Hope is not a plan.
I just can't see us becoming one of the best sides in the BPL again, let alone Europe, with Rooney in midfield. Yes he still have some qualities as a player. But we need worldclass players(or as close as possible) in every position. At the very least in key postions. Rooney's football qualities are average at best. Take away his name and I struggle to see him walking in to midfield at any of the top 12 teams this season. So that leaves us with his marked value but our problem isn't lack of money. Our problem is lack of a good midfielder.
Precisely what is was. The last couple games = which meant feck all. Don't let his cross field hollywood ping disguise his one dimensional thought process. He has no idea when to accelerate the tempo, and he is more inclined to slow down the play before making his decision to pass. Scholes read the game a hell lot better than Rooney. Consistent long passes made by Rooney shouldn't be praised if they do jack shit because it's the only thing he knows how to do.
The midfield is least of our worries. I agree Rooney is done as a striker. But his passing range, touch, tenacity, leadership, and shooting are on par for a world class midfielder. You clearly didn't watch our last couple games in midfield. MTM performances with critical contributions on both ends of the pitch. Is he overpaid? Yes, but his name alone brings in much more money for the club. TFM will be a rock as a DM. I'd maybe poach Dier from Tottenham for more depth. Herrera can take up the last spot in midfield and fluidly switch with Rooney. We also have Schneiderlin, Carrick, Schweinsteiger, Blind, and Fellaini as options. Who in their right mind would think our midfield has issues. Get the biases out of here and think rationally. Rooney's passing range and late runs into the box will shine with Jose's counter attacking setup.
I hated watching Rooney play as a striker last year just as much as every other fan. But don't you think having a semi-incompetent coach who forces the team to slow down the tempo and take less risks to not lose possession could actually be the reason we didn't see much more of that? If we have a coach like Jose who's wants to play the counter. I'm sure he'll tell Rooney to pass the ball quickly. And then the cross field Scholes like passes become much more important. Just watch he'll be starting in the midfield and probably do really well under Jose.
Those cross field balls change up the play and create space. They're often a prolific source of chances on goal. I'm all for hating Rooney when he's playing badly, but he was excellent as a 10 and in midfield in the last few games. He was one of the players who seemed to make things happen.
It's interesting because the last two managers came in with similar questions about Rooney. Moyes had Rooney's falling out with Sir Alex to contend with, and LVG with Rooney's poor run of form right after he declared him undroppable. I said at the beginning of the season that how LVG dealt with Rooney might define his tenure at United and it's scary to see how the same thing could still be said for Mourinho.
Especially his touch is sublime, yes, one of his well-known qualities.
This post makes too much sense.
in the positive sense though No you eyes don't deceive you. But a lot of people in this thread are. They call his touch one of his best qualities when it's actually one of his worst. They praise his passing but can only point to a cross field floater that doesn't open up the defence, nor does it accelerate an attack, and is highly predictable and gives the opposition time to get onto the winger, nor do they account for the fact that his passing as you point out is inconsistent especially at short - medium range. His awareness is also severely lacking.
People keep talking about "Jose tried to sign Rooney".
Mourinho said this season '4th would be a fantastic achievement for Chelsea', despite the fact they were the defending champions and he was in his third season in his second spell at the club, he said that because they got off to a bad start.
Obviously he's not Scholes. No one has the passing range Scholes had. But Rooney isn't bad. If Rooney is making those passes for the sake of those passes, then it is meaningless. But lets say you are playing on a counter attacking team, and you have young forwards bombing down the channels. I'd sure wish i had a midfielder who could make those accurate long ball passes to create some scoring chances.
Let's hope Jose sees it as we do then, but whilst he's the most marketable player we have, plus our highest paid player who has no desire to leave, then we are stuck, and no doubt he will play when fit.
might have to check that out for myself, cheers for the heads up!
I'm not a massive Lampard fan or anything but comparing Rooney's attributes to him with regards to providing a midfield role (and goals from deep) is downright insulting to Frank if you watched both of them.
Ok fair enough, i didnt mean it come out quite the way u took it.
Everyone said that about Van Gaal. Rooney has a way of cosying up to managers and keeping his place however crap he is playing.
With LVG, his philosophy was that the captain ALWAYS plays. This is not Jose's philosophy. Jose benched John Terry, for poor performance.
It's never going to happen, is it? It'd be a matter of days before the usual "Senior players baffled by new manager's BIZARRE tactics and selections" crap starts up again.
Jose got it wrong here. Should've put Terry in centre midfield when it was obvious he couldn't cut it anymore in centre back.
That's why I'd consider him a success regardless how the season goes. At this point in time wayne refuses to believe he hasn't got it and has decided to take his hidden talents from striker to midfield. Three years now we have been in transition and not one of our genius managers have figured out that rooney might just be thee reason why we haven't been able to progress as a club.
