True, Sir Alex saw it. For some inexplicable reason Moyes tried to build a team around him. Apparently selling him to Chelsea would have made us look weak, instead we weakened outselves by handing a player on the decline a massive 5 year contract. We should have swappened him for Mata in the first place.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 37
- Goals
- 14
- Assists
- 6
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Red cards
- 1
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
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Needs to play upfront if not drop Fellaini and play him behind the striker, really wasted in midfield simply not good enough there.
So we are back to the same type of posts we read about Rooney in the summer. For a while it looked like Rooney finally won over the Caf.
It's not because of his age and by the way he will be 30 at the start of next season. I think he's having too many average performances when it really matters.
He fails to impress over a season these days. Doesn't turn up in many matches. He is getting the same treatment Giggs use to get. It is not that he is a bad player, he just doesn't have the consistency that one would expect from someone we thought would be WC. How I dream of the Rooney that joined us, fire, raw passion, fearless. Maybe I am too biased, I just see someone in his comfort zone, knowing he isn't going to be dropped, so doesn't put in the extra few % that he has stored up.
Hes useless for our team when hes not in the box as he kills our momentum moves.
As soon as he gets the ball, no matter where he is on the ball, you know what he will do, ping it out to the wing, mostly to Valencia. Even if hes on the edge of the box he will ping it out wide to a player who cant cross the ball lol.
As soon as he gets the ball, no matter where he is on the ball, you know what he will do, ping it out to the wing, mostly to Valencia. Even if hes on the edge of the box he will ping it out wide to a player who cant cross the ball lol.
He has not been great in recent weeks but, that is explained by two factors that have been constant since he has been here. One he is crap in matches player in Liverpool and he is crap when played in midfield. So I am not overly worried about his recent form. I think one of the main past times here is to say Wayne Rooney is past it so some are overreacting to his recent performances.
He is not past it by any means, but he is very indisciplined. Even when he is up front he often comes out of position, looking for the ball ...etc. Fergie said that is why he moved him to the side and midfield. LVG said Rooney may be the best scorer, but he does not play the striker role well.
TBF, he wasnt great against City or Liverpool either. And except his fantastic goal against Villa, I remember people saying he wasnt great against them either (think his first touch gets slated a lot mostly cos its fair)
Finished as a elite elite player for me. Needs to be benched next season whether as a forward or midfielder.
I honestly do not know how we become an elite team with Rooney as a focal point. He is a good CF and an average midfielder.
The same could be said for England. He is just too inconsistent to be a true attacking leader of a great team.
The same could be said for England. He is just too inconsistent to be a true attacking leader of a great team.
Probably agree. I think he's good enough as a striker for a team challenging for a top 4 place (which is what we completely are right now). But if you're looking for more from a striker I don't think Rooney has it. Having said that he should never be playing in midfield, seems to hamper everyone else who plays there.
Yep those were my thoughts at the time. You get slaughtered on here for having a go at 'The White Pele' but our eyes do not deceive us. A good all-rounder and we have more or less got our money's worth from him but just does not have the top quality any more that is required to be a striker for one of the 3 biggest clubs in the world.
Well him struggling against Liverpool would fit into his general tendency to struggle in matches in Liverpool. We scored 4 goals against City so even if he was not great he definitely did not hinder us. And his first touch is inconsistent that is something you have to just accept especially if he scores a goal like the one he scored against Villa.
He is a hindrance for this club going forwards if we want to play dynamic winning football. We need a fast technically gifted striker not a cumbersome former great player who can nick goals but isnt going to cut it at the very highest level
Oh no doubt, id rather see him up front and if hes not up front, then not in the team at all (if it means we play an actual player in their proper position, even if its a youngster). Hes not the Rooney that we signed. I wouldnt be scared to face him if I was a defender. Every time he gets the ball, you know what he will do or where hes looking to pass it.
Do MLS teams even sign well known players from Europe that are still within contract? Likes of Beckham, Lampard and Gerrard have all moved there at the end of theirs
Still better than the younger version of Rooney. With the younger version of Rooney the defender did not know what he was going to do with the ball but, then again neither did Rooney.
Is it though? That Rooney would give us movement, would run at players, and woudl occupy players freeing up space for others whilst also look to link with the striker rather than ping it out wide in slow motion to the winger.
He would also commit a lot of stupid fouls, give the ball away more and was not a consistent finisher.
He had a better first touch, could shoot / score from outside the box, was better one on one with the keeper and didnt have to play in the box to be effective. 
@Keeps It tidy
@Keeps It tidyQatar it is, then.
This. The question is though, what club would buy him and give him half the wages he gets at united.
Truth is we are stuck with him. He'll hold us back for a while yet.
It made me really happy when he did that Kagawa style fake move through his legs against Mulumbu and started great counter-attack, only to make me cry two seconds later when he ruined everything by trying stupid and pointless long ball to Mata which was intercepted despite having few players running through the middle. It was such an idiotic decision for which I would sub him off immediately.
Rooney is a tough player to judge. Great career which was/is full of superb moments but he's too often completely ineffective.
Maybe it's an element of playing out of position but IMO the praise he gets from many people, pundits especially, doesn't match with the player I see every week.
He's not finished by any means and is an important member of the squad but I think we should at least look at other players (Mata for instance) in his no 10 role.
Maybe it's an element of playing out of position but IMO the praise he gets from many people, pundits especially, doesn't match with the player I see every week.
He's not finished by any means and is an important member of the squad but I think we should at least look at other players (Mata for instance) in his no 10 role.
I'd take him in a heartbeat at Chelsea. Can take Oscar's place in our first XI and play as a second striker just behind Costa. Think he'd score loads for us and has great work ethic when he's arsed.
Mourinho loves him as a player from what I've heard too. No chance it would ever happen, of course, because if he joined us and became world class again (which I think he would) it would make you guys look terrible.
You were only interested last time because his contract hadn't long to run and you thought you'd get him cheap. No way would Chelsea spend more than £20-25 million on him.
He'd be an absolute steal for that price. We'll have more money to spend than ever before with our new sponsorships and increased revenue and prize money from winning the league. Plus the new TV money soon.
Yep he'll be the last to go from the guys who need replacing. The only club who would come in would be arsenal but considering the direction they are headed we can not strengthen them in any way.
If you think he would be world class playing as a number 10 behind Costa than you clearly haven't been watching much of Mr Rooney these last few years. He's a decent number 9 and that's it. And there's no chance of him usurping costa there. Unless you are mental.
Chelsea would play him up top, supported by Hazard, Fabregas and Matic. Without the burden of creativity on him, he'll be a very good player for them.
Our problem is, we're trying to make him something he's not. Playing him in midfield does not get the best out of him. A few years ago he was a wide forward and supporting Ronaldo but I doubt he can do that nowadays. He's just a very good striker these days.
Our problem is, we're trying to make him something he's not. Playing him in midfield does not get the best out of him. A few years ago he was a wide forward and supporting Ronaldo but I doubt he can do that nowadays. He's just a very good striker these days.
He's very poor in midfield, largely because he isn't really that good a player anyway in my opinion. Persie is obviously the more technical and skilful player, hence even he performing better in midfield. He is a better manipulator of the ball up front, and naturally the same in midfield.
I've maintained all season that all three of our strikers are not good enough anymore. Watching Rooney play up top, yes - he isn't awful but you still wouldn't get the hype if you had only read of his profile. If I had a choice I would even rather Benteke lead the line for us, and even he is only Benteke.
Rooney has a bigger profile than the likes of Suarez and Aguero, and is paid similarly to Messi and Ronaldo. He is vastly overrated, and an 18 goal striker at best today I'd say, and that includes penalties.
I've maintained all season that all three of our strikers are not good enough anymore. Watching Rooney play up top, yes - he isn't awful but you still wouldn't get the hype if you had only read of his profile. If I had a choice I would even rather Benteke lead the line for us, and even he is only Benteke.
Rooney has a bigger profile than the likes of Suarez and Aguero, and is paid similarly to Messi and Ronaldo. He is vastly overrated, and an 18 goal striker at best today I'd say, and that includes penalties.
None of that is true, and just rhetoric his apologists have used for ages. He doesn't have the 'burden of creativity ' in this team, he hasn't been turned into a midfielder, there are obviously circumstances, and a few years ago, he was no wide forward. He was always a striker, bar the few games he switched with Ronaldo for tactical reasons. He was simply a striker that was being g outscored by a (very exceptional ) winger.
This.
He's not a midfielder. He's not even close to being a midfielder.
Can we get this started on Twitter or something? Portland Timbers preparing a surprise summer bid for Rooney, funded by local business Nike. Massive commercial potential with the Rooneys given their own family reality show in the mold of The Osbournes. We'll play Portland on the summer tour and Rooney will play one half for us and one half for them as a final goodbye. Will need to happen before we change over to Adidas.
I think there is some truth to the posts that say it's difficult to build a modern attacking brand of football around him at nearly 30, but he's captain and unlikely to be going anywhere so the best case scenario is we keep him as the #9 and flank him with pace and creativity, we have to avoid him in midfield at all costs.
Like nearly every week, ill go into this discussions in the hope that one day the jarheads will say "myeee hes pretty average nowadays".
Rooney played shit, this week, the week before, the week before that and that that that.
In an ideal world, Man United would be without Rooney. He isn't world class as a sole striker anymore, he is nowhere near world class in CAM. The only spot he can actually truly be world class in at this age and with his play style is a box to box midfielder in a 3 man midfield which he and the fans hate. Where does this leave him? On the bench.
Get a new striker, and for godsake get someone creative in the spot of Fellaini.
What we are doing is patching a broken tire with a bandaid both with Rooney and Fellaini in the team every week. Just buy a goddamn new tire.
Rooney played shit, this week, the week before, the week before that and that that that.
In an ideal world, Man United would be without Rooney. He isn't world class as a sole striker anymore, he is nowhere near world class in CAM. The only spot he can actually truly be world class in at this age and with his play style is a box to box midfielder in a 3 man midfield which he and the fans hate. Where does this leave him? On the bench.
Get a new striker, and for godsake get someone creative in the spot of Fellaini.
What we are doing is patching a broken tire with a bandaid both with Rooney and Fellaini in the team every week. Just buy a goddamn new tire.
I am far from a Rooney apologist. I actually wanted him out last season. But he is (was?) a very good striker. The season after Ronaldo left where he was more of a traditional striker was a good season for him in my opinion.
Playing him in midfield is a terrible idea that only the people who buy into the Rooney hype think will work. I'd play him up top, but I prefer RVP as striker. But Van Gaal's captain is never dropped, so there's a conundrum for you.
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