Rooney

[FlawlessThaw]

Nah, don't rate Benzema much son. Nice try though.

This isn't about replacing Rooney. This is about getting to why he's so inconsistent. No actually, inconsistent gives him too much credit. I can't think of his last truly stand out game.

Be honest, you're struggling to as well.

The last one I could think of is Spurs. I would agree that that Rooney has played averagely for a long while now and I have no idea why he is inconsistent. But the fact remains if he plays shit and our midfield don't step then we're screwed.

I'd still maintain Rooney is in the top bracket, his performances over the years prove it. But not even Kaka who is a better player couldn't do week in week out performances with Milan if the players around him are average.

Not sure if Benzema is the option but we lack any sort of pace going forward and he could provide that.

 

[Cold_Boy]

He is a top class striker. I think you're just expecting too much from Rooney. He is scoring more regularly than Ronaldo did last season. The problem is not replacing Ronaldo, but replacing Rooney. We had two or three goal scorers last season who could change the game, we now only have one.

Thats not the problem Merman.

Where is the magic?Where is the moments of brilliance?His passes never seem to come off.I think people need to remove their tinted glasses.

Is he World class?No.Didnt we all expect him to be the best player in the world?

 

[Red Pavan]

FT, Benzema isn't that quick. We might as well buy Gabby.

 

[Ixion]

I don't think it helps Rooney when he is played week in week out even during a poor spell of form and at the same time changing who partners him up.

 

[Allforone]

What worries me more than anything is his first touch these days...never seen his basic ball control be so piss poor.....the lack of 30 yard screamers and beating players for fun is not such an issue as it coincides with form and confidence and quite clearly hes lacking both right now...but basic ball control should be a given for a player like him....

 

[FlawlessThaw]

FT, Benzema isn't that quick. We might as well buy Gabby.

He's quicker than any of our strikers and he has a decent build.

To be honest, I'm not completely advocating Benzema, he's just a better option than any of the strikers we have bar Rooney and I can see them doing well together.

Feed Me is right, we do need a talisman but in this case we need another one.

 

[SharkyMcShark]

Rooney is not going through a good spell at the moment. Needs to turn it around.

While I understand that he's more consistent and a better rounded player nowadays, watching some of his performances from his teens makes me wonder what it would take to get that Rooney back.

 

[Red Pavan]

Rooney at full speed is just about as fast as Ronaldo imo. It's not about our lack of pace up front but i have to agree on that fact Rooney's been piss poor for a good while now even with his goal scoring record.

 

[Feed Me]

Rooney is not going through a good spell at the moment. Needs to turn it around.

While I understand that he's more consistent and a better rounded player nowadays, watching some of his performances from his teens makes me wonder what it would take to get that Rooney back.

Yeah, consistently average.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

i thought great players were supposed to lift the rest.

Is correct. As opposed to just shouting at them.

He's yong and lernin' though. Just not quite as good as the English media would have us believe.

 

[rednev]

He's overrated among United fans, that is without question. When he first arrived I thought I was looking at a future great of the game..not just for United..but for the game of football full stop. Over the past couple of years it has become obvious that he simply isn't at the same level as the top forwards in the game - Torres, Ronaldo, Drogba etc. He just isn't and probably never will be. Although of course I hope I am wrong.

He's still a fantastic player, though. I just think we should stop expecting him to single handedly go on and win us things in the same way Ronaldo did.

One thing that annoys me is this idea that he is untouchable. No matter what he does on the pitch, he knows that he will never be dropped. Whether that is something that has had a negative impact on his game since arriving, I don't know, but it's something that concerns me. He has superstar status as a player despite not having done anything to earn it.

 

[Merman]

Yeah, consistently average.

About as consistently average as any front man like Torres and scoring as many goals. He is doing exactly what we wanted him to do, score goals. He just needs to score five more to equal Ronaldo's tally from last season. I think you're expecting him to keep his general play from last season and score goals regularly. I don't think there are too many strikers in the league who can do both while playing upfront. I can only think of Drogba.

 

[hungrywing]

The more SAF delays an aggressive reconstruction of the team around Rooney, I think the more we just waste time until the inevitable decision to do so is made. There's no question he is the type of player that demands extra defenders in the final third and hence can make those around him better. Unfortunately, he is also very unselfish, and needs the mantle thrust upon him, unlike Ronaldo, who welcomed it.

Personally I think SAF's trying to give Rooney some time to work out the kinks from playing second fiddle to Ronaldo, and that he does indeed plan to build the team around Rooney starting next season at the latest.

 

[Longsden_7]

He's overrated among United fans, that is without question. When he first arrived I thought I was looking at a future great of the game..not just for United..but for the game of football full stop. Over the past couple of years it has become obvious that he simply isn't at the same level as the top forwards in the game - Torres, Ronaldo, Drogba etc. He just isn't and probably never will be. Although of course I hope I am wrong.

He's still a fantastic player, though. I just think we should stop expecting him to single handedly go on and win us things in the same way Ronaldo did.

One thing that annoys me is this idea that he is untouchable. No matter what he does on the pitch, he knows that he will never be dropped. Whether that is something that has had a negative impact on his game since arriving, I don't know, but it's something that concerns me. He has superstar status as a player despite not having done anything to earn it.

You are wrong, in fact your a fecking idiot, good strikers need good service and he has not been getting it every game this season.

 

[olesmyhero]

I wouldn't mind seeing him come from the bench next weekend. He's been a bit poor in recent weeks, and a bit of a rest may do him good.

 

[Red Pavan]

You are wrong, in fact your a fecking idiot, good strikers need good service and he has not been getting it every game this season.

Easy tiger.

 

[SharkyMcShark]

I hope he can crack his long shooting duck similar to the way Ronaldo did his free kicks a few years back with regards to them hitting the wall. Whereas in 06/07 we'd all sigh and roll our eyes when he took them, he became at least somewhat of a credible threat from them in the years after (obviously he still hit the wall regularly, but he was scoring too).

 

[Feed Me]

He's definetly not as good as we thought he was going to be. No where near.

Realistically, when the fundamentals of the game fail him: control, short passing and so on, you know you're not looking at a great player. He's not even producing the moments of magic that allow us to forgive the lax control/passing.

I'd wager that if Tevez and Ronaldo were still here, Rooney would have been consigned to the bench by now.

 

[Feed Me]

About as consistently average as any front man like Torres and scoring as many goals. He is doing exactly what we wanted him to do, score goals. He just needs to score five more to equal Ronaldo's tally from last season. I think you're expecting him to keep his general play from last season and score goals regularly. I don't think there are too many strikers in the league who can do both while playing upfront. I can only think of Drogba.

Torres' tally this season comes with him basically being ravaged by injury.

Drogba and van Persie (before injury) have both comprehensively out performed Wayne this season. He's goal output has been inflated by the penalties, but he's basically completely stopped contributed anything beyond his goals.

 

[AttackingFlair]

Rooney would be benched by Tevez? Yeah. Then we'd have no goals.

 

[rednev]

You are wrong, in fact your a fecking idiot, good strikers need good service and he has not been getting it every game this season.

He gets more than enough service. Sloppy passes, poor first touches and failure to take advantage of opportunities are some of the many aspects of his game that suggest to me that he's not at the same level as Torres or Drogba. As for Ronaldo, well, Rooney is so far behind him in terms of quality it's not even worth mentioning.

 

[Feed Me]

Rooney would be benched by Tevez? Yeah. Then we'd have no goals.

You're missing my point. It's not a direct Rooney-Tevez comparison. We have viable options last season. This year, you're realistically not going to drop Rooney for Owen are you?

 

[Merman]

He's definetly not as good as we thought he was going to be. No where near.

Realistically, when the fundamentals of the game fail him: control, short passing and so on, you know you're not looking at a great player. He's not even producing the moments of magic that allow us to forgive the lax control/passing.

I'd wager that if Tevez and Ronaldo were still here, Rooney would have been consigned to the bench by now.

He was in much worse form last season when both Ronaldo and Tevez were here and he still started consistently. It appears to me that benching Rooney while he's consistently scoring goals is something you want rather than something you think will happen.

 

[Feed Me]

He gets more than enough service. Sloppy passes, poor first touches and failure to take advantage of opportunities are some of the many aspects of his game that suggest to me that he's not at the same level as Torres or Drogba. As for Ronaldo, well, Rooney is so far behind him in terms of quality it's not even worth mentioning.

Drogba and Torres make their own chances. So does van Persie. For that matter actually, Rooney used to habitually make chances for himself and others out of nothing. What has happened? When did Rooney become such a painfully one-dimensional player?

 

[datura]

I hope he gets out of his poor patch soon, he's been disappointing for a while, although he's been scoring. He doesn't seem very happy with his game either given his reactions on the pitch.

 

[Feed Me]

He was in much worse form last season when both Ronaldo and Tevez were here and he still started consistently. It appears to me that benching Rooney while he's consistently scoring goals is something you want rather than something you think will happen.

He's not consistently scoring goals. He's got his penalties which have inflated what has been yet another horribly long lean spell. Granted, you still have to score your pens, but his open play record without them has been crap mate.

As I said, outside of his goals, he's contributing nothing to the team's play.

 

[Allforone]

Drogba and Torres make their own chances. So does van Persie. For that matter actually, Rooney used to habitually make chances for himself and others out of nothing. What has happened? When did Rooney become such a painfully one-dimensional player?

Maybe those seasons of sacrificing his game for the benefit of Ronaldo and playing in a system where defensive responsabilitys were as important as his attacking ones have blunted his game to an extent....hes not the same player that burst on the scene and threatened to rule the roost thats for sure....

 

[Merman]

Torres' tally this season comes with him basically being ravaged by injury.

Drogba and van Persie (before injury) have both comprehensively out performed Wayne this season. He's goal output has been inflated by the penalties, but he's basically completely stopped contributed anything beyond his goals.

Torres has played enough games to warrant a comparison. I'm not talking about goals though, Torres hardly ever plays well based on your definition. He hardly ever touches the ball, but scores goals. That is exactly what Rooney's been doing this season. I don't think Van Persie was that good. I agree with you about Drogba though, he has been a class above everybody in the league.

 

[FlawlessThaw]

He's not consistently scoring goals. He's got his penalties which have inflated what has been yet another horribly long lean spell. Granted, you still have to score your pens, but his open play record without them has been crap mate.

It's not like half his goals have come from the spot. Even if you take away penalties he has still scored double of Valencia (nearly), Berbatov and Owen.

Fact remains we rely heavily on Rooney for goals now. And that is probably his main function in the team as he generally starts as our frontline striker. It would be great if we could drop him during this lean spell where he plays average but may get a goal, but drop him for who? Someone who plays average and does a nice run or a nice flick and not much else.

 

[Merman]

He's not consistently scoring goals. He's got his penalties which have inflated what has been yet another horribly long lean spell. Granted, you still have to score your pens, but his open play record without them has been crap mate.

As I said, outside of his goals, he's contributing nothing to the team's play.

He is scoring goals as consistently as Ronaldo did last season. Ronaldo did not score a single league goal for more than a month between December and February, but at that time Rooney and Berbatov shipped in the goals. We don't have anybody who is doing that this season. Oh and I remember you defending Ronaldo's tally when somebody pointed out to the penalties last season.

 

[Rooney1987]

As I said, outside of his goals, he's contributing nothing to the team's play.

I think I must be watching a different game yeah he is on poor run but contributing nothing to the team's play is bullshit.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

About as consistently average as any front man like Torres and scoring as many goals. He is doing exactly what we wanted him to do, score goals. He just needs to score five more to equal Ronaldo's tally from last season. I think you're expecting him to keep his general play from last season and score goals regularly. I don't think there are too many strikers in the league who can do both while playing upfront. I can only think of Drogba.

That's a silly argument.

Ronaldo's season had only just started at this point last year and he was recovering from surgery and a prolonged lay-off, without any pre-season training.

The only possible excuse Rooney has is the new baby. Which is a reasonable excuse, to be fair but I'm sure we've other dads in our squad who've coped better in the past.

 

[Merman]

That's a silly argument.

Ronaldo's season had only just started at this point last year and he was recovering from surgery and a prolonged lay-off, without any pre-season training.

The only possible excuse Rooney has is the new baby. Which is a reasonable excuse, to be fair but I'm sure we've other dads in our squad who've coped better in the past.

That is not true. He played and scored a lot by this time already. He played 31 games in the league last season out of 38 and I don't think Rooney will play more this season.

 

[Heinzesight]

What has happened? When did Rooney become such a painfully one-dimensional player?

Very sad, but true. You can argue that he hasn't got the talent/enough support around him, but the hype surrounding him is over the top at times, and to think England are pinning their World Cup hopes around him too.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

That is not true. He played and scored a lot by this time already. He played 31 games in the league last season out of 38 and I don't think Rooney will play more this season.

By "just started" I meant he was only starting to get match-fit and get back to his usual form.

Rooney's had the whole of pre-season, no significant injuries and an almost guaranteed place in the starting line-up. He should be flying by now. He clearly isn't.

 

[FlawlessThaw]

Very sad, but true. You can argue that he hasn't got the talent/enough support around him, but the hype surrounding him is over the top at times, and to think England are pinning their World Cup hopes around him too.

And probably due to the fact that he was their best player and overall top scorer in the World Cup Qualifers playing in a different role to what he does for United. Probably not best to compare actually.

 

[AttackingFlair]

You'd be a fecking idiot to think England shouldn't build their team around him.

 

[Allforone]

You'd be a fecking idiot to think England shouldn't build their team around him.

Fabio Cappello?

Edit...Arr you said shouldnt...thatll teach me to look closer...

 

[AttackingFlair]

Fabio Cappello?

... built the team around Rooney and reaped the rewards of qualifying easily thanks to Rooney's performances and goals.

And don't give me that "easy game" blah blah. They didn't even qualify for Euro 08 with a similar group.

 

[Merman]

By "just started" I meant he was only starting to get match-fit and get back to his usual form.

Rooney's had the whole of pre-season, no significant injuries and an almost guaranteed place in the starting line-up. He should be flying by now. He clearly isn't.

I don't have the exact stats, but off the top of my head, he scored something like 8 or 9 goals by this time.