Wayne Rooney, The Midfield General? Mourinho Says No.

[BennyBlanco]

Every fan forum around the country right now are saying Rooney's done surprisingly well in midfield so far, bar one, one forum who's opinion is: "He's shit, get rid"
What I do know is we've spent over 100 million on our midfield since Sir Alex retired, on the likes of Schweinsteiger, Fellaini, Schneiderlin, Herrera and I'd STILL trust Rooney to put in better displays in the middle over those clowns.

 

[Adisa]

Every fan forum around the country right now are saying Rooney's done surprisingly well in midfield so far, bar one, one forum who's opinion is: "He's shit, get rid"
What I do know is we've spent over 100 million on our midfield since Sir Alex retired, on the likes of Schweinsteiger, Fellaini, Schneiderlin, Herrera and I'd STILL trust Rooney to put in better displays in the middle over those clowns.

Must have a lot of time on your hands. There are thousands of forums.

 

[RedElf]

Every fan forum around the country right now are saying Rooney's done surprisingly well in midfield so far, bar one, one forum who's opinion is: "He's shit, get rid"
What I do know is we've spent over 100 million on our midfield since Sir Alex retired, on the likes of Schweinsteiger, Fellaini, Schneiderlin, Herrera and I'd STILL trust Rooney to put in better displays in the middle over those clowns.

Lets see how he does when he is constantly under pressure in a congested midfield where close ball control is needed. Wonder how many errors he makes then.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Lets see how he does when he is constantly under pressure in a congested midfield where close ball control is needed. Wonder how many errors he makes then.

Did alright vs Crystal Palace with their players motivated and buzzing for their 1 cup final they'll ever reach if memory serves.
Rooneys slack short passing has been an issue through the years, but credit to him, since he's been dropped back into midfield he's tidied it up.

 

[NoPace]

In my opinion, if Wayne Rooney ends up as our midfield general next season then we will not be competing for the league.

And he'll turn 31 early in the season. If we're going to give a player 45 midfield starts to learn the position next year and put up with inconsistent performances, surely it should be a 20 year old with skill and physical potential, not Rooney. By the time he learns the position he'll be 33 and on his last legs. It's just madness to invest this sort of time and opportunity in a player of that age who has never played a full or even half season in the hardest position around.

Currently watching Modric dazzle for Croatia and I'm reminded of how brilliant he was in those Euro 2008 qualifiers against England when he first burst onto the scene. Surely there's some nimble, clever 20-22 year old CM our scouts think has a half chance to be the next Modric. Sign him and give him the 40 starts, not an aging Rooney.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Where do you prefer Rooney?

Option A (CAM in 4231):
Rooney
CDM - CM

Option B (CM in 4231):
CAM
Rooney - CDM

Option C (CM in 433):
Rooney - CM
CDM​

If Mourinho plays a 4231, then he may use Rooney like he used Fabregas.

So, in games where we expect to dominate:

CAM
Rooney - CDM
​

In games where we want to tighten up:

Rooney
CDM - CDM
​

If a 433

​

Games we dominate:

Rooney (8) - Number 10
CDM
​

Games to tighten up:

Rooney (10) - Box to box
CDM​

 

[manunited1919]

Just look at Iniesta, Modric, Rakitic, Payet, Pogba, Fabregas, Toni Kroos play and compare Rooney to any one of them. They all have excellent ball control, remain cool under pressure, have vision for a defense splitting pass, seldom make mistakes, and know where they will pass the ball even before they receive it. Those are all skills that Rooney sometimes seems to struggle at. if a bid from China comes in, Rooney should be sold.

 

[Speak]

Slows things down way too much. Requires too much time and space.

The top midfielders do what he does (and more) at double speed, and in more useful areas. He's a desperate Kroos impressionist at the moment.
I don't dislike him at all, but I shudder to think how lost he'd look against a proper midfield.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Slows things down way too much. Requires too much time and space.

The top midfielders do what he does (and more) at double speed, and in more useful areas. He's a desperate Kroos impressionist at the moment.
I don't dislike him at all, but I shudder to think how lost he'd look against a proper midfield.

Why does everyone say this when talking about Rooney?

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

He lacks the stamina, the pace and the quick feet in tight areas to be a midfield general for us. We should have higher ambitions.

How Mou will deploy Rooney will be interesting to see. I hope he has the balls to put him on the bench if Rooney does not perform. Rooney and Zlatan in the same team would be too slow.

 

[Speak]

Why does everyone say this when talking about Rooney?

Well... clearly not everyone says it, because many do dislike him.

Personally, I say it to differentiate myself from the group who criticize him partly because they dislike him (or how he's portrayed) and secretly hope he fails.

 

[gvk004]

Rooney is a perfect Jose number 10 .He did try to sign him for Chelsea and I am sure he is going to play behind the striker . Jose would prefer his workrate in that number 10 role than his contribution to attack . He is not going to play in midfield in a Moriniho team .As many pointed out here , he lacks the composure that a midfielder needs . A CM's job is not just to ping diagonal balls and it much more than that .

 

[Super_Mario]

Every fan forum around the country right now are saying Rooney's done surprisingly well in midfield so far, bar one, one forum who's opinion is: "He's shit, get rid"
What I do know is we've spent over 100 million on our midfield since Sir Alex retired, on the likes of Schweinsteiger, Fellaini, Schneiderlin, Herrera and I'd STILL trust Rooney to put in better displays in the middle over those clowns.

Spot on

 

[Perrick Dubois]

I just want him to play behind a front striker with more support to get in the box on the end of direct wing play or be in transition for his diagonal passes to isolate wingers one on one with fullbacks to develop the counter attacks. I am not prepared to call him a "midfield general" unless his role develops that way by natural selection and the devolution of his game through the back end of his career. He is certainly in some fine form at the moment though and I hope it continues through into the start of next season. A healthy, happy and in form Wayne Rooney is an important asset to the club moving forward.

 

[Brightonian]

The problem with Rooney is not so much where you play him when he's in great form, like now. This excellent spell in midfield for club and country is further proof of what so many of his managers and teammates have said over the years, that when he's playing well he really can do it in any number of positions, because his skill-set is diverse and his understanding of the game exemplary. He's shone in loads of roles over the years, and it's always had less to do with the role 'suiting' him than with whether he was in a patch of good or bad form.

The problem is having the balls to quickly drop him when he's not playing well. Which is happening more frequently since he started to lose his physical peak and will only get more so until someone finally draws a line under it and drops/sells him for good. He's a player who still demands a place when he's in form, but definitely no longer one who deserves to be given game after game to 'play through it' when he hits a slump.

I make no secret of the fact I'm not keen on Mourinho, but one thing you hopefully can say for him is that his opinion of himself is high enough that he's not afraid to drop big names. He might be the man to finally start using post-2012 Rooney rationally.

 

[Rampant-red]

I think now the midfield is his best opinion but needs to speed his play up.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Rooney is a perfect Jose number 10 .He did try to sign him for Chelsea and I am sure he is going to play behind the striker . Jose would prefer his workrate in that number 10 role than his contribution to attack . He is not going to play in midfield in a Moriniho team .As many pointed out here , he lacks the composure that a midfielder needs . A CM's job is not just to ping diagonal balls and it much more than that .

It might do for a year, but if Rooney is Jose's perfect no 10 then I worry for his tenure here. We eventually need a 10 who can split defences with their incisive passing and have better technical quality on the ball.

 

[ivaldo]

Every fan forum around the country right now are saying Rooney's done surprisingly well in midfield so far, bar one, one forum who's opinion is: "He's shit, get rid"
What I do know is we've spent over 100 million on our midfield since Sir Alex retired, on the likes of Schweinsteiger, Fellaini, Schneiderlin, Herrera and I'd STILL trust Rooney to put in better displays in the middle over those clowns.

Yeah, let's ignore the forum full of fans who watch him on regular basis and go with the posters basing their opinion on above average performances against Wales and fecking Russia, who's midfield have been so poor they were subbed at half time for being outplayed by Slovakia. Logic ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Revan]

Rooney is a perfect Jose number 10 .He did try to sign him for Chelsea and I am sure he is going to play behind the striker . Jose would prefer his workrate in that number 10 role than his contribution to attack . He is not going to play in midfield in a Moriniho team .As many pointed out here , he lacks the composure that a midfielder needs . A CM's job is not just to ping diagonal balls and it much more than that .

3 years ago.

Since then Rooney has massively declined, while in the first few months of last season it could have been argued that he has been the worst player in the league. When he is on good form, he is still a good player and maybe deserves to start, but you can't play with 10 men for half a season, in order to have a decent (not excellent) Rooney in the second half.

Let's see what happens but I don't think that what Mourinho thought 3 years ago has any relevance in what he thinks now.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

BTW, isn't "midfield general" a term for well rounded midfielders who influence in many different aspects and take command, such as Keane and Schweinsteiger? Seems an odd description for present day/anyday Rooney.

 

[ivaldo]

BTW, isn't "midfield general" a term for well rounded midfielders who influence in many different aspects and take command, such as Keane and Schweinsteiger? Seems an odd description for present day/anyday Rooney.

Pfft, that's just because you're hater.

 

[attack attack]

The problem with Rooney is not so much where you play him when he's in great form, like now. This excellent spell in midfield for club and country is further proof of what so many of his managers and teammates have said over the years, that when he's playing well he really can do it in any number of positions, because his skill-set is diverse and his understanding of the game exemplary. He's shone in loads of roles over the years, and it's always had less to do with the role 'suiting' him than with whether he was in a patch of good or bad form.

The problem is having the balls to quickly drop him when he's not playing well. Which is happening more frequently since he started to lose his physical peak and will only get more so until someone finally draws a line under it and drops/sells him for good. He's a player who still demands a place when he's in form, but definitely no longer one who deserves to be given game after game to 'play through it' when he hits a slump.

I make no secret of the fact I'm not keen on Mourinho, but one thing you hopefully can say for him is that his opinion of himself is high enough that he's not afraid to drop big names. He might be the man to finally start using post-2012 Rooney rationally.

That is an excellent summary of the Rooney issue. Lets see how impressive he is in midfield when England play a half decent team.

 

[NinjaZombie]

Yeah, let's ignore the forum full of fans who watch him on regular basis and go with the posters basing their opinion on above average performances against Wales and fecking Russia, who's midfield have been so poor they were subbed at half time for being outplayed by Slovakia. Logic ladies and gentlemen.

Shhhh don't talk sense! Everyone knows the Caf just flat out hates Rooney.

 

[nick2004]

Just look at Iniesta, Modric, Rakitic, Payet, Pogba, Fabregas, Toni Kroos play and compare Rooney to any one of them. They all have excellent ball control, remain cool under pressure, have vision for a defense splitting pass, seldom make mistakes, and know where they will pass the ball even before they receive it. Those are all skills that Rooney sometimes seems to struggle at. if a bid from China comes in, Rooney should be sold.

All these midfielders that you mention above have patches where they played terribly, worse than Rooney at his worse! And yes, Rooney in his career has always played badly for a few months and very well for a few months. The problem is that people who don't like Rooney, compare Rooney's worst displays with other players best displays and make themselves believe that those other players are fantastic and Rooney is shit... obviously, this is not true. It is like saying that Ronaldo had a terrible game agaist Austria, so he is worse in attack than Vardy.

 

[ManUchosenbosslvg]

What's happening to our captain?

There's having more money than sense but a man in his 30's getting cosmetic surgery? Whatever about the hair, but botox injections into his forehead and some kind of eyebrow lift by the looks of it..

I always liked that he was proud of his working class background, and was looked as a tough player, a man you could respect amongst the diving, mewling quims that make up most teams. I'd hope for more from our captain.

 

[ivaldo]

Shocking that here we are, without Rooney in midifeld, and we are still utterly dominant.

 

[Godfather]

Moves like a 50 year old. The notion that he should be our main man in CM is a bit crazy tbh

 

[JohnnyKills]

He was awful tonight. Gone as a top player. Reverted to those awful crossfield balls and dribbles which never got past the first man. David Moyes why did you give him a 300k a week contract?

 

[Baxter]

God help us if he starts for United next season in midfield. A try hard and nothing else. All this Rubbish about dominating games etc, against a truly horrific Russian team and a Wales team sitting back on the counter. Hes fecking useless

 

[Lawman]

He came on as a sub against a team with 11 behind the ball. Anybody slagging off Rooney on tonight's game has their own agenda. Get real.

 

[Ixion]

Too one dimensional to be a proper midfielder.

 

[BarstoolProphet]

Absolutely dreadful cameo. Poor runs and killed England's momentum completely. I will lose faith in Mourinho instantly if he starts Rooney for us.

 

[ti vu]

Can't blame him for Woy hit the form resetting button by benching him. I guess he need a run of game now to regain his form

 

[Treble]

He came on as a sub against a team with 11 behind the ball. Anybody slagging off Rooney on tonight's game has their own agenda. Get real.

Did he play well? Dribbles? Passes?

 

[Sammyjunn]

He's awful.

 

[ManUchosenbosslvg]

He was awful tonight. Gone as a top player. Reverted to those awful crossfield balls and dribbles which never got past the first man. David Moyes why did you give him a 300k a week contract?

He was talking about signing a new contract just a few day's ago. If he accepts a 33% pay cut per year maybe we should consider it. He's 30 but in terms of milage on the clock he's got the body of a player around 33-34.

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

Why does everyone say this when talking about Rooney?

I dont

 

[BarstoolProphet]

He came on as a sub against a team with 11 behind the ball. Anybody slagging off Rooney on tonight's game has their own agenda. Get real.

Really? Shouldn't that work in favour for Rooney? He's piss poor at unlocking defenses. And to top it off he's worse than O'Shea at dribbling.

 

[DWelbz19]

He is just far too immobile and one-sided to ever be a respectable central midfield choice.

 

[Sammyjunn]

He dribbles like a grandpa and turns like a truck.