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For me, the ideal player to have next to Rooney has these qualities :
1) Lethal finisher - Rooney had a purple patch of fantastic finishing earlier on in the season and he's ending the season with poor finishing. It's never going to be his best quality, he needs a partner who is sure-fire in front of goal.
2) Someone who stretches defences and looks for balls in behind, like Saha used to - This creates room for an off-striker. Something Rooney has been the best in the world at, before being pushed further up front. We need someone who actually wants to work the channels and make runs time and again behind the defence.
3) Good pace - It has to be someone who can keep up with Ronaldo and Rooney on a break.
4) Someone with good link up play around the box. That doesnt mean he has to be able to do Drogba style chest downs for Lampard style long shots, but someone who is comfortable around the box at finding team mates and creating chances
Manucho will be a good option off the bench if we need a big guy to win balls in the air. He's also very capable of putting the ball into the back of the net if we create him chances.
Benzema, Mario Gomez, Eto'o and David Villa all fit the bill. People will say "Oh, but we need a huge target man like Drogba and Adebayor" but we did pretty well with Saha when he was fit last season and he's nowhere near as tall. Neither were Yorke and Cole and it wasnt Solskjaer or Sheringham's game at all either.
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