Wayne Rooney | 2011/12 Performances

[mufcwarm92]

His first penalty was absolutely perfect, under massive pressure too. Second nicely slotted away.

I thought he was one of our best players today, he's the absolute heartbeat of our forward play and thats why we miss him so much when he's out. Seeing him running towards you must be truly terrifying.

 

[Sir A1ex]

Why is it bollocks?

You tell us, you wrote it!

I mean, what does go through your brain before writing childish gibberish like "Alan Smith was told by his boss to give it to an Englishman"?

Oh, and word to the wise... If there's one sure-fire way to make yourself look a cock on an internet forum, it's to play the "I know about football, most of you don't" card. It's proper playground stuff. Just for future reference like.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Mr. Rooney is certainly a polarising figure... I was arguing with my brother earlier about his performance today, with me being in the he wasn't very good corner and him in the he was unbelievably brilliant corner.

As with a lot of these things... the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

 

[Gazza]

Whether he was as productive from open play as he could be is arguable, but his movement and ability to get on the ball is pretty fundamental to the way we play. How many times did one of his team mates have the ball near the touchline or with Chelsea players closing them down, and give it to Rooney who had no one within a 15 yard radius? He's so clever in that regard.

 

[The White Pele]

I thought he was great in the second half today. From the moment he smacked in the first pen he had a spell where he was a real force, as Pogue said.

Anyway, hopefully this will start him on a little run. The next 3 league games are crucial.

 

[Edmeiste]

Whatever you thought of Wayne's performance, you have to agree that he was in the mood today. There were some sloppy passes here and there but the manner in which he picked the ball up and actually drove at Chelsea showed me how much desire the boy has. It's truly phenomenal. Maybe not his best performance but I dont think it was poor. He was definitely at it today. He can walk away from that pitch with his head held high.

 

[Plechazunga]

It's funny, I didn't see any of that really, I thought he wasn't much in the game

I remember a couple of good runs, one ended up with him failing to decide whether to pass or shoot, drifting right, then putting in a crap cross that was cut out. Another ended up with a decent but not really dangerous low shot.

I've spent so many matchdays arguing that he was incredibly influential even if he mislaid a few passes, this is quite strange

 

[surf]

Crap? Jesus.

He was a force of nature throughout our comeback in the second half. Tidy enough in the first half too.

The way he set himself to shoot just before our third was the very definition of world class.

Absolutely. There was something Keano-esque about how he picked up the gauntlet when we went 3 down. And the two penalties were brilliant under huge pressure.

He should be the England captain.

 

[Edmeiste]

It's funny, I didn't see any of that really, I thought he wasn't much in the game

I remember a couple of good runs, one ended up with him failing to decide whether to pass or shoot, drifting right, then putting in a crap cross that was cut out. Another ended up with a decent but not really dangerous low shot.

I've spent so many matchdays arguing that he was incredibly influential even if he mislaid a few passes, this is quite strange

might need to rewatch the game then

 

[Plechazunga]

Nah, that might mean admitting I'm wrong

 

[Denis' cuff]

it's no wonder he polarises opinion because this was typical of his performances for nearly a couple of months. I've just replayed a recording of the game and my observations remain the same: he struggle throughout to find a team mate with a pass and moves broke down with him in possession, as has been the case repeatedly, recently. But....I'll give the lad his dues; he never hides and certainly does his share of tracking and being at the sharp end of things, is more likely to lose possession, which he all too frequently did. I'm totally baffled by the MOM ratings (not in my top 3) but he did try to drive us forward. His attitude is spot on - it's just his touch at the moment. As usual with him, it's just a bit of a phase and his touch will return. Still, in the context of that, he still contributed hugely to the comeback. Oh, and the pens were as good as it gets.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

It's funny, I didn't see any of that really, I thought he wasn't much in the game

I remember a couple of good runs, one ended up with him failing to decide whether to pass or shoot, drifting right, then putting in a crap cross that was cut out. Another ended up with a decent but not really dangerous low shot.

I've spent so many matchdays arguing that he was incredibly influential even if he mislaid a few passes, this is quite strange

To be fair... this is very similar to how I viewed the game and his perofrmance.

 

[Edmeiste]

Nah, that might mean admitting I'm wrong

*rubs his hands with delight* well well. I think we're getting somewhere. I'm about to rewatch it now actually. We'll see who's right.

 

[Art]

It's a thing of fashion to criticize and over-analyse Wayne's performances these days in the caf.

 

[Plechazunga]

It's a thing of fashion to criticize and over-analyse Wayne's performances these days in the caf.

Well a) I'm normally fighting his corner, and b) I'm not over-analysing, I just thought he was a bit crap. Understandable, given he's been out injured and SB is never an easy place to go.

 

[marjen]

Well a) I'm normally fighting his corner, and b) I'm not over-analysing, I just thought he was a bit crap. Understandable, given he's been out injured and SB is never an easy place to go.

I thought he linked-up play brilliantly in the second half, and forced the issue with positive passing and driving runs. Movement was excellent, found space time and time again, and provided a great ball out for Carrick/Scholes. Great penalties, obviously.

My only gripe with him was that he should have picked out Welbeck on two occasions which would have put him clean through on goal. Also quite liked that his touch was spot on today, fresh from injury.

 

[Art]

Well a) I'm normally fighting his corner, and b) I'm not over-analysing, I just thought he was a bit crap. Understandable, given he's been out injured and SB is never an easy place to go.

Not aimed at you Plech. Just the general tendency of the caf. Not complaining either, but it is a bit strange though.

 

[17Larsson]

it's no wonder he polarises opinion because this was typical of his performances for nearly a couple of months. I've just replayed a recording of the game and my observations remain the same: he struggle throughout to find a team mate with a pass and moves broke down with him in possession, as has been the case repeatedly, recently. But....I'll give the lad his dues; he never hides and certainly does his share of tracking and being at the sharp end of things, is more likely to lose possession, which he all too frequently did. I'm totally baffled by the MOM ratings (not in my top 3) but he did try to drive us forward. His attitude is spot on - it's just his touch at the moment. As usual with him, it's just a bit of a phase and his touch will return. Still, in the context of that, he still contributed hugely to the comeback. Oh, and the pens were as good as it gets.

Spot on.

Two brilliant penalties and showed great determination throughout the match but nowhere near MOTM

 

[Hectic]

The sky picks for MOTM are always terrible and today was no different. Fair play to Rooney for those two spot kicks, both brilliantly taken but no way was he the best player on the pitch. He had so many mis-placed passes I'd love to see his pass completion percentage for the game but he kept looking for the ball and trying again which is great to see.

But the amount of sheep on here that gave him MOTM just because Alan Smith was told by his boss to give it to an Englishman shows how little a lot of our fans know about football.

But anyway who cares. He didn't have a great game today but when on form he's unstoppable

Agreed with the sky bit, he was a far cry from MOTM, could not see how he was given it. Rafael was the best player despite finishing early, or Carrick if you wanted someone over 90 mins.

 

[Solius]

His first penalty was sublime.

 

[kouroux]

What I liked the most about him is his attitude at 3-0

 

[Zen]

Seems to have been given MOTM in a lot more than just Sky....and like Sky, most papers seem to have him and Mata as the two stand out performers. It was one of those games where no one really played sublime, probably why it was 3-3 in such an open fashion.

 

[anver]

I thought he was great in the second half today. From the moment he smacked in the first pen he had a spell where he was a real force, as Pogue said.

Anyway, hopefully this will start him on a little run. The next 3 league games are crucial.

All our league games are crucial.

 

[CnutOfAllCnuts]

Was a bit crap today
World class means something different to everyone, this has been established on here repeatedly

He's brilliant though, that's for sure

What bollocks!

He was superb.

 

[Cina]

Was a bit crap today

World class means something different to everyone, this has been established on here repeatedly

He's brilliant though, that's for sure

Talking shit Plech. Saying that Young was better than him is an absolute farce.

 

[Red Pavan]

His first penalty was sublime.

Yep, superb. Reminded me of Hargreaves' penalty in the CL final against Chelsea.

 

[ben_foster]

its strange how goals dictate a judgement on performance.

personally i thought both rooney and giggs where both on the poor side of average for an hour. rooney scored two penalties and giggsy cossed for the equiliser and that made rooney MOM and "a force of nature".

its all opinion of course but i certainly didnt see a roy keane esque, driving the team forward and scaring defenders performance. he scored two very well taken penalties. and that was pretty much it.

 

[FlawlessThaw]

it's no wonder he polarises opinion because this was typical of his performances for nearly a couple of months. I've just replayed a recording of the game and my observations remain the same: he struggle throughout to find a team mate with a pass and moves broke down with him in possession, as has been the case repeatedly, recently. But....I'll give the lad his dues; he never hides and certainly does his share of tracking and being at the sharp end of things, is more likely to lose possession, which he all too frequently did. I'm totally baffled by the MOM ratings (not in my top 3) but he did try to drive us forward. His attitude is spot on - it's just his touch at the moment. As usual with him, it's just a bit of a phase and his touch will return. Still, in the context of that, he still contributed hugely to the comeback. Oh, and the pens were as good as it gets.

This is spot on. I thought his passing was well off (I thought it was well off in general) but he gave what some might say a Keane like performance in driving us on and not giving up. If we had won it would have had echoes of Turin. However his decision making and all round passing did let him down.

 

[Edmeiste]

its strange how goals dictate a judgement on performance.

personally i thought both rooney and giggs where both on the poor side of average for an hour. rooney scored two penalties and giggsy cossed for the equiliser and that made rooney MOM and "a force of nature".

its all opinion of course but i certainly didnt see a roy keane esque, driving the team forward and scaring defenders performance. he scored two very well taken penalties. and that was pretty much it.

i think what you highlighted there is part of why wayne and giggsy usually stay on for 90 minutes. Unless they've been absolutely abysmal, even if they're not at their best, they still have the ability to change the game around in a split second.

 

[Hectic]

He wasn't poor, but he wasn't great either. His passing and touch was off. I don't know what the stats were for him or the team but I'd hazard a guess that his passing completion was amongst the lowest yesterday, far too many wrong decisions or poor easy passes when we had great momentum. That said his movement was very good, drifting into space so many times, coming from deep and he had more shots than I can remember in some recent games. Certainly helped with the comeback and took both of his penalties very well, but I'd say Carrick and Rafael were the stand-out performers - even though Rafael went off early, he was amazing.

 

[Carl]

He wasn't poor, but he wasn't great either. His passing and touch was off. I don't know what the stats were for him or the team but I'd hazard a guess that his passing completion was amongst the lowest yesterday, far too many wrong decisions or poor easy passes when we had great momentum. That said his movement was very good, drifting into space so many times, coming from deep and he had more shots than I can remember in some recent games. Certainly helped with the comeback and took both of his penalties very well, but I'd say Carrick and Rafael were the stand-out performers - even though Rafael went off early, he was amazing.

Yup. Agree with that. Well put Hectic.

Those 2 penalties were proper pressure kicks too and he nailed them.

 

[evra]

The only negative thing I can say about his performance is that he squandered our best attacking opportunity in the first half. Valencia's wonderful ball put him clear through on goal and he didn't make the most of it.

 

[Hectic]

The pressure of the game in general, his own demons with recent misses, the context of being at Stamford Bridge and knowing that a miss would likely deflate any sort of comeback - Yet he kept his composure and took them both with class. Now I'm not a fan of Rooney as a penalty taker but I always think to myself there's a reason he must take them, and why we still allow him to take them, perhaps this pne reason why. You can't get pressure like that, maybe if it was Nani or Hernandez they might not have been able to remain as calm and composed. I don't know, it put some more confidence into him as our penalty taker for me anyway.

 

[Adzzz]

He wasn't at his best, but I thought he carried the ball forward well, even though his touch did seem heavy he was able to move around the Chelsea defense with ease. Also, there was a rather nice piece of player where he moved into space to get his shot off. On a better day he'd probably have buried it.

 

[Brwned]

Thought he was a bit hit and miss too, though from what I remember his touch was excellent most of the time. Received the ball in space and turned on it in one movement beautifully numerous times, but he picked a few bad balls - a better execution on a couple and it would've meant he received unanimous praise, I believe, because it would've slipped Welbeck straight through (both times? maybe Chicharito once?). Without his movement I don't think we'd have gotten back into the game though because even if he did lose the ball a bit much - more misplaced passes than anyone, 4th lowest accuracy % of outfield players - there was no-one else who posed as much of a threat and that kept them on the back foot for a large part of the second half.

 

[wr8_utd]

Big game player and he proves it time and again.

 

[wr8_utd]

How many goals for this season now? 20?

 

[Lynk]

19

 

[wr8_utd]

19

Not bad at all for someone who's missed some games and played many out of position.

 

[adexkola]

I think we may have been spoilt by the likes of Ronaldo, Messi and the whole Barcelona ensemble, who deliver week in week out, for years. Are there any other "world class" players who are as inconsistent as Rooney, or is that a problem that is limited to him?

I mean, I have never seen a top player who's first touch goes to shit with bad form. Maybe O'Shea when he was with us...