If Rooney..

amolbhatia100

improved his finishing the way Ronaldo has, how good can he be?

Ronaldo's shooting 2 years back wasnt half as good as Waynes. Although the latter still wasnt clinical, he was a decent finisher, had tramendous power in his shot and could finish from various ranges. I've read various people claim that he although hes a fine player he possibly isnt in that top drawer talent wise as the greats of the game.

But i look at his game, and at his best, i can barely find faults. Can go past players, has great technique, superb vision, good passer, excellent energy, the ability to do something absolutely spectacular and a big game mentality, which is rare to find. So if he does sort out his finishing big time, how good can Wayne Rooney be?

Sam#1

Even better.

ooeat0meoo

Urrrmmmm Better?


Ya, Bastard Sam...

Beat me by a couple seconds.

amolbhatia100

No shit!

Raven_Blade

He can be as good as he wants to be. Work on that finishing and he will be immense.

FlawlessThaw

Imagine if he finished off that long ball from VDS, would have been an amazing goal. The way he trapped the ball was sensational.

Pogue Mahone

Oh for fuck's sake. Another thread about Rooney's "poor finishing". He is a quality finisher who's having an iffy season, which means he is missing chances he would usually finish in his sleep.

He doesn't need to fecking work on his finishing. He just needs to regain some form and play a decent run of games. Then the goals will start to flow again. I reckon he's still only at about 80% of what he could be.

But I think the signs are there that he's about to burst into life and score a shit-load of goals. And then all these doubts about his finishing will seem ridiculous.

Psmith

And then people on here claim he has poor control.

We already have the best player in the world in our team. If Rooney can get some consistency going then we could well have the second best as well.

amolbhatia100

Hes one of those players who would make finishing look easy one day and then frustrate you the other. The last season and a half though, his finishing has been rather crap though. Good thing is he gets a lot of chances. This thread isnt meant to critisize him. Its just taking Ronaldo's example, applying it to Rooney and exploring the possiblities of his talents. Because Ronaldo's shooting has improved an an unbelievable amount.

Pogue Mahone

That's true. But that applies to all aspects of his game, not just his finishing. On his day, his first touch is unbelievable but theres' been times this season where he's looked like he couldn't trap a bag of cement.

mr.suave

I don't think his finishing ability is all that bad, it's just extremely inconsistent. When he's one of his sprees he doesn't seem to miss, so I do believe that the ability is definitely there. People forget that he's still a young player - young players are bound to be inconsistent in certain areas of their game.

He's at his best when angrily powering them in from the edge of the area or something (à la his Bolton hattrick last season)... I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen Rooney go one on one with the 'keeper and try to dink it over him as he rushes out, only to see it saved.

Regardless, he seems to be hitting form at a crucial point in the season. I get the feeling that he's close to going on a run of scoring again, just needs a goal or two to set him off. United with with Rooney and Ronaldo both on fire could quite easily go all the way in the Champions League.

amolbhatia100

I personally dont think hes an inconsistant player. Its just this season and bit of the last that hes been like this. Before that his technique and performances were very very consistant for a player that young. Its just this season that we've seen his touch be so poor and then so good the very next game.

mosesfromtala

he was great on sunday , his movement was class, loads of credit to the management for spotting the scouse centre backs were as mobile as double decker buses and credit to everyone who could drop balls just behind said buses and most credit to rooney who made mugs of two centre backs with his movement ... if people are really talking about that one on one after he took that ball down on his toe as a 'miss' they should get the fuck off their computers and play some football.

Pogue Mahone

I disagree. He's always been like that. Even after his hat-trick against Fenerbahce he had a run of games where he was massively inconsistent. He seems to take longer than most to really hit top form. He needs to play 10 games on the trot to really get firing. This season the injuries have prevented him from doing so.

Pat_Mustard

Agree with that, but thank fuck even when he's a little off colour he's very rarely a passenger for us. An off form Rooney is still liable to cause a defence problems and create something, even when he looks like he couldn't score in a whorehouse. I've watched Ibrahimovic for example a few times lately, and when he's off form he's good for nothing.

The disappointing thing for Rooney this season was that the injuries struck when he was scoring for fun at the start of the season. Poacher's goals as well, which seemed at the time like a big step forward in his development.

Feed Me

Rooney is never going to be in the quality finisher category. He clearly fannies around too much with an assortment of ridiculous chipped efforts.

jojojo

Different players develop in different ways.

United's top scorer - Bobby Charlton - had his peak goalscoring season (29 goals) when was 21 and never went over 21 goals in a season again. Best's peak scoring season, again when he was about 21, yielded 32 goals (from 10 the season before) and he delivered four more 20+ seasons.

The question with Rooney is - we know he can score great goals but is he going to be a prolific goalscorer in the RvN, Denis Law, Alan Shearer sense? He may not want to be that kind of player, his skills may need a different outlet. I'd like him to score more (good for my nerves) but I'm not too worried about his contribution.

Feed Me

?

If he can be, of course he will WANT to be a prolific goal getter. That is after all what this sport is all about.

Scholesy

I though finishing could be improved in training, looks like it cant!

Pat_Mustard

Sweet fuck, do you actually enjoy digging a hole for yourself?

How about Ronaldo - are you going to deny that his positioning and finishing have improved beyond measure in the past two seasons? How did that happen then? Magic?

Scholesy

Ronaldos finishing hasnt improved. His decision making though has through experience hence better contribution.

reddevilcanada

he'd be the best player in the world along with Ronaldo, them two on top form would have the best defenders shitting their pants, that's for sure.

Pat_Mustard

You're fecking blind.

Dippersripper

He is right actually. Ronaldo's decision making and positional sense is the best in the premiership.

Pat_Mustard

When did I deny that? He's saying his finishing hasn't improved since he's been at Utd, that's what I'm disagreeing with. He's said on several occasions that you can't improve technique through training.

Wes

He always plays.

Romaleouf

There is way more to Rooney's game than scoring goals. Yes, he might be a striker, but the vision of Rooney surpasses even some of the "so called" top quality midfielders. The way he can find a pass through the crowded defense is always a joy to watch.

It has been said before, and it should be emphasised again that Rooney could develop into a "Paul Scholes" like player. (yes, they are different) controlling the game with his wide array of passing, prodding, seeking out openings for the strikers.

Of course, we all know that Paul Scholes started as a striker as well, and then grew and blossomed into a midfield creator.

So it is not really "poor finishing" but as a whole, anyone who could appreciate his play would be able to testify that Rooney brings another dimension to the game.

Who tracks back often? Rooney! wins a tackle, and off we go on the counter. Not an ounce selfish (might be deem as a slight weakness) and finds a team mate with a sublime pass, cross or through ball to set up a goal.

No one can come close to Rooney these days. Yes, if he had been sharper or more deadly, there would be more goals. But, in the end, the contribution as a player to the team, Rooney is always there up on top.

Bape

Agreed. Rooney is not a great finisher, can appear so on his day but nothing to write home about. His all round game is what clearly sets him apart from other decent finishers.

kanchelskis14

Agree, Rooney annoyingly tries to chip a keeper whether he's off his line or not. Perhaps suprisingly, this is an area in which he differs from Ronaldo, Ronnie doesn't seem to care about scoring the picture book goal all the time, wheras occasionally a Rooney chip or volley will go in and everyone will talk about it for years, but i'd rather he just took it simple more often.

Overall, i'm reserving comment on Rooney for the time being. I'm not entirely convinced just yet, but i've seen obvious promise. Before i say too much and get into a mindless slanging match, i'l hold back until i feel i've made my mind up about him one way or another.

kanchelskis14