[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Miles better from him, pace, urgency, some good link up play, and the fight was finally back.

This is why all players should be dropped when playing poorly for so long, it's up to them to show what they can do with the chances they do get.

Better, much better.

 

[gza the genius]

He was definitely much better than he has been but he still didn't do a whole lot. I hope if Mourinho does keep him in the side it's up top again, he just isn't creative enough or good enough with the ball at his feet to play any deeper.

 

[Ash_G]

I thought he was alright today and definitely better than some of his previous outings.

You have to give credit to him, he's reacted well given all the media scrutiny he's had and as I've said before it really makes you wonder what could have happened if Moyes/LVG had done this earlier and challenged him to improve.

There's still problems to his game, such as his touch when he needs to get it right first time which for me means he's still not in a place where he can start but there was also enough there to show he's still got something to offer and it definitely seemed to help him playing a more fixed role.

 

[Scorpy]

Did very well. Showed great motivation to get back to the team. Could have been sulking for not being a regular starter in the last few games, so fair play.

 

[Burrow]

He's the only one in our squad who'll get stick as well as praise for doing slightly more or less than nothing.

 

[Handré1990]

Good game. He stretched their defence, got involved in the build up and was involved in two of the goals. He also didn't lose the ball as much. I think this is about as good as it gets with him nowadays.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

A lot better from Rooney tonight. Thought his link up play was very good. Was involved in the two goals (lay off to Lingard and winning the ball back for Pogba goal) and his overall general play was good. Didn't do anything out of the ordinary, but when you're out of form, it's best to do the simple things well, and that's what he did tonight. That should give him a bit of confidence.

Won't start against Chelsea, but he'll still have a part to play this season, with the amount of games we have.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

I think that's as good as it gets from Rooney now. Can't expect anymore.

He himself wasn't a threat but everything else was neat and tidy.

This sums it up perfectly.

It wasn't anything special but for Rooney in 2016 that was pretty good. If this is his last season though and he's not on penalties, as he shouldn't be, I really think he might not break the record. Don't know where he gets 4 goals from open play.

 

[Sepukku]

He's not a forward anymore. I still think if his assists of late are pure luck or some skill i fail to see. Not enough for a starter place if you'd ask me. His aggression and quality turned into fear and numbness. Those assists are only happening because he happens to be on the field, deployed as an attacker.

 

[charlenefan]

Got a lot of support from the fans in the ground tonight, only RVP got as many chants as him

Still thought he was in the periphery though

 

[VeevaVee]

He was useful today. Looked like his usual self at first, but got into the game and had an impact.
Not a world beating one, but still.

Looked like he gave the nod when Pogba asked to take the pen, and told Martial to take his, which was great captaincy to give them confidence.

 

[surf]

He no longer has enough goal threat to be a striker. We saw in the second half how he dropped back to midfield and Lingard and Mata were playing ahead of him.

 

[Witchking]

With so many people impressed with Rooney, a lot of them would want him to start over Zlatan.

 

[The White Pele]

Tonight was more like the Rooney I enjoy to watch in terms of the positions he took up.

If he plays at 9 he can't play it the way Zlatan does and play to the same level. He can't always stay as the focal point as he ends up being suffocated by a centre-half.

Likewise, he's probably not as good as Mata playing exclusively in the hole as a 10, especially behind a striker that doesn't play on the shoulder. And he definitely lacks the dribbling ability and physical attributes to be a winger.

What he may still prove to be though is a threat switching between forward positions in a more fluid attack. We've seen games in the past where Rooney has abandoned his number 9 position to drop deep and get on the ball and we have been left with no presence leading the line. Tonight for the third goal he found himself on the right wing but it didn't matter because Lingard had taken that space. For the fourth, Rooney was in the number 9 role and Lingard popped up in the hole to score rather than holding his position on the right. Late in the game Rooney and Martial broke from deep but still had options ahead of them.

That is the way we have to play if Rooney is still to be effective.

That would mean he's probably not going to play with Zlatan very often as he is more of a focal point to the team but with the likes of Martial, Mata, Lingard, Mkhitaryan there are more opportunities to switch positions and impact the game. I certainly enjoy watching us play that way.

One concern, despite a sharper performance tonight, is that he does appear to have completely lost the ability to beat a defender at close quarters.

 

[a_devil_inside]

Good to see that he didn't keep dropping back into midfield or defence as much like he does so many times, had a pretty good game I thought.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He was useful today. Looked like his usual self at first, but got into the game and had an impact.
Not a world beating one, but still.

Looked like he gave the nod when Pogba asked to take the pen, and told Martial to take his, which was great captaincy to give them confidence.

Yep. Even though Michael half-wit Owen tried to argue otherwise.

 

[Sylar]

I think thats the limit of what hes capable of. his touch at times was terrible and at other times it was good. He just cant beat a man though because his body doesnt do what his mind is thinking.
Saying that, I enjoyed his interception which lead to the third goal.

And I think he plays better out wide, cos it means he cant ping it out wide whilst there.

 

[Duafc]

Thought he was very sharp in his movement and build up, he and Carrick have a great understanding. Good pressing and involved in a couple of the goals with nice touches, and many more that should have turned into good opportunities.

That said he himself wasn't a goal threat at all really... and any one on one or in the box opportunity he seemed pretty easily dispossessed.

I thought it was very classy to give the Peno's to Pogba and Martial, who both need the goals as much as he does. Im sure some will think he didn't have the confidence to take them himself but I think thats nonsense.

 

[NextSeason]

Better than Zlatan's been for about 5 games...

 

[LouisDanGaal]

Better than Zlatan's been for about 5 games...

Crafty sneaking that comment in post midnight to hide it, i'm on to you. But yeah, almost definitely, although there will be much less space in the Chelsea game, they have two dm's in kante and matic so even if rooney was in better form the game suits zlatan just waiting in the box for heads much more.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

Good game, I'd rotate him and Zlatan as strikers from now on.

 

[Bastian]

His best game in absolute ages.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Did some really good work, hopefully we see more of this when he plays.

 

[Yagami]

I thought he was good yesteday. The directness in his play was nice to see again. I've missed that from him.

This is what I've personally wanted since the 13/14 season (I would say 12/13 but Fergie actually did the smart thing and dropped him at the end of said season). Now that he knows he isn't a guaranteed starter like the past 3 seasons, he's actually playing well because, well, he has to now if he wants to play.

 

[iKeano]

Yep. Even though Michael half-wit Owen tried to argue otherwise.

I can only bear listening to Michael Owen on mute... not only has he got the most boring voice in the world, but he peddles absolute jibberish week-in week-out!

 

[Adam-Utd]

The fact he wasn't awful is a compliment really, he looked how I expected Rooney to play when he's 34/35. His touch for once was pretty tidy, had some decent lay offs and ACTUALLY closed people down and tried to take them on (although failed mostly).

If he can play to that 6-7 out of 10 standard regularly then he could still have a place in the team, but I won't be surprised for him to dip again in the next match.

 

[togg]

It will have done him good, bit of a confidence boost. I now a lot of people dislike him, want him gone, but I would prefer a performing Rooney in the squad right now, not only because we could do with his ability, but also his experience at all levels and at the club which can only be good for the younger players. I'm not sure he will start again in the PL (unless there are a number of injuries) but if he can produce the sort of form he did last night he will be useful to bring on if necessary.

 

[VP89]

Good game, I'd rotate him and Zlatan as strikers from now on.

No way

 

[Nickosaur]

Fair play to him. Looked up for it and that was his best performance in a long time. So he deserves credit for that.

But - it means nothing if his next performance is more of what we're used to. More please Roo.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

I must be watching a different player.

Whenever i think he's had a half decent game, people on here are berating him. And whenever I thought he was embarrassing, like last night, he gets mild praise.

How last night can be called a "good performance" is way over me. Every time he got the ball, he miscontrolled it.

I'm starting to think he gets more/less criticism based on how well United did. If he'd played exactly the same and we'd lost 0-1, he'd probably be getting stick

 

[Minimalist]

The idea last night meant he should start over Zlatan is pretty worrying. That's from someone who said he was playing better last night.

He's still physically a mess and at very least Zlatan isn't that despite being 4 years older. We can't play a striker who looks knackered after 30-45 minutes.

 

[Sparky10Legend]

And we are back to square one, he's a number 9 again.

Just tell me what he did that warranted a start for Manchester United? . Tell you what, dont bother, I've heard it all before.

 

[SwansonsTache]

Probably has the worst first touch I've seen from a top class player \ player that once was classified as top class.

 

[Smores]

And we are back to square one, he's a number 9 again.

Just tell me what he did that warranted a start for Manchester United? . Tell you what, dont bother, I've heard it all before.

He was our only forward who hasnt played a lot recently amongst a heavy schedule. There is no reason not to give him the odd games as we'd do with any squad player.

He warrants the odd chance to try and win his place back although i very much disagree with those saying yesterday was anything approaching worthy of future selection.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He was our only forward who hasnt played a lot recently amongst a heavy schedule. There is no reason not to give him the odd games as we'd do with any squad player.

He warrants the odd chance to try and win his place back although i very much disagree with those saying yesterday was anything approaching worthy of future selection.

He played better last night than Zlatan did against Liverpool. So that is, presumably, why it's being raised as a possibility that he starts our next game instead of Ibra. Of course, the main reason Rooney was started last night was to give our usual number 9 an evening of R&R, so he can hopefully play a bit better against Chelsea. Which makes a lot of sense and, of course, doesn't mean Rooney should start our next game. He won't anyway. You could see that with the substitutions. Lingard and Pogba will start against Chelsea. Rooney won't.

 

[dichinero]

He was ok at best and his recent form points to it being a one off if anything. As a #10, he's definitely behind Mata, Pogba and a fit Micky. As a #9, I'd definitely have Zlatan, Rashford, Martial and even Mata as a false #9 ahead of Rooney. If anything, Rooney should be limited to as many games as Carrick is imo. Deployed as a #9 last night and did not have a single shot, dropping too deep as usual, working hard which is the only positive for me.

 

[Ludens the Red]

He was okay, what he did was keep things simple, it's like he knew what his body could and couldn't do, maybe finally an acknowledgement that his powers have gone. He was also better that Zlatan has been in that position a few times this season.

 

[Smores]

He played better last night than Zlatan did against Liverpool. So that is, presumably, why it's being raised as a possibility that he starts our next game instead of Ibra. Of course, the main reason Rooney was started last night was to give our usual number 9 an evening of R&R, so he can hopefully play a bit better against Chelsea. Which makes a lot of sense and, of course, doesn't mean Rooney should start our next game. He won't anyway. You could see that with the substitutions. Lingard and Pogba will start against Chelsea. Rooney won't.

Im not exactly sure what Ibra was supposed to do against Liverpool though as he was so isolated. Im not really sure its a fair comparison to draw parallels between the two games and their respective performances.

I still maintain if your striker doesnt have a shot then he cant have had a good game. I suspect Rooney avoids attacking situations to do the simple things he cant mess up, although maybe he's just being a great captain and instilling confidence in our other players by passing the ball

 

[Bogga]

Best game in ages, but in all honesty... it's like comparing an ordinary burger to a piece of dog poop. Will probably taste a lot better, but in the big picture quite average.

His passing and movement is quite good, but his first touch and his composure in front of goal is still seriously lacking for a striker. De Gea would probably be a better choice to play up front in that aspect

 

[Chicharo]

Reading that he won't be in the squad tomorrow.