7 Truths: Wayne Rooney is an all-time great, he should be treated like one

Amid the rain and the gloom of Saturday lunchtime in Manchester, Wayne Rooney fairly illuminated the FA Cup.

Juan Mata’s cross allowed him to flick a volley via a shin into the net on seven minutes to equal Bobby Charlton’s club record of 249 goals. His goal prompted United's 4-0 flogging of Reading with Rooney's landmark achieved in only 543 appearances for the club, 215 fewer than Charlton. Rooney is also England’s leading scorer with 53 goals from 119 games. He remains a bit special.

On such days, one continues to wonder why he is such a maligned figure in some parts? Perhaps it is jealousy; perhaps it is because he has enjoyed so much success at United; or perhaps it is a combination of both.

When he had a few harmless beers, visited a wedding and tried out a piano during an international break in November, it was as if he brought shame on the nation. Yet little was made of the Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino being charged for drunk driving during the Christmas break.

Some of Rooney's critics seem to revel in constantly deriding one of England’s greatest players. The somewhat warped fixation with Rooney is odd when it feels like nobody has anything good to say about him outside of his club.

The old saying goes that people in this country like to build up their heroes to knock them down. With Rooney, it seems like they only want to knock him down.

Judging by his output against Reading, he is hardly showing any signs of buckling. He is one of England's greatest players. He deserves better.

Arsenal could have been sent tumbling out of the FA Cup with their defence, Gabriel and Shkodran Mustafi in particular, looking decidedly wobbly against a side with a very British-based theme running through it.

Preston, fighting out of the Championship. may be limited, but they had Arsene Wenger's side in deep trouble at Deepdale leading 1-0 at half-time until the Premier League side, winners of this tournament in 2014 and 2015, came to their senses. Aaron Ramsey found the equaliser with his first goal for the club since March before Olivier Giroud scored his fourth goal in as many games to prevent his side being hit with an unnecessary replay at the Emirates.

Not a scorpion kick this time, but a sting in the tail for unfortunate Preston. With Danny Welbeck making his first appearance since May as a late substitute after a knee injury, what could have been embarrassing for Arsenal instead turned out to be a profitable trip.

It is 21 wins out of 21 for Wenger at this stage, who has yet to lose a match in the third round.

Ali Al-Habsi, the Reading and Oman goalkeeper, signed a new two-year contract with his club on Friday, the day before his side visited Manchester United in the FA Cup third round, prompting these fateful last words from manager Jaap Stam.

And so it came to pass in the 79th minute at Old Trafford that poor Ali, the Championship club’s player of the year, decided to dispense with such calmness. Under pressure from Marcus Rashford, he missed his attempted clearance in hilarious style, enabling Rashford a simple task to convert. Who would be a goalkeeper? Not so much Oman, more oh dear.

And on it goes. Zinedine Zidane must think this management lark is pretty straightforward as he marks his first year as manager of Los Blancos having officially taken up the job on January 4, 2016.

His side’s 5-0 drubbing of Granada courtesy of two goals from Isco and contributions from Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Casemiro extended Madrid's unbeaten run to an astonishing 39 games, equaling the Barcelona record of 2015/16 under Luis Enrique. Zidane’s side will overhaul that gold standard if they avoid defeat at Sevilla in Thursday's Copa del Rey second leg at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizuan.

They last lost a match to Wolfsburg in the Champions League last April, a tournament they would win for an 11th time a month later. They are six points clear of Barcelona at the summit of La Liga with Zidane managing to bind together the egos that had loosened under Rafael Benitez into a highly functional, tightly-knit winning machine.

"It is a feeling of satisfaction for me, of course," said Zidane.

It is difficult for any manager to raise Real Madrid's standards, but Zidane is proving himself to be a popular, thoughtful and most important of all, successful manager, at one of the world’s most volatile clubs.

If you have a spare moment over the weekend, pipe yourself into Manchester City’s 5-0 dismantling of West Ham United on Friday evening. If ever there was a match that gave the FA Cup a bad name, it had to be this mismatch. Almost as much as playing football in an athletics ground does for West Ham.

“It looks like it’s bigger. It’s an impression," said City coach Pep Guardiola.

There were 56,975 inside the London Stadium. Yet you would have much more noise and pressure on the visitors with 20,000 fewer punters at the gone-but-not-forgotten Boleyn Ground.

We all know that people get dewy-eyed when they recall the magic of the 2012 Olympic Games, but that is no reason to continue with this farce.

It is difficult to know what is worse: West Ham’s side or their stadium. This is a stadium that was never made for football. The sooner the ground is demolished, and rebuilt, the better for all concerned.

The first weekend of the New Year brings us a rash of third-round matches and the much-derided BDO World Darts. It is fair to say there are more enlightening sports events to come in 2017.

The hunt to find a worthwhile shock in the FA Cup becomes difficult when it feels like most of the Premier League clubs are not interested in the tournament.

Hull and Swansea, two of the clubs under most threat in England’s top divisions, played out a match at the KCOM Stadium witnessed by only 6,608, including 210 hardy travelling souls from Wales. For the record, Hull won 2-0.

Sunderland, a club with an average gate of 42,000, and Burnley contested a match at the Stadium of Light took in by 17,600.

Bournemouth were beaten up 3-0 at Millwall with a reserve side. There were 10,000 empty seats at Carrow Road for the 2-2 draw between Norwich and Southampton.

Everton, Swansea, Bournemouth, Stoke and West Brom and West Ham are all out of the tournament. You can say what you want, but they care little for it.

It will be a shock if the FA Cup ever recovers its standing in a world where knockout football is no longer lucrative or relevant. Finishing 17th at worst in the Premier League means everything, not lifting a trophy at Wembley.

Spare a little thought for the true "magic" of the FA Cup. It can be found in Stourbridge of the Northern Premier Division who scored 16 goals over seven rounds and eight ties in reaching the third round proper of the competition.

The lowest ranked team restored parity at 1-1 against League Two Wycombe Wanderers before succumbing to a 2-1 loss as Adebayo Akinfenwa's header extinguished a dream in the closing moments. Shame they never drew a Premier League side.

They made have had a better chance of causing an upset.