The once-precious memories of a teenage Wayne Rooney may be hateful for Everton fans but at least they now have a new prodigy to celebrate.
Yesterday, Rooney stood grim-faced as he watched Jack Rodwell glide past Michael Carrick, hold his nerve and slip the ball past Edwin van der Sar to complete Everton"s well-deserved win.
As the 18-year-old from Southport, a childhood Everton fan, was embraced by a euphoric Gwladys Road End, he stripped off his shirt and revelled in the acclaim.
The precocity of youth: Everton"s Jack Rodwell (right) celebrates
The poise, the confidence on the ball, the precocity of youth were all familiar; Rooney will remember them well.
Of course, this was a game about much more than 88th-minute substitute Rodwell. For a start there was Dan Gosling, the 20-year-old Devonian and a veritable bundle of energy. Then there was Diniyar Bilyaletdinov"s stunning equaliser on 20 minutes.
Principally, though, there was Landon Donovan, Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman overwhelming Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Ji-sung Park and Antonio Valencia.
"We were well beaten, simple as that," said Sir Alex Ferguson. "There"s a possibility that we were tired but we"re going for a championship and you expect Manchester United to respond to the importance of the game. In the second half they were better."
Rooney was unusually subdued on his return to the club who nurtured him and Dimitar Berbatov was his usual enigmatic self. But perhaps most worrying of all, Jonny Evans and Wes Brown looked an accident waiting to happen.
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