Wayne Rooney

Feed Me

Wayne Rooney. Hailed as a prodigy at 16. Moved to United, for the princely fee of £20 million, aged just 18. The Boy Wonder scored a hat trick on his debut in the Champions League and was promptly hailed as not only one of the best young talents, but one of the marquee players in the world game. United invested another £12 million on Cristiano Ronaldo, yet for the first couple of seasons with both in the team, it was Rooney who produced the astonishing feats whilst Ronaldo was habitually maligned for being a 'one trick pony'.

Somewhere along the line (with the starting point being a certain World Cup Quarter Final) things have changed. The speed of Ronaldo's upward rise has arguably been matched by Rooney's regression. Ronaldo is unquestionably one of the three best players on the planet having banged in 30 goals thus far. Can Rooney even claim to be one of the best three players in the Premier League anymore?

But, this is where I will end any comparison between Rooney and Ronaldo, or any other player for that matter. I wish to discuss Rooney on his own.

I think there are a number of issues surrounding United's Scouser at the moment and his position is a huge problem. Fergie has insisted that Rooney is well fitted to playing up front, as apposed to his seemingly more natural position as a withdrawn striker. Granted, playing Rooney in such a position would possibly blunt his creative abilities but surely this is outweighed by an increased goals output. Wrong. 13 goals this season is a measly return from a player with such gifts. So lets get this straight. We are putting Rooney in a creative straight-jacket; preventing him from dropping deep to get on the ball and dictate games with his vision and execution. But we are not even being compensated with goals. This is not Rooney's fault of course, as he is always a willing runner and influential team member nonetheless.

The problem is that you want your main striker to be reasonably prolific. Chances are that a vast chunk of the teams chances will fall to this player. But as we have seen Rooney's finishing leaves something to be desired - he is more likely to score the scorchers and miss the 'instinctive' ones. How ironic that he is less prolific in a more traditional centre forwards role than he was when he was given the license to roam. It all comes down to confidence and Wayne looks shorn of the stuff and has done for a long while. It is my belief that if he was deployed in his natural role, his confidence would sky rocket as he would be playing in a position that felt totally natural to him. The goals would soon flow.

Another disturbing trend has been Rooney's increasingly lackadaisical touch and general technique. I think it is a shame that a player we heralded as the best thing since Gazza a few years back is now more notable for his workrate than his God-given gifts. But like anything in life, you need to practice. Put simply, Wayne is not being given as much opportunity to practice these skills as he is playing in a position that constricts his game. If he is rarely driving from deep and executing passes to inch-perfect perfection, and if he sparsely gets the opportunity to break the net from 30 yards then it is no surprise that these skills are regressing. Worryingly though, other attributes, such as his finishing do not seem to be making up for the short fall.

Wayne has lost his footballing mojo. He needs to get back to basics and that starts with him playing in his proper position. I refuse to believe that he has simply found his level. This boy has the ability to go down as an all time great. At the moment though, he is in danger of slipping from the elite radar.

Striker10

Rooneys had two bad injuries this season which I think haven't helped. It's hard to say. Most games Rooney finds himself deep anyway. I think Rooney really needs to get fired up again and be abit more selfish.

He used to run with the ball, I think at the moment he's too much a team player. He should at times just do what he used to do and try and bulldoze teams. He should be on more goals however but again I think the injuries haven't helped.

Tibs

We need the new RvN, one Dirt Kuyt

Feed Me

There is definetly a missing spark in his game. It seems as though he has completely surrendered any egotism and made it subordinate to the team ethic. But I think when players show a bit of individuality, special things can happen.

As you say, Rooney is too happy to make the simple pass at the moment and he is looking like an ordinary footballer - that is not befitting of his talents.

Feed Me

What's your point?

Tibs

Well the ideal is that Tevez and Rooney constantly switch between who will stay forward, and who will go back into the middle of the ptich and run forward.

Tevez has beens taying more forward, Rooneys been running around, and only recently did Fergie tell him to stay more forward.

I think Rooney just needs to go crazy in a couple of games and really bang them in, and that'll give him a major confidence boost

Feed Me

I personally think that people are too ready merely to say that it is a dip in form or that Rooney is going okay.

He is having a right old struggle at the moment.

Twisted_Woody

ideally Saha would have been the striker and then Rooney would have been more of the withdrawn forward - Tevez is a similar mold to Rooney, except he has a bit more instinct. An idea might be to play Tevez as a striker and then Rooney can resume his withdrawn forward role.

Maroon Lucifer

He needs a kick in the arse. He is playing way below his standards, and I wonder if he realizes it. He is an automatic first choice in the team, and he shouldn't be. Not at the moment anyways.
The talent used to be obvious and there for everyone to see, but he seems to be resting on his laurels, knowing he will start the next game.
I love the boy to death, but I miss his true self.

Dippersripper

Played out of position.

Sam#1

The thing is, in terms of overall play, he not been bad at all, in fact, he's been very good. But the problem has been that his finishing has taken a massive downward spiral in the past 2 months or so, and people are just concentrating on that, and therefore saying he is playing bad.

The problem with his finishing, IMO, is a mental thing. Because he hasn't scored for a while, he is so desperate, that he is thinking about it way to much, rather than just hitting it. If we go back to the start of the season, his finishing was fine, of course he'd still miss the odd chance, but that's what you get with Rooney, but on the whole, he was good.

Of course injuries have really affected him this season, whenever he's got on a role, he's gotten injured. But to say he has lost his spark is nonsense, if you need any evidence of that, go back to the FA Cup match vs Villa, he came on, changed the game, and we won, when, before he came on, we looked like getting a draw at best.

I'd very much like to see this happen. Because, from what we've seen, Tevez is a better finisher than Rooney anyway.

Striker10

one game sam(the villa game)....

He's going through a bad patch. Does anyone remember the old rooney?

I remember one year he played for everton against United and he ran through our defense. He had about 6 chances created by himself practically. That's what he's capable of.

But in terms of finishing he just needs to get back to basics

he is capable of much more then what we've seen. I think he probably does know it and he'll come good. He's too good a player

Eto'odinho

You have summarised my current sentiments on Rooney perfectly so far. Personally I don't think it is because he is playing out of position. I mean how many times do we look up to him to as the line leader? He has hit a mental block and sadly that is affecting the physical side of him and his GAME.

Don16

I honestly fear for him when I watch. He doesn't look half the player he once did anymore, it's a real shame. Hopefully he can prove me seriously wrong in the run in.

Kevin

Playing out of position and if we don't watch out, we'll probably not fulfill his potential... he's going to win trophies with us for sure, but then you have to question whether he made the right move (for himself personally) joining us... There are a few big clubs out there who might have utilized him in the right way. Feel for him.

Psmith

He seems to be almost nervous when playing now, afraid to play his natural game. He hardly takes on players any more.

Wes

yeah well below par.

Instant Karma

He will score more goals next season once Nani and Anderson settle into the side. At the moment all the burden of creativity and goal scoring rests on the shoulders of two 22 year olds. Every game is a big game for Ronaldo and Rooney. Atleast one of them has to have a good game for us to win.

CantonaVeron

People pick up on the negatives far too much on here, Rooney played a brilliant cross field pass to Ronaldo just before the penalty appeal, played Evra in on goal were he crossed behind Tevez, played Ronaldo through on goal with a brilliant one two probably our best bit of football in the whole match and set Nani up for a nice shot on goal all in our last match and some idiots claim his passing is off. He also covered masses of ground in that match, swich to the match vs Lyon were he tried the back heel to Ronaldo, just before he beat two or three players with skill and power and played it out wide obviously he missed the chance by trying to pass it but I believe Ferguson said he was the best player in that particular match, but this is all evidence from the last couple of games that his all round game is fine, no problem there imo. His finishing is a little off but the way some are talking is ridiculas he is clearly one of our best players and is form isn't that bad.

pert

Needs a partner IMO.

Ekeke

The problem being Tevez cant play that role. We saw it in the early parts of the season.

Obviously SAF believes its more important to have someone who can win balls in the air (or at least make it hard for defenders to deal with) and look for the ball over the top now and again - than it is to have Rooney playing in his natural role when we have Tevez who can fill in.

Rooney is not a natural lead the line striker, but he can do it. Tevez simply cannot. While his finishing is better, there are a lot more important things the lead the line striker needs to do and not one of themm does Tevez do anywhere near as good as Rooney.

I do think Tevez plays too deep a lot of the time though. Whenever the ball is put into the box, he should be in there.

Gazza

His finishing is atrocious. It hasn't always been this bad. He needs to seriously work at it. Get the striker's instinct back. Then the rest of his game will fall into place.

Sam#1

No, we saw him play as a lone striker, with 5 in midfield. Not with a man behind him. Not to mention the fact that he was clearly not match fit.

He can play the main striker role, just not the lone striker role, he has done for Argentina, Boca and West Ham.

Dippersripper

Spot on

Dippersripper

True.

AttackingFlair

He seemed to play well up front with Giggs last season, it didn't effect his finishing or anything.

Wes

The truth is he's never reached the level he was at in his first two year at United. The reason - played out of position AND needs to sort his head out urgently. Very good player though, even when off-form.

He probably just needs a break from football more than anything else. Supremely talented footballer.

rooney__10

I have said it before a player who is off form or in and out of for for two years cannot be considered world class. Form in temporary and in football two years I dont think is temporary. Rooneys consistency does let him down and has humans where always intrigued as to the cause of a problem. He has had a lot of injuries but I dont even think rooney would take that excuse as to why he has been out of his 05 form.

The genius in rooneys ability comes from his unpredictability and a long with that will come games when he doesnt perform but thankfully from last year his touch seems to have gotten better. He is still young, 22 and I still think avoiding injuries he will be a legend for us and maybe if the responsibility of leading the line is taken from him he can be at his wicked best.

Honestly though I think rooney would stand out in any generation and he is a great player. The fact is last year and infact almost any time he has been paired with saha hes been pretty awesome. The myth is rooney cant lead the line, however I think hes got everything to lead the line however the fact is he is probably best playing second striker.

Lets not get carried away he hasnt been shit it just early expectations have granted us to expect the awsome rather more consistently and I think that will come if he can get an injury free clean break.

Gazza

Definitely. If he has any sense he'll have a proper rest this summer, get fit in pre-season and work on his shooting.

I genuinely believe that if he sorts out the finishing that has seen him miss chances by the half dozen in some games, he'll be right back where he was. He needs to work at it though.

Scholesy

Has not been poor this season, but some worrying things I have saw.

Long range shooting is very inaccurate now, got outmuscled against Pompey a few times, his touch is more inconsistent, terrible tackling, but I have still saw glimpses of his majestic self.