Unpopular Opinions Thread

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm not even a Rooney "hater" or whatever, if you look at my posts before pre-season I was sure he'd be fine as the main #9 even though his first touch has always been erratic. However right now he looks lacking in energy and easily knocked off the ball which hampers attacks as it's vital to protect and move as the focal point of the attack, I just don't think physically he's cut out for the role at this point, it's not delusional or hate or anything else, it is simply how he looks, the same way RvP looked last season, blunted. I also don't get scapegoating as a fair claim, he is supposed to be the talisman, the Captain and our main attacking threat, the rest of the front 4 is made up of Mata and a 2 young players who are still developing, he has to take on the responsibility and will be judged with how he manages with that accordingly.

I think it's far too early in the season to make any definitive decisions about him being finished. We're three games in ffs.

By scapegoating I'm not saying all the criticism is unfair. He's our best paid player and his performance against Villa was one of the worst individual performances I've seen. I just think he's been the one player singled out for most criticism when there's a bunch of factors for our goal drought. The main one being integrating so many new players. Once we settle down we'll create more chances and Rooney will get into his stride again. That's not 100% certain but I'd say it's a lot more likely than you'd think based on what you read on here.

 

[Devil may care]

I think it's far too early in the season to make any definitive decisions about him being finished. We're three games in ffs.

By scapegoating I'm not saying all the criticism is unfair. He's our best paid player and his performance against Villa was one of the worst individual performances I've seen. I just think he's been the one player singled out for most criticism when there's a bunch of factors for our goal drought. The main one being integrating so many new players. Once we settle down we'll create more chances and Rooney will get into his stride again. That's not 100% certain but I'd say it's a lot more likely than you'd think based on what you read on here.

People said the same about RvP in fairness, if it were just form I'd agree, but he looks sluggish and is getting brushed off the ball easily, something that is uncommon for Rooney. He's been singled out because of numerous factors, even in tough situations you expect your big players to raise the level of the rest, not sink to it. Time will tell but I've got a bad feeling about this forward line personally.

 

[Sam]

Benteke and Bony are both better strikers then Rooney.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

Benteke and Bony are both better strikers then Rooney.

Oh please.

 

[Will Singh]

Rooney will come good at the end and get us 15-20 goals!

 

[AltiUn]

Oh please.

I can't wait for the "Charlie Austin, Grant Holt or Wayne Rooney, who is actually better?" threads.

 

[Nytram Shakes]

I can't wait for the "Charlie Austin, Grant Holt or Wayne Rooney, who is actually better?" threads.

already read a few posts claiming austin is better.....

 

[AltiUn]

already read a few posts claiming austin is better.....

It has begun!

 

[Insanity]

That seems a completely pointless tactic, if that's what LVG is really doing (although it indirectly suggests my theory isn't that far wide of the mark, curiously). Organisations in general should learn to ignore press opinions as much as possible, IMO.

I agree. Though, there is no limit to how far an egotist can go to prove himself/herself right.

 

[Sammyjunn]

already read a few posts claiming austin is better.....

They were better than him though last season, once Rooney gets going again it should be no comparison. (Austin, Benteke when fit, Bony at Swansea)

 

[Jaytay]

Neymar is about tricks and flicks he would flop under Van Gaal. Even Ronaldo and Messi would flop, it's management.

 

[SteveJ]

Our transfer policy seems increasingly concerned with boosting the commercial brand rather than boosting the prospect of success.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Neymar is about tricks and flicks he would flop under Van Gaal.

I agree with that. LVG would sap the attacking creativity and freedom he currently has.

 

[ZDwyr]

Our transfer policy seems increasingly concerned with boosting the commercial brand rather than boosting the prospect of success.

I agree. Although I guess the assumption is that because the players are 'big names' then both will be boosted.

 

[DWelbz19]

Our transfer policy seems increasingly concerned with boosting the commercial brand rather than boosting the prospect of success.

I think it's a very strong afterthought that is slowly seeping into the the initial shortlist, definitely. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we dithered on Pedro with the intention of trying to wrap up somebody more commercially accomplished.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Our transfer policy seems increasingly concerned with boosting the commercial brand rather than boosting the prospect of success.

In some cases this is becoming increasingly obvious

Its quite depressing but keeps the muppets at bay

 

[Spoony]

In some cases this is becoming increasingly obvious

Its quite depressing but keeps the muppets at bay

All hail the messiah...Mr Woody.

 

[Born2Lose]

Watching Liverpool last night, they have become much better at producing and giving young players a chance than we are currently.

 

[DanNistelrooy]

Watching Liverpool last night, they have become much better at producing and giving young players a chance than we are currently.

The reason why this would be an unpopular opinion is because its not true.
You talk about players "they have produced" but only Rossiter falls into that category and even then he had a 10 minute cameo. Even if we were to count the other young players who played - Gomez and Ibe...

Compare that to United who have played their part in the 1st team over the past year:

Produced by United:
Blackett
Wilson

Other Young players who have played significant roles in the 1st team:

McNair
Wilson
Januzaj
Shaw (probably not fair to include him)

with the likes of Pereira who are knocking on the door and likely to get a chance this year.

 

[bosnian_red]

Rooney will come good at the end and get us 15-20 goals!

Would be a bit of a shit total really, for the main striker of a team aspiring to fight for the title and go far in all competitions, playing probably over 50 games total... Would be less then 1 in 2 for Rooney which he can definitely do better then.

 

[Sammyjunn]

Neymar is about tricks and flicks he would flop under Van Gaal. Even Ronaldo and Messi would flop, it's management.

He was about that at Santos, his first aim now is to score, not even create. He makes runs in the box and you can often find him there, just like Depay/Ronaldo (different levels but all wide left but they get in the box a lot), thats one of the reasons why he scores something like 40 goals in all competitions last season.

 

[Will Singh]

Would be a bit of a shit total really, for the main striker of a team aspiring to fight for the title and go far in all competitions, playing probably over 50 games total... Would be less then 1 in 2 for Rooney which he can definitely do better then.

If you think Rooney will play over 50 games this season then that's more unpopular opinion then mine

 

[Sam]

Oh please.

Both have scored more goals then Rooney over the past 2 seasons. Bony was the highest scoring PL player in 2014.

Its really not that outrageous a claim.

 

[bosnian_red]

If you think Rooney will play over 50 games this season then that's more unpopular opinion then mine

Well no, I meant our team total. Rooney will get between 40-50 though as he always does whenever we're in europe.

 

[Speak]

Neymar will be a flop.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Neymar will be a flop.

You think we are getting him then?

 

[Will Singh]

Well no, I meant our team total. Rooney will get between 40-50 though as he always does whenever we're in europe.

Yeah but you said for Rooney 1 in 2 games ain't good enough, BUT Rooney has only managed to be better then 1 in 2 maybe 3 times in his whole UTD career so why would he be doing better now?

 

[iBoss]

Neymar is about tricks and flicks he would flop under Van Gaal. Even Ronaldo and Messi would flop, it's management.

 

[bosnian_red]

Yeah but you said for Rooney 1 in 2 games ain't good enough, BUT Rooney has only managed to be better then 1 in 2 maybe 3 times in his whole UTD career so why would he be doing better now?

Well most of the time, he only got 1 in 2 or less because he was a supporting cast player, not seen as the main goalscorer. The few times he was the main outlet for goals, he scored 34 goals... I don't expect that again as he's obviously not the same player, but he scored 14 last season despite playing a large part of the season in midfield and playing about 10 games less then normal. So 10 goals more then last year would be a reasonable expectation, with him being the focal point up front now.

 

[Will Singh]

Well most of the time, he only got 1 in 2 or less because he was a supporting cast player, not seen as the main goalscorer. The few times he was the main outlet for goals, he scored 34 goals... I don't expect that again as he's obviously not the same player, but he scored 14 last season despite playing a large part of the season in midfield and playing about 10 games less then normal. So 10 goals more then last year would be a reasonable expectation, with him being the focal point up front now.

I think he played 3 games in midfield, but might be wrong but I'm 100% certain it wasn't a large part as you say. so your saying 10 more then last season being 24 goals, I'm sticking to what I said that 15-20 but I'd love to be proved wrong as I originally said he will come good.

 

[bosnian_red]

I think he played 3 games in midfield, but might be wrong but I'm 100% certain it wasn't a large part as you say. so your saying 10 more then last season being 24 goals, I'm sticking to what I said that 15-20 but I'd love to be proved wrong as I originally said he will come good.

No I'm pretty sure it was around 10 games or so.... Whenever we played the 3-5-2 he was basically in midfield, and we had that run where we used a Carrick-Mata-Rooney midfield trio at around December and January. Then at the start in the diamond he played behind RvP and Falcao a few times, and finished the season in midfield again because of injuries to Carrick I think. Was about an even split between midfield and up front overall I think.

 

[Jaytay]

Would swap Van Gaal for Pellegrini, remember his gaff about managing Manchester United. I'm sure he wouldn't mind managing United.

 

[hbgreg]

Even if we win things, LvG will be massively underappreciated and people will be happy to see him leave. The work he's done over the last year has been tremendous, and any manager walking into the door with the squad we had then would of struggled to get anywhere. He's not been afraid to do what he likes, he got rid of the dead wood and has given us an amazing foundation to build on - and that will be his greatest achievement at United (even if he wins CL and the league, the greatest achievement he has here will be rebuilding the mess Moyes gave us because I doubt anyone could have the conviction to come into United and say "I'm doing it my way" and get the whole club behind you.)

 

[Lentwood]

Even if we win things, LvG will be massively underappreciated and people will be happy to see him leave. The work he's done over the last year has been tremendous, and any manager walking into the door with the squad we had then would of struggled to get anywhere. He's not been afraid to do what he likes, he got rid of the dead wood and has given us an amazing foundation to build on - and that will be his greatest achievement at United (even if he wins CL and the league, the greatest achievement he has here will be rebuilding the mess Moyes gave us because I doubt anyone could have the conviction to come into United and say "I'm doing it my way" and get the whole club behind you.)

Correct - but like you say nobody will appreciate it because it seems like at least half the people on this forum expect a quick fix so they can go back to giving "mad bantz" to their City supporting mates on Twitter

The difference between LvG/Alex Ferguson and somebody like Mourinho, is that the former both understand that if you want to build a real dynasty you have to start from the ground up. Mourinho is great at the instant fix - he has one horrible, negative, boring tactic that he roles out from club to club, spending hundreds of millions in the process on established international calibre superstars that you can't argue doesn't produce results. The problem is, he usually leaves a club in a far worse state than he found it in, hundreds of millions of pounds down and no younger players coming through

What LvG is trying to do is basically fix Utd from the mess it was in when he found it. He is probably aware that since he is claiming to only be staying in football for two more years that all of his hard work will ultimately bear fruit after he has gone, but I for one will acknowledge the fact that he saved us from "doing a Liverpool" i.e. 20 years in the wilderness and be grateful for it

 

[Eric'sCollar]

Both have scored more goals then Rooney over the past 2 seasons. Bony was the highest scoring PL player in 2014.

Its really not that outrageous a claim.

I'm sure some keepers have kept more clean sheets than De Gea. There is no way that Bony or Benteke would ever be on track to become United's greatest ever goal scorer.

Sure on form and Rooney out of form, it's up for debate but Rooney is the better player, no doubt.

 

[Glanville95]

I'm sure some keepers have kept more clean sheets than De Gea. There is no way that Bony or Benteke would ever be on track to become United's greatest ever goal scorer.

Sure on form and Rooney out of form, it's up for debate but Rooney is the better player, no doubt.

This isn't Rooney out of form. This is his level now.

The question isn't who has more pedigree or who is the more accomplished striker, it's a question of comparing the three on current ability and I have to agree that Rooney is inferior to Benteke and on a similar level/possibly inferior to Bony.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

This isn't Rooney out of form. This is his level now.

The question isn't who has more pedigree or who is the more accomplished striker, it's a question of comparing the three on current ability and I have to agree that Rooney is inferior to Benteke and on a similar level/possibly inferior to Bony.

I understand it's about opinion and on current form, I fully accept the argument of those two ahead of Rooney but I can only laugh at the people writing Rooney off, I'm certain he will score goals this season and important ones.

 

[Offside]

This isn't Rooney out of form. This is his level now.

The question isn't who has more pedigree or who is the more accomplished striker, it's a question of comparing the three on current ability and I have to agree that Rooney is inferior to Benteke and on a similar level/possibly inferior to Bony.

Even though I agree his level is lower than it was, it's still him out of form because he has been shite. He will come good for a few goals this season. Should not be written off.

 

[711]

I would the smilies option from the cafe, except maybe the simple one for brevity.

In the football and CE forums almost every one is the mark of a tosser.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

I would the smilies option from the cafe, except maybe the simple one for brevity.

In the football and CE forums almost every one is the mark of a tosser.

I can't stand the drooling one myself. The others I can tolerate. I hardly ever use anything but the green lad, though. It's him or nothing.

But I can see where you're coming from. They're being overused in general.