To be honest, I couldn’t care less what he earns. I don’t care what we pay for him or Pogba. I don’t care what anybody earns in comparison to Ronaldo, Messi or whoever else. Literally could not give one single flying f**k.
All I am bothered about is performance on the pitch.
Irrespective of Rooney’s reputation and earnings, he hasn’t performed well enough for 4-5 years now. Not even close to the standard I expect of our main man. So let’s not compare his wages, let’s compare his performances of our main men / captains for the last 25 years. Are his performances and leadership equivalent or even comparable to Robbo? Cantona? Keano? Ruud? Ronaldo? RVP? Nope. Nowhere near. Granted those players are all very different but all contributed an equally high level of performance over various lengths of time.
I was dead against Moyes giving him the contract.
I was excited at the prospect of LVG making an example out of him and getting rid and so massively disappointed when he was made captain.
However, on reflection. Moyes simply didn’t have the charisma, the experience, the ability or the bollox to manage us. He gave Rooney the contract as a substitute for a marquee signing. We couldn’t break the transfer record but we have the best paid player in England. Easy option and marketing / PR ploy from Moyes and Woodward.
LVG didn’t know the league, we were massively short on any kind of leadership and out of the 15 or so senior players, making Rooney captain was again a fairly easy option. We needed stability, not more unrest.
However, Mourinho is a winner. He knows the league. Speaks the language. Knows all about managing not only a massive club but the expectation that comes with it. He knows how to play the media, how to play experienced players and even how to play the fans. Despite the inevitable ins / outs, the squad seems more stable. A contradiction I know but that’s the way it seems. Smalling and De Gea are now much bigger presences and personalities within the squad. Plus we have true leaders who know how to win in Basti and Zlatan. We are now far less reliant on Rooney. In the Moyes days and early LVG days had we bombed out Rooney I could understand younger, less experienced players getting disillusioned and siding with Rooney and against the manager. Now though, if Mourinho bombs him out or benches him, his whinging and whining to other players will fall on def ears. The training ground is apparently buzzing. All these players will be itching to impress Jose.
Then when Zlatan rocks up, swaggers about in training braying in goals and having the aura about him. The Martials, Miki, Memphis etc will be buzzing off him. They’ll see how Zlatan can hold the ball up and bring them into play, they’ll see how Zlatan will be on the end of their crosses. The midfielders will see a focal point who they can ping a pass into and trust his touch. The back four will see a presence that if they are under pressure, they can knock a ball into his chest and he’ll hold it up and win a foul.
They’ll all see progress. Although it’s a team game the majority of footballers are selfish. They want players in the team and around them that make them look better, that make their job easier and that increase their chance of medals.
That realisation is imminent. Rooney is now competing with Zlatan, Martial, Miki, Mata and maybe Pogba. That’s a significant step up in pace, strength, creativity, assist making, goal scoring and basic technical ability. He falls someway short of all of those players.
The way I see it is, best case scenario. He’s told the day he reports (like LVG with Hernandez), “your not my main man, your way down the pecking order and I cant see you playing much. If you want to stay around, that’s fine but the second there is a sniff of bad attitude your gone – I suggest you start looking for a new club, you have been a great servant and so the club wont demand much of a fee and you can go where you want”
Worst case scenario……Jose gives him his chance. However, it wont take long for Jose, the players, maybe even Rooney to realisation he’s lost it. That may come through sheer poor form and getting dropped. Or a huge positive difference the first time he misses a game.
He’s been very lucky over the last 4 years that his poor form has coincided with an injury crisis.
This will be his last season with us. But with Jose’s comments about his position and about how “some players may not like being in the bench and may want to go” I could see him in an Everton shirt in Spetember.
All I am bothered about is performance on the pitch.
Irrespective of Rooney’s reputation and earnings, he hasn’t performed well enough for 4-5 years now. Not even close to the standard I expect of our main man. So let’s not compare his wages, let’s compare his performances of our main men / captains for the last 25 years. Are his performances and leadership equivalent or even comparable to Robbo? Cantona? Keano? Ruud? Ronaldo? RVP? Nope. Nowhere near. Granted those players are all very different but all contributed an equally high level of performance over various lengths of time.
I was dead against Moyes giving him the contract.
I was excited at the prospect of LVG making an example out of him and getting rid and so massively disappointed when he was made captain.
However, on reflection. Moyes simply didn’t have the charisma, the experience, the ability or the bollox to manage us. He gave Rooney the contract as a substitute for a marquee signing. We couldn’t break the transfer record but we have the best paid player in England. Easy option and marketing / PR ploy from Moyes and Woodward.
LVG didn’t know the league, we were massively short on any kind of leadership and out of the 15 or so senior players, making Rooney captain was again a fairly easy option. We needed stability, not more unrest.
However, Mourinho is a winner. He knows the league. Speaks the language. Knows all about managing not only a massive club but the expectation that comes with it. He knows how to play the media, how to play experienced players and even how to play the fans. Despite the inevitable ins / outs, the squad seems more stable. A contradiction I know but that’s the way it seems. Smalling and De Gea are now much bigger presences and personalities within the squad. Plus we have true leaders who know how to win in Basti and Zlatan. We are now far less reliant on Rooney. In the Moyes days and early LVG days had we bombed out Rooney I could understand younger, less experienced players getting disillusioned and siding with Rooney and against the manager. Now though, if Mourinho bombs him out or benches him, his whinging and whining to other players will fall on def ears. The training ground is apparently buzzing. All these players will be itching to impress Jose.
Then when Zlatan rocks up, swaggers about in training braying in goals and having the aura about him. The Martials, Miki, Memphis etc will be buzzing off him. They’ll see how Zlatan can hold the ball up and bring them into play, they’ll see how Zlatan will be on the end of their crosses. The midfielders will see a focal point who they can ping a pass into and trust his touch. The back four will see a presence that if they are under pressure, they can knock a ball into his chest and he’ll hold it up and win a foul.
They’ll all see progress. Although it’s a team game the majority of footballers are selfish. They want players in the team and around them that make them look better, that make their job easier and that increase their chance of medals.
That realisation is imminent. Rooney is now competing with Zlatan, Martial, Miki, Mata and maybe Pogba. That’s a significant step up in pace, strength, creativity, assist making, goal scoring and basic technical ability. He falls someway short of all of those players.
The way I see it is, best case scenario. He’s told the day he reports (like LVG with Hernandez), “your not my main man, your way down the pecking order and I cant see you playing much. If you want to stay around, that’s fine but the second there is a sniff of bad attitude your gone – I suggest you start looking for a new club, you have been a great servant and so the club wont demand much of a fee and you can go where you want”
Worst case scenario……Jose gives him his chance. However, it wont take long for Jose, the players, maybe even Rooney to realisation he’s lost it. That may come through sheer poor form and getting dropped. Or a huge positive difference the first time he misses a game.
He’s been very lucky over the last 4 years that his poor form has coincided with an injury crisis.
This will be his last season with us. But with Jose’s comments about his position and about how “some players may not like being in the bench and may want to go” I could see him in an Everton shirt in Spetember.
