Rooney & Pietersen: The flawed geniuses we tolerate and celebrate

In a relatively successful week in the recent context of English sport, we were reminded that the talismanic fulcrums around which our two premium national teams are built around, demand their audience to tolerate and celebrate them in equal meaure. Whilst Kevin Pietersen's cavalier free-scoring was eclipsed by an uncharacteristically dismissive innings from Andrew Strauss, Wayne Rooney was lauding the Wembley turf as though it had been created purely for his own personal expression. The common trait that did link them throughout the week, and is often the only punctuation of the adulation heaped upon them, is their habitual petulance.

As KP pushed out his bottom lip in St Lucia, Rooney's admirable work-rate lead to him counterintuitively smashing his limited internal thermostat, thus resulting in a tackle against Ukraine that, whilst winning the wall, served as a subtle reminder to his questionable temperament. Rooney and Pietersen are 2009's version of compsers who, whilst beguiling as some of the greatest exponents of their art, are never far away from their own insular Achilles Heel. They have had their predecessors,both in the medium term in Gascoigne and Botham and today in the recreational rower Flintoff and the alleged nightclub scuffler Gerrard. Clearly, the requirement to place an observation in contemporary context does a relative disservice to Freddy and Stevie in comparison to Gazza and Beefy, and English fans have every right to expect these incidents to be the exception rather than the rule.

Rooney's desire and passion can manifest itself in either a tackle north of the ankle, or a hurried re-distribution of the ball that passes too close to a referee. With Rooney however, there is always the sense that his enthusiasm is borne out of a desire for team progression. The same can always be immediately assumed of Pietersen. Whilst his interview technique often extolls the virtues of a team ethic, his behaviour in key scenarios often belies this. For every carefully constructed soundbite, there is an attempt for a six when pragmatism should be the top priority. Whist his undeniable contribution to the English Test team ensures that these subtles nuances of his character are rightly tolerated, surely it would be better for all concerned if any potential lambasting directed at KP, was as a result of his investment in the betterment of the team, rather than vocal self-indulgence ellicited by the pheromones of a dictaphone.