Did Wayne Rooney fulfil his potential?

[sullydnl]

As he approaches the end of his career he has left behind quite a body of achievement on paper. Five Premier League titles, a Champions League, an FA Cup, a League Cup, England's all-time record goalscorer, United's joint all time record goalscorer, finishing as high as fifth in the Ballon D'Or alongside numerous other individual awards. A remarkable career.

With all that in mind, do you think he ultimately fulfilled the potential we all saw when he burst onto the scene? Or could/should he have done more given how gifted he was?

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Yes. Players coming through now can only dream of doing what Rooney has achieved throughout his career. Absolute legend!

 

[Ødegaard]

Yes & no.
Yes, looking at his achievements and numbers.
No, looking at the bad side of his performances.

 

[Ali Dia]

I think very few players will have the carear or set the records he did so yes. Could he have been a better player? Possibly but genetics also come into it as well as sheer desire. He would have had to work even harder than Ronaldo or Messi without the same level of talent natural fitness or skill. I don't think he could have been the best player in the world at any stage with those two around. A really really good young player that got overhyped by the media and went on to have an amazing carear.

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

Yes! What more can you ask? Does Rooney seem like someone who has lacked effort? It seems to me he has done all he can to achieve his potential and the outcome is huge success.

If anyone expected his potential to be higher that is their problem, not Rooney's.

 

[Chorley1974]

As he approaches the end of his career he has left behind quite a body of achievement on paper. Five Premier League titles, a Champions League, an FA Cup, a League Cup, England's all-time record goalscorer, United's joint all time record goalscorer, finishing as high as fifth in the Ballon D'Or alongside numerous other individual awards. A remarkable career.

With all that in mind, do you think he ultimately fulfilled the potential we all saw when he burst onto the scene? Or could/should he have done more given how gifted he was?

I say no, only that I was in the stadium in portugal in 2004 when he tore Croatia apart. So much more expected.

 

[Red Dreams]

He could have achieved a lot more, if he had looked after himself better. Smoking and drinking. Starting almost every season in poor form.

 

[Trizy]

Fulfilled Potential: No, he's been shit since 2011 when he should've been entering his prime he declined.

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

I say no, only that I was in the stadium in portugal in 2004 when he tore Croatia apart.

If not, why not?

What do you think Rooney has done wrong to not acheive his potential?

 

[Camy89]

is Wanye the brother of Kanye?

 

[Pexbo]

Absolutely. He was never a technically gifted footballing genius. What he was was an absolute force of nature. A wrecking ball of unbelievable aggression, power and energy that was just too much for the majority of opposition to cope with. Sadly, that sort of footballer doesn't last for ever. He was incredibly exciting at his peak though.

 

[Chorley1974]

is Wanye the brother of Kanye?

Probably, I heard from a source.

 

[Pexbo]

is Wanye the brother of Kanye?

That's his next son I'd guess.

 

[JPRouve]

I think that he had more in his locker but when his career ends, he will have one of the best careers of all time. The only disappointment will be with England.

 

[Ali Dia]

is Wanye the brother of Kanye?

Hahahaha just clocked it too!

 

[VorZakone]

Depends what you define under fulfilling potential. His career has been very very impressive, but the last few years have been underwhelming.

 

[Escobar]

When he broke through you'd have expected him to be closer to the Ballon d'Or winners but he was only in the top 5 or so for a couple of years. In that respect, probably not. In terms of trophies etc, of course

 

[AndyJ1985]

I think he peaked at around 24. Honestly I expected him to be better, as in one of the very best in the world, perhaps just short of Ronaldo/Messi level. But in my opinion he fell some way short of that. A great player no doubt, and at his best world class, but only for a brief period. After his mid 20's he would often go through terrible patches of form, and this only got worse as the years went on. At about 28 he started to decline quite badly, and now, despite only being 31, he looks a million miles away from the player he used to be. For me he could have put more work in to his fitness and increased his longevity. So no, I don't think he fulfilled his true potential.

 

[Chorley1974]

If not, why not?

What do you think Rooney has done wrong to not acheive his potential?

I expected him to take England to a higher level, he didn't. He terrorised defences when he was very young, looked like he was going to set the world on fire, he didn't ultimately, and was eclipsed by Ronaldo at united.

 

[Tarrou]

In terms of achievements he's probably comfortably in the top 1% of the top 1% of professional footballers, so it's really hard to say he hasn't fulfilled his potential. It's easy to look at an 18 year-old wonder kid and dream up some incredible future, but it's so mind-blowingly difficult to reach those levels and stay there for your whole career. In my mind the only player who's lived up to that kind of expectation is Messi.

So in my opinion, yes he has. Top scorer for England and Manchester United, that is an unreal achievement.

 

[togg]

I think he's fulfilled his potential as the player he is. He isn't a Messi, Ronaldo etc,etc. I've never considered him world class, just a very good player, but he's contributed big time to a United in winning many trophies. There are only a handful of players who can sit down once retired with a trophy hall like his, so yes...he's definitely fulfilled his potential. And, although I know a lot of fans don't particularly like him, I for one am bloody glad he gave all his playing years to United because without him, I'm not sure we would have won so much.

 

[We need an rvn]

When he broke through you'd have expected him to be closer to the Ballon d'Or winners but he was only in the top 5 or so for a couple of years. In that respect, probably not. In terms of trophies etc, of course

Spot on. but I'd also add he has become a club legend, will be the all time leading goal scorer for England and United. Did we get our money and entertainments worth out of the boy, hell yes

 

[Chorley1974]

I think he's fulfilled his potential as the player he is. He isn't a Messi, Ronaldo etc,etc. I've never considered him world class, just a very good player, but he's contributed big time to a United in winning many trophies. There are only a handful of players who can sit down once retired with a trophy hall like his, so yes...he's definitely fulfilled his potential. And, although I know a lot of fans don't particularly like him, I for one am bloody glad he gave all his playing years to United because without him, I'm not sure we would have won so much.

'Potential' is so subjective, you don't see him having the potential to be world class, others do see him having that potential, and some seeing him having fulfilled that.

 

[Nanook]

Yes

 

[Revan]

If someone would have said to me back then that Rooney would become 'only' this good, I would have been disappointed.

At the same time, if someone would offer you a player who will scored 249 goals, you get him. Full stop.

So, I think it is a bit mixed. He contributed for this club more than just a few players did, carried us at times (2009-2010), and was world class for many years. At the same time, the hype for him was out of this world and people expected him to be an another Luis Ronaldo if not Pele, but he will finish his career as a player who never reached the heights of the likes of Ibrahimovic or Luis Suarez, let alone Messi/Ronaldo which we hoped he will. Also, his performances on the last few years were very bad and in some way he was holding us back, but I think that in a couple of decades people will forget those and remember the good old days.

So, he was an amazing player who was insanely overhyped and probably could have done a bit better if he took better care of his body. He had amazing years with us, but at the same time also quite bad seasons. He will be remembered as a legend though, no question there, but I doubt that people will speak for him as they did for Charlton.

 

[Raoul]

Yes & no.
Yes, looking at his achievements and numbers.
No, looking at the bad side of his performances.

Yes would be the better choice here.

 

[RedRevongge]

He peaked really early in his career and had a different career path to most players who tend to peak around 28-30. He was great between 18-26 though but I feel that human nature means you generally look at the more recent memories which have not been good. Hasn't really remained consistent enough and dropped off too early. I think a variety of factors prevented him from fulfilling his potential however he has been a very good player for us and certainly one of the best of the premier league era

 

[Revan]

Fulfilled Potential: No, he's been shit since 2011 when he should've been entering his prime he declined.

And this is an exaggeration. He had his most productive season in term of goals in 2011-2012 scoring 34 goals. He had a quite good year in Fergie's last season and while he was benched in the end, he contributed a lot for that title. He was our best attacking player in Moyes season, and was quite good in Van Gaal's first season. He was quite shit in the last 18 months though, but saying since 2011 is adding another 4 years there.

 

[Adisa]

Maybe my expectations were too much. But as a teenager, I thought he was Ballon d'or material. The fact that he never even came close is a bit of a disappointment.

 

[Hojoon]

He's ending his career as the top scorer for both club and country and has won loads of trophies, so definitely in terms of achievement. I think he could have done more as a player but he also had unrealistic expectations on him as a young kid and it's easy to break under such pressure, especially at a young age.

 

[coolredwine]

No.

 

[sullydnl]

is Wanye the brother of Kanye?

Whoops.

 

[Oscie]

I think the churlishness of some United fans regarding Rooney like an old woman who lost her bottle of HRT pills is a bit old now.

 

[togg]

'Potential' is so subjective, you don't see him having the potential to be world class, others do see him having that potential, and some seeing him having fulfilled that.

There you go, subjectivity is a personal opinion more than a qualified statement, so in that sense there is no definitive answer.

 

[dasty]

For club he has IMO. Yes, his standards dropped drastically recently, but he had been playing lots of football since a very young age. He had done pretty well.

For country however, I seriously thought he would help England to at least an impressive international tournament run after his performance in Euro 2004. He haven't had any impact at all in the major tournaments since then. However, not all can be blamed on him since the whole national team flopped in all of them.

 

[Randall Flagg]

I suppose top scorer for club and country is decent enough

 

[clarkydaz]

If someone would have said to me back then that Rooney would become 'only' this good, I would have been disappointed.

At the same time, if someone would offer you a player who will scored 249 goals, you get him. Full stop.

So, I think it is a bit mixed. He contributed for this club more than just a few players did, carried us at times (2009-2010), and was world class for many years. At the same time, the hype for him was out of this world and people expected him to be an another Luis Ronaldo if not Pele, but he will finish his career as a player who never reached the heights of the likes of Ibrahimovic or Luis Suarez, let alone Messi/Ronaldo which we hoped he will. Also, his performances on the last few years were very bad and in some way he was holding us back, but I think that in a couple of decades people will forget those and remember the good old days.

So, he was an amazing player who was insanely overhyped and probably could have done a bit better if he took better care of his body. He had amazing years with us, but at the same time also quite bad seasons. He will be remembered as a legend though, no question there, but I doubt that people will speak for him as they did for Charlton.

eh?

 

[finneh]

Definitely not. Watching an 18-20 year old Wayne Rooney you'd believe he was almost guaranteed to be one of the best players in the world. He had the potential to be one of the best players of the last 20 years and certainly one of the best few in Premier League history. However not a single person would have him in all time Premier League squad.

He's had a fantastic career, won every trophy there is, broken records for club and country and earned an absolute fortune in the process. However I do think he might look back in 10 or 20 years and wonder if he was a bit more committed, whether he'd have reached another level.

 

[Chorley1974]

There you go, subjectivity is a personal opinion more than a qualified statement, so in that sense there is no definitive answer.

yep, close the thread

 

[Revan]

eh?

Rooney never reached the heights of Suarez. If you look at both of them at their prime, Suarez is a far better player. In addition, Suarez helped his country to win a tournament.

I don't want to turn this thread into Rooney vs Suarez. Could have made other examples like Henry.