Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action- two

6) Does Rooney deserve a place in the Manchester United team?

Never mind England, without the “special privileges” Louis van Gaal affords his captain, might Wayne Rooney face a fight to return for Manchester United when again fit? Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Everton followed the 1-0 victory overManchester City before the international break. Each of these came from an XI featuring a front four of Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial who have clicked. In the 171st Manchester derby, Rashford was the game winner; against the Toffees, Martial scored the goal. In both outings the quartet were the best part of Van Gaal’s uneven outfit, offering vim, pace and craft. Since Rooney injured a knee on 13 February United have lost three of their 10 outings, winning five. Rashford has registered five times in eight outings to emerge as a potent No9, the position Rooney had been playing. In the other berth where he is most effective Lingard has the pace and mobility Rooney can lack at No10. As captain and team totem the 30-year-old will probably be reinstated. But if he was not the beneficiary of those special privileges, then... 

7) West Brom goalkeeper Foster deserves England recall

Goalkeeper

Ben Foster

Appearances

9

Saves

28

Clearances

2

Ben Foster deserves an England recall and France could do worse than bring Yann M’Vila back into the fold. West Bromwich Albion’s goalkeeper had an awful lot to do in the 0-0 draw at the Stadium of Light on Saturday and he did it brilliantly, treating everyone to a full repertoire of brave and brilliant saves. The stops that denied Jermain Defoe (more than once), Fabio Borini and Lee Cattermole were exceptional – not to mention ensuring Wahbi Khazri’s stellar chance creation came to nothing. With Jack Butland injured and out of Euro 2016 there seemed a compelling case for Roy Hodgson to take the 33-year-old Foster to France in June. If he keeps playing like this England’s coach might even decide he is the right man to frustrate France’s attack when the two teams meet in the final! Meanwhile Sunderland’s Yann M’Vila has had such a good season in central midfield – frequently looking a couple of classes above his team-mates – that it remains a major surprise he has not added to his 22 France caps. Yes, M’Vila was a bit wild and served a two year suspension from his national team after breaking a curfew in Paris but that ban his long since over and surely it is time to forgive and forget. As things stand it remains an enduring mystery that Newcastle’s consistently under-achieving Moussa Sissoko seems to have a nailed on place in the French party for Euro 2016 but M’Vila can’t get near it.

8) Norwich show Newcastle how to deliver the basics

For the first 15 minutes or so at Carrow Road, Newcastle were like a team trying to relearn how to play. They passed the ball around competently but with no obvious purpose beyond that. “We have to play simple and then have more confidence,” Rafael Benítez explained later. If such an approach is needed, then the Spaniard’s appointment has probably come too late, because the tail end of a relegation fight is no place to start elementary team building. Newcastle found urgency and took more risks in the second half and also went more direct after the introduction of Alexksandar Mitrovic, whose aerial power gave Benítez a strong pointer to the strategy he should prioritise for the run-in. This Newcastle team do not currently have the nerve, balance or concentration for any other style. Norwich, hardened by the experience of coming through the Championship play-offs last season and fighting against relegation for most of this one, ultimately gave Saturday’s visitors a lesson in how it should be done. “Since I’ve been here we’ve been used to playing big games,” said Alex Neil afterwards. “We showed that we’re up for the fight and will find a way to do whatever it takes to pick up three points.”

9) Young players would gain little from exposure at Villa Park

There was quite a curious moment at the conclusion of Aston Villa’s latest meek surrender on Saturday, when boos rained down from the stands again, only for Jack Grealish to linger a few seconds longer than his team-mates and lap up some applause from the Holte End, a stand he used to watch Villa from in happier days. Perversely, the attacking midfielder is perhaps lucky to have been injured so often this season because his reputation has not taken the pummelling so many of his colleagues have endured. Yet Eric Black, the caretaker put in charge of a horrid mess, was right to say he is reluctant to put younger players into the team for the final few meaningless games. “Are the young players ready to play in that atmosphere?” Black wondered. “Do we want to throw them into the lurch? It’s sometimes not necessarily the best thing for young players.” What would they gain from such a toxic environment and, unless something remarkable happens, further heavy defeats? Very little.

10) Europe may prove a bridge too far for Stoke

Stoke surrendered a two-goal lead which will surely have left manager Mark Hughes asking whether a Europa League spot this season could prove a bridge too far his team. Hughes’s men have deservedly won plaudits for their fluid football, usually served up on a rock-solid base. Victory over Swansea City was well within sight, too, before Gylfi Sigurdsson and Alberto Paloschi struck to bring Stoke crashing back down to earth. “As we well know though, a two-goal lead, for whatever reason, can be very difficult to protect and once we conceded the first goal, we became a little bit anxious,” he said after the match. Stoke have a niggling habit of letting things slip away, including defeat by West Brom in January and at home to Southampton last month. Liverpool and Chelsea are still chipping away at determining a strong finish and could usurp Stoke’s - as well as Southampton’s - attempts at securing European football. And while the Potters remain on course for their highest league finish since 1975, they could yet end the season feeling a little disappointed.