The Premier League Would Benefit From a Wayne Rooney Injury

The Premier League race could certainly use Wayne Rooney being sidelined for a couple of weeks. 

Wayne Rooney was injured in the dying moments of Manchester United's 2-1 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.

I enjoy watching Rooney as much as the next fellow, and he seems to be a decent lad now that he's stopped acting like a child. I don't wish pain upon anyone, but from the neutral perspective, the race for the Premier League title would benefit from this plot twist.

Manchester United has climbed one point ahead of Chelsea and four ahead of Arsenal with six games remaining in the season. While the two London clubs are snapping at United's heels, this was looking like an all too predictable Premier League title.

Manchester United started the season off slow, as is their wont, and then turn it on as the rest of the top four fades in the Spring. This is the same thing that has happened each of the past two seasons, and the same result this campaign would be nauseatingly predictable.

With Wayne Rooney's form this season, you have to give the advantage to United over Chelsea and Arsenal. I'm an Arsenal fan, but we haven't had a striker in the same ballpark of Rooney's level of reliability this season.

Rooney has scored 26 goals in 28 games—a respectable figure in any League, but all the more so that it happened in England. He is the leading candidate for the Golden Boot this season. Don't let his hastily retreating hairline make you forget that the lad was still 24-years-old, even through he has been around for ages.

Allow me to reiterate. I don't wish Wayne Rooney any harm, but I think that the Premier League could benefit from being blown wide open. Its the same rationale as why neutrals do not support Liverpool finishing fourth this season.

The Premier League benefits if more people become engaged in the game. They benefit from stories being made, and from new and interesting things related to the Premier League being talked about. With six games left, a Wayne Rooney injury would change landscape more than any other plausible development. The fact that the World Cup is 10 weeks away also needs to be a serious consideration.

I expect Man U to run away with the title if they can play Rooney for the final six games. If they don't, I expect it to be an entertaining run-in, with the Red Devils as serious contenders with their (quietly) world-class squad.

Rooney has been struggling with a knee knock for the past couple weeks, but he apparently incurred an ankle injury on Tuesday in Munich. The story still hasn't broke as to whether or not his injury from Tuesday night is nothing, slightly debilitating, or fatal. My guess is B. Stay tuned.