of rubbish.

Birdy, Ireland (14/08/2007 at 08:59)

If its not the boots, then it means 1 of 2 things. Firstly either Rooney is one of the unluckiest players in the world to break his foot 3 times in just over 2 yrs, or secondly, there's a weakness in him, and we could see this scenario repeated again in the future. I'm hoping its the boots!

bremen red (14/08/2007 at 09:39)

I don`t give a donkey`s codswallop if he never plays for England again, just want to see him in a United shirt, SOON.

I think Tevez is the best possible replacement for the ROO, and I can`t wait to see them line up together. Think we`ll have to wait till November though, the bone alone takes six weeks to mend, then he`s got to get match fit after that.

He`s gonna have to take measures to protect that foot in future, some sort of shoe-inlays or summit. Each injury was caused by the defender standing/stamping on his foot...

Happyblue, Failsworth (14/08/2007 at 09:44)

MATT DERBYSHIRE,DEFOE,BENT AND DEAN ASHTON ? WAYNE ROONEY ISN'T ENGLANDS ONLY GOOD PLAYER.

Demo, Glossop (14/08/2007 at 09:45)

it is very strange for it to have happened so many times. lets air on the side of caution and make him drink 4 pints of milk a day! and hope his unluckyness goes away

Mick, Dublin (14/08/2007 at 10:00)

If he's gonna drink 4 pints of milk a day, let's hope it's skimmed milk. Otherwise the metatarsals will be under even more strain than usual!

Demo, Glossop (14/08/2007 at 10:48)

too true mick but i bet he has a liking for full fat milk. :)

TMUF, Manchester (14/08/2007 at 11:21)

To be honest Birdy, I think its unfortunate. You have to ask yourself if it was another player who was challenged would the outcome have been the same? I say yes because he does seem like a tough young man who isn't injured reguarly.

bobbydazzler (14/08/2007 at 11:42)

happyblue he is englands only great player

Birdy, Ireland (14/08/2007 at 11:43)

TMUF i'd agree with you only for the fact that this is the 3rd time. You can take each incident in isolation and say it was unfortunate and could have happened anyone, but its happened him! 3 times! All pretty much nothing tackles. Its a worry. He's built like a tank so its strange

A Mancunian, Manchester (14/08/2007 at 12:03)

You'd get more protection from slippers these days.

Mick, Dublin (14/08/2007 at 12:06)

I'm inclined to think it is bad luck.

I also think Rooney might be more prone than most because he's so heavily built and powerful, yet gets around the pitch like someone half his size.

Luckily, the strength in the muscles and tendons in his legs seems to provide decent support for his major joints (knees, ankles etc.) but maybe delicate bones, like his metatarsals, are put through that bit more stress than those in other players?

Kevin, Tralee, Eire (14/08/2007 at 12:32)

If your guess is correct about Rooney's metatarsels Mick, would it not make sense for Nike to make a boot tailored to Rooney's specific needs? Especially since he's worth a hell of a lot more to his sponsers fit than injured.

Mick, Dublin (14/08/2007 at 12:45)

It is only a guess, Kev, and I reckon if they could they would. But any extra support would mean less control, so Wazza might not be interested. Swings and round-abouts and all that...

I don't think it's a massive problem anyway. He played a hell of a lot of football last season and not a bother on him.

Redtothebones, Mauritius (14/08/2007 at 13:14)

If it was not a serious matter it could have been taken as a big joke. Three breaks in three years cannot be a coincidence. It cannot be that WR is such a strong lad and at the same time have such fragile metatarsals. There must be something wrong with his boots and it is not Nike which is going to say so, of course.It is crystal clear that the present boots are not giving enough protection to WR's feet. M. Duberry only stepped on his foot! How come in the days of Nobby Stiles, B. Bremner, P. Storey and N. Hunter we did not hear of broken metetarsals? There is no doubt in my mind that today's boots do not afford players the necessary protection against what is normally acceptable tackles. Players may be free to sign lucrative contracts with boots' manufacturers but it is about time clubs step in to have the boots assessed by Quality Standard Authorities such as the the British Standard Institute. I am sure appropriate tests may be designed ( if they don't exist already)to test the boots. Too much is at stake for clubs to continue ignoring the problem.

ged (14/08/2007 at 13:38)

Nile admit they used Rooney when testing the boots, they must have then done a test which if someone stands on his foot he would not get a bone broken?

Or was the test they did to look nice?

On another note, what sort of studs were worn be these evil Rooney stampers?

Jrogger, Canterbury (14/08/2007 at 13:59)

To be fair, it was an awkward tackle and angle for Duberry's foot to pressure Rooney's. It may also be that Rooney is more likely to adopt a vulnerable position than others, perhaps b/c he his strong, fast and brave, so trying shots at high speed and acute (physical) angles that others just wouldn't or couldn't. Thus, certain moves/strikes he tries may leave him more vulnerable. A bit of spec but worth considering?

JonyB-), North Staffs (14/08/2007 at 14:03)

Redtothebones, Mauritius, Mike Dubery is not a small man. He was running and throwing his leg in hard to challenge. That adds up to a lots of pounds of force going through to Wayne's foot. Injury was always possible. Footware is not as protective as ehrn we kicked the old Casey's about - they don't need to be to protect the foot there. I agree with mick that the boots are made more responsive to allow better feel and control of the ball. A reason we love Wayne. The off shoot is that they are not as protective from physical contact and reading are a VERY physical team within the rules of the game, Kitsons challenge not with standing. The other aspect we may choose to explore is that footballers are much more precision tuned than before. The idea of professional athelete and highly tuned can lead to more potential injury because they are pushing there bodies more. Hopefully the introduction of the sports tec fitness guy from Blackburn will assist in reducing injuries by tailoring their activities. But, expect the same in the future as unlikely to change the boot and wayne unlikely to change his game and defenders should be allowed to challenge so this will probably happen again! Makes this season more important than ever that Saha prooves me and alot of people wrong by stepping up to the plate and showing us hes not glass! If he can waynes loss will be controlled and Saha could finally prove himself, if he can't then alot will depend on Tevez's ability to adapt very quickly and Andersons intergration will be a priority and there may be regrets we sold Smith before Saha!

Duncan, London (14/08/2007 at 14:16)

JonyB I agree about your observation about finely tuned athletes being more susceptible to injury and I feel that this is the reason Saha gets injured so much as he is undoubtedly the most highly tuned athlete in the squad. I have always suspected that his skill levels and ability to turn put more stresses than his ligaments and joints are able to handle. And that is a reflection of his immense fitness and agility rather than the susceptibility of his joints.

Mick, Dublin (14/08/2007 at 14:42)

Worth remembering that Wazza is one of a number of players to fracture their metatarsals over the last few years.

Modern boots have come in for a lot of flak but I've heard another theory that modern pitchs are much better drained and have a lot less give in them. It means they don't get torn up so easy but there are obvious downsides too.

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