He clearly is talking about the standards which he himself learned from Giggs and Scholes and others. That had nothing to do with Rooney's own quality and everything to do with the culture within the dressing room which he only experienced after being signed.
Rooney: "United lacks leadership"
- Thread starter Thepinhead
- Start date
Can a Mod please change the thread title? Too many people are reading only that and not realising it's made up. The rush to criticise Rooney, rather than form a considered or intelligent opinion, is concerning.
To wit: Rooney said that a lot of people left the club and Manchester United's traditions have left with them. But that Lukaku should try and maintain them if he can. No single use of the word 'leader' or 'leadership'.
To wit: Rooney said that a lot of people left the club and Manchester United's traditions have left with them. But that Lukaku should try and maintain them if he can. No single use of the word 'leader' or 'leadership'.
I think he's implying you cannot simply enforce those standards on non-committal and substandard players.
How can someone who's performances aren't up to standard, demand that others meet those standards?
That's essentially the discussion in this thread.
Some of you lots love drumming about all these click-baits sites and their sensationalist pieces yet here we are witnessing click-baits threads used out of context in order to accomplish an agenda.
One look at that article and Rooney actually talked sense and there isn't anything outrageous nor anything to slag him over. But Rooney is the new guy we love to hate, so there goes.
One look at that article and Rooney actually talked sense and there isn't anything outrageous nor anything to slag him over. But Rooney is the new guy we love to hate, so there goes.
I get what he's saying. Go back a few years and you had Rio, Vidic, zebra, Giggs and Rooney that were huge personalities in the dressing room and on the pitch.
People were saying that Valencia should have been made captain. Why? He's as quiet as a mouse out on the pitch and that seems to be the problem with most of our squad.
People were saying that Valencia should have been made captain. Why? He's as quiet as a mouse out on the pitch and that seems to be the problem with most of our squad.
There's no denying Rooney lost his mojo. Transfers have also been substandard.
That's out of line. He was only at Juve for a couple of years.
Rereading it I now see where you are coming from. He's implying it.
He's not wrong, but it was a dumb thing for him to say given his own loss of form.
I think it's likely that Rooney was an obstacle to anyone else taking a leadership role on or off the pitch because of his reputation and seniority and gigantic wages. Maybe now he's gone it will leave room for someone like Pogba to step up
Let's just hope he shuts his mouth and gets on with his Everton career. He has absolutely nothing to do with Man Utd now (thanks god), and it will be best for both parties if he just moves on.
I dislike it when ex players move somewhere else and have a few digs at their previous club.
I dislike it when ex players move somewhere else and have a few digs at their previous club.
That's not what he says either though, he said it was harder to maintain the standards with those that joined the club.
Seriously Rooney bad mouths us and you still get Rooney fan boys in here trying to spin an excuse.
I guarantee he's going to be rent a quote from now on with regular digs at the club.
No one cares what you think you dishonest tub of guts. Concentrate on trying not to make the supporters of your new club hate you any sooner than they will, and leave the big boys to get on with winning trophies.
He doesn't criticise anyone. Notice that he doesn't mention Zlatan. It's not a comment about leaders. It's about traditions.
Whichever way you look at it, I think it would be best if he stuck to his usual banal sound bites if asked about his time here - he's got his move back after winning many trophies and being paid and treated well...to instantly start making digs - whether it's truthful or not, it just makes him look a little bitter.
Plus he has been part of the problem for years - even if his leadership was up to scratch and it's the new signings, his performances on the pitch were so bad and the way he dealt with being dropped (nothing to prove, getting drunk at other people's weddings etc). He's incriminated himself as being part of a worsening of standards, which is absolutely true but he's not doing it in a way of taking any responsibility- it just sounds like an extension of his 'nothing to prove' attitude - I'd hoped he had taken a look at himself and realised he needed to make some changes but get the feeling that nothing will change and we will continue to hear complaints and criticism of the club as the months go by.
Plus he has been part of the problem for years - even if his leadership was up to scratch and it's the new signings, his performances on the pitch were so bad and the way he dealt with being dropped (nothing to prove, getting drunk at other people's weddings etc). He's incriminated himself as being part of a worsening of standards, which is absolutely true but he's not doing it in a way of taking any responsibility- it just sounds like an extension of his 'nothing to prove' attitude - I'd hoped he had taken a look at himself and realised he needed to make some changes but get the feeling that nothing will change and we will continue to hear complaints and criticism of the club as the months go by.
I didn't read it as him having a pop at us, but if I'm wrong, then he can feck right off. Cheeky little fecker.
Did anyone read the article. From the comments it seems few did. It's not wrong to say with lots of new players coming in it was harder to maintain the same level. Hardly controversial. He said United has high standards.
"Over the last few years, it was down to me and Michael Carrick to keep the new players maintaining those standards. That became more difficult over the last few years, with some of the players who joined the club."
If this isn't a dig at his teammates then i don't know what is, the fat scouser has the gall to question his teammates's standards after his performance record in last 3-4 years is beyond laughable, and people will still defend him.
Yes that Djemba Djemba, what a well thought out signing that was eh...
Unfortunately i think your right. He's been away from the club for less than a week and is already having a sly little dig. More incoming, no doubt.
I'm trying to figure out if you are Sean Spicer or Kelly Anne Conway.
The lack of fight has been a recurring theme from Mourinho, too.
Here's an article from the St Etienne game: http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/768453/Man-Utd-St-Etienne-Jose-Mourinho-Europa-League
(Incidentally, that was a match for which Rooney was injured and didn't travel).
United do lack the mentality of the old guard and the traditions of fighting for every game and caring about the club more than partying (another link: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/jose-mourinho-takes-aim-players-10136290)
Rooney and Carrrick are the only ones left from the old days. All he's saying is that he hopes Lukaku can pick up the baton.
With your love of conspiracy theories, I'm guessing you're Alex Jones.
Do you still believe that Rooney's contract stipulated guaranteed playing time, or that his friends in the media would cause the sky to fall if he was ever dropped?
Sounds like he didn't like the attitude of or get along with several newer signings. In terms of showing the right character and attitude, the likes of Valencia and Fellaini did a better job than Rooney in recent seasons.
I'd love to hear these conspiracy theories you talk about. I read between the lines where as you make up excuse after excuse for your golden boy's behaviour.
You read between the lines. I just read the lines. Try it.
He's hardly my golden boy. I was one of the 15% who voted that Rooney wasn't a United legend. But just because he's not my favourite ever player, that doesn't mean I can't be sensible when discussing him. Other people seem to be incapable of that.
Look he's just a moron. All there is to it.
The word 'captain' clearly isn't in this idiot's vocabulary.
Nothing in his quotes say anything about United lacking leadership. Even the article mentions nothing about lacking leadership.
He's obviously talking about maintaining United's established dressing room culture that had been in place for years under Ferguson, when the squad was almost completely gutted in little over a year by LVG with 30-40 players coming in and going out.
He's obviously talking about maintaining United's established dressing room culture that had been in place for years under Ferguson, when the squad was almost completely gutted in little over a year by LVG with 30-40 players coming in and going out.
Talk about biting that hand that feeds - them lowering of standards meant he got 4 more years at United, earning an absolute fortune whilst providing little on the pitch. If he was playing under a prime United team, he would have been sold years ago.
This... Nothing wrong in it..
So what do you think these traditions are that Rooney is talking about if he isn't criticising the qualities of the players?
If that's what he meant he has a very valid point.
Especially during the 2 chaotic LVG years when he shipped out loads of SAF players and replaced them with a set of players who were not screened according to the same values.
Many of those players lacked the disipline and desire to win that Rooney talks about. So not much that Rooney or Carrick coukd do to change that.
In hindsight, LVG's impact on the club has been far more corrosive than Moyes. But I can already see that standards have been re established by Mourinho.
But he's clearly not talking about on pitch performances is he? He's talking about the loss of a certain mentality in context of how Lukaku can succeed. The question wasn't about why he thought he was dropped or anything close to something that would warrant that kind of admission.
Just seems like people are desperate to hear him admit that his performance levels dropped... maybe when he retires he'll talk about it but it's understandable that he won't while he's still playing and especially when he's just joined a new (old) club. Apply the same standards to someone like Evra - his performances had clearly dropped in his last couple of seasons but he didn't leave for Juventus and then admit that he had dropped a level and no one expected him to. Gary Neville did it but only after he retired.
It's just ironic that people are getting offended by his words when we see the same kind of sentiments about the club being expressed here.
You can't possibly not laugh at him holding up himself and Carrick as great examples of leadership for the past 4 seasons. That's what I have an issue with.
I saw more bloody leadership from BFS and he was apparently hated in the dressing room.
I saw more bloody leadership from BFS and he was apparently hated in the dressing room.
The same things Mourinho has criticised all season. Check my post above. Or his comments about the likes of Shaw or Martial.