[RedStarUnited]

Rooney's form has no bearing on his leadership qualities, even Keane had some shite performances but no one up until his outburst questioned his qualities of leadership.

I think it does. It is hard to listen to Rooney shouting at you for a bad pass or miscontrolling a ball when he is running around doing the same. Rooney should thank his lucky stars there is no big egos in the team. Bastians way of playing and actual quality commands more respect, you cant help but listen to him if he is on the pitch.

 

[Balu]

He might not have the armband, but he's our captain. There's not a player on that pitch who doesnt look at him and want to follow his example or take notice when he gives you instructions. I remember Roy Keane saying in his book the only difference when he was made captain was he had to give out the tickets to the players for their families and organize nights out. Players like that dont need an armband to lead a team. Sad thing is, Rooney doesnt look like he's living up to his end at the minute. I know he generally takes a while to get going, but he's got to start asking himself if he's doing enough.

I think most German and Bayern fans saw the Lahm - Schweinsteiger captaincy sharing relationship (for Bayern and the nationalteam) a bit like that. Lahm was the nice guy doing all the orga stuff off the pitch, that comes with the captaincy, while Schweinsteiger was always the actual leader on the pitch. Not that Lahm didn't merit the captaincy with his incredibly consistent performances on the pitch for more than a decade. But in terms of real leadership, he has been on a different level to Lahm since 2009. And that's no slight on Lahm of course, it's just Schweinsteiger is incredible.

 

[ricky-romeo]

What a situation to have. Bringing on bastian schweinsteiger onto the pitch when you are leading by one goal.

 

[Ballache]

After 2 substitute appearances?

No...

 

[imperi]

Really liking what he has shown so far. Cannot wait for him to be fully fit and be a starter. Who would have thought fecking Schweinsteiger bossing it in midfield for us.

 

[Godfather]

I think it does. It is hard to listen to Rooney shouting at you for a bad pass or miscontrolling a ball when he is running around doing the same. Rooney should thank his lucky stars there is no big egos in the team. Bastian way of playing and actual quality commands more respect, you cant help but listen to him if he is on tbe pitch.

This. As Keane said. The captain should aim to be the best player on the pitch. Not the freaking worst by a country mile.

 

[WR10]

I really don't think we can drop points from a winning position after bringing Schweinsteiger on. Absolute total control in midfield, he suffocates the opponent relentlessly and his aura just oozes to our players as soon as he comes on.

 

[kotha]

What a player!! Just the way he controls the tempo of the game is amazing.. He's not even fully fit,but just seeing him play you knew he was head and shoulders above the rest..

 

[Litch]

What a player!! Just the way he controls the tempo of the game is amazing.. He's not even fully fit,but just seeing him play you knew he was head and shoulders above the rest..

Agree 1000%. It just saddens me he wasn't here 3 years ago....

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

There was that bit at the end where Rooney was fecking stumbling about and falling over trying to waste time at their corner flag and Schweinsteiger just burst onto the scene, won the ball back with ease and then passed it out. I loved it.

Just a little moment that, but it just shows his class. Once he's fully sit he's going to be great this season. Someone on twitter said he was like a dad that joined in on a kids game when he came on. Just a class above everyone.

 

[Ixion]

I hope he starts on Tuesday, I think he might since we'll likely try to avoid starting Carrick multiple times a week this season.

 

[ThanksBoss26]

I hope he starts on Tuesday, I think he might since we'll likely try to avoid starting Carrick multiple times a week this season.

I think he will to step up his fitness. Reckon he'll play the first hour with Carrick coming on for the last 30 mins.

 

[Brwned]

One of my favourite moments of the game. Mata plays a fairly dodgy pass in the last 5 seconds of injury time, bouncing just as it reaches Schweinsteiger with players pressing him from both sides, and initially it looks like he's just going to boot it clear as any of our other players would've done. Instead, he flicks it up to himself, plays a near-perfect volleyed pass in behind the defence and puts Rooney through on goal for the first time in the match.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

I love watching him play. It's been truly amazing, and it's only been 60 minutes.

 

[kouroux]

One of my favourite moments of the game. Mata plays a fairly dodgy pass in the last 5 seconds of injury time, bouncing just as it reaches Schweinsteiger with players pressing him from both sides, and initially it looks like he's just going to boot it clear as any of our other players would've done. Instead, he flicks it up to himself, plays a near-perfect volleyed pass in behind the defence and puts Rooney through on goal for the first time in the match.

At first it seemed like a weird clearance then I realized it was Bastian and he must have spotted a run, Rooney completely fecked it up though. That was a brilliant pass.

 

[Kevin]

One of my favourite moments of the game. Mata plays a fairly dodgy pass in the last 5 seconds of injury time, bouncing just as it reaches Schweinsteiger with players pressing him from both sides, and initially it looks like he's just going to boot it clear as any of our other players would've done. Instead, he flicks it up to himself, plays a near-perfect volleyed pass in behind the defence and puts Rooney through on goal for the first time in the match...

... and Rooney rewarded the big man by overrunning it with a slick'nsmoothy neanderthaler touch and a suave'nbrave hoof towards the sidelines showcasing yet another majestic facet of his repetoire of timewasting. Surely that merited another adulating shower of 'roonehhh roonehhh'??

Added two dots to your post to apply maximum drama with my follow up.

 

[Thisistheone]

It's a pleasure watching him play in the Utd shirt. Just oozes class. One of the greats.

 

[kouroux]

... and Rooney rewarded the big man by overrunning it with a slick'nsmoothy neanderthaler touch and a suave'nbrave hoof towards the sidelines showcasing yet another majestic facet of his repetoire of timewasting. Surely that merited another adulating shower of 'roonehhh roonehhh'??

Added two dots to your post to apply maximum drama with my follow up.

Give this guy a standing ovation

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Played as many passes in 30 mins as Carrick did in 60 (Herrera played twice as many as Januzaj), fit and healthy a midfield 3 of BFS, Schneiderlin and Herrera makes too much sense.

 

[Godfather]

... and Rooney rewarded the big man by overrunning it with a slick'nsmoothy neanderthaler touch and a suave'nbrave hoof towards the sidelines showcasing yet another majestic facet of his repetoire of timewasting. Surely that merited another adulating shower of 'roonehhh roonehhh'??

Added two dots to your post to apply maximum drama with my follow up.

Beautiful.
Also that pass was simply outstanding.

 

[Mali_Zeus]

Bastian fecking Schweinsteiger.
That is all.

 

[Eckers99]

He probably was one of his favourites before.

But he didn't play for United before. Just seems a bit premature.

 

[Smores]

Played as many passes in 30 mins as Carrick did in 60 (Herrera played twice as many as Januzaj), fit and healthy a midfield 3 of BFS, Schneiderlin and Herrera makes too much sense.

I imagine we'll see that 3 at some point, I'd just feel a little bad for Carrick as I'm not sure he deserves to lose his place.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Carrick is a great and classy player, probably our most important player over past couples of seasons and I've always been one of his biggest fans, but Schweinsteiger is clearly a level above.

 

[prath92]

Hopefully bastian will end up better than Milner

 

[FujiVice]

I imagine we'll see that 3 at some point, I'd just feel a little bad for Carrick as I'm not sure he deserves to lose his place.

In fairness, Carrick is 34 and usually has a spell out with injury every season due to us needing to play him all the time. Maybe the best thing for Carrick's longevity is to have more options so we can cycle him in and make sure we dont burn him out. That's been the dream for years. Its not been fair that Carrick has had to carry our midfield for these last few years.

 

[Freak]

He's class. Came on and immediately started controlling things.

 

[RedStarUnited]

One of my favourite moments of the game. Mata plays a fairly dodgy pass in the last 5 seconds of injury time, bouncing just as it reaches Schweinsteiger with players pressing him from both sides, and initially it looks like he's just going to boot it clear as any of our other players would've done. Instead, he flicks it up to himself, plays a near-perfect volleyed pass in behind the defence and puts Rooney through on goal for the first time in the match.

I just dont understand why Rooney had to head the ball there.

 

[m1y2]

Schmidfield with Herrera looked much better. I think I'd like Schweinsteiger to start over Carrick

 

[shaggy]

... and Rooney rewarded the big man by overrunning it with a slick'nsmoothy neanderthaler touch and a suave'nbrave hoof towards the sidelines showcasing yet another majestic facet of his repetoire of timewasting. Surely that merited another adulating shower of 'roonehhh roonehhh'??

Added two dots to your post to apply maximum drama with my follow up.

 

[ChaddyP]

... and Rooney rewarded the big man by overrunning it with a slick'nsmoothy neanderthaler touch and a suave'nbrave hoof towards the sidelines showcasing yet another majestic facet of his repetoire of timewasting. Surely that merited another adulating shower of 'roonehhh roonehhh'??

Added two dots to your post to apply maximum drama with my follow up.

brilliant

 

[Lowkey]

Make him captain, manager, president of the club. Give him the key to the city

 

[Sam]

A bit late to the party, but his performance against Villa was absolutely superb. A class above anyone else on the pitch for those 30 minutes.

A few more games like that, and any lingering doubts will well and truly be banished.

 

[bosnian_red]

A bit late to the party, but his performance against Villa was absolutely superb. A class above anyone else on the pitch for those 30 minutes.

A few more games like that, and any lingering doubts will well and truly be banished.

Absolutely no doubts at all about his quality, it's just his fitness. People who were worried that Bayern were willing to let him go because he declined really don't have to worry about that, as it's not his quality when fit that was ever the worry for them. After he recovered from his injury last season and got a run of games, he was still a class above the others. He just wanted to leave Bayern to have one last challenge, but he's still better then any other midfielder they have.

If managed correctly and stays fit, he's the definitely the best midfielder in the league. One occasion where Van Gaal's cautiousness with fitness might be very useful really as he won't risk him unless he is ready.

 

[bosnian_red]

One of my favourite moments of the game. Mata plays a fairly dodgy pass in the last 5 seconds of injury time, bouncing just as it reaches Schweinsteiger with players pressing him from both sides, and initially it looks like he's just going to boot it clear as any of our other players would've done. Instead, he flicks it up to himself, plays a near-perfect volleyed pass in behind the defence and puts Rooney through on goal for the first time in the match.

Yep. Rooney at his best (or any decent form really) would have turned that into clear cut chance, and there were a few other plays like that from Schweiny. He'll have a huge impact for us this seaosn because of his quick forward passing and having the ability to pull it off. Carrick obviously has great vision and is a great passer, but creatively speaking, he has never been as good as Schweinsteiger

 

[Adam-Utd]

He reminds me of Scholes so much. The best players have an awareness and a composure on the ball even when being pressed hard, and he is the epitome of coolness. The vision to control that ball and volley it to Rooney in seconds is fantastic.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Like others, I thought he looked 'different class' when he came on - so assured on the ball and able to dictate the pace of the game. Only issue is....he looks a bit, erm, portly. Not sure he could last 90 minutes at the moment until he gets into shape.

 

[Nik70]

Pure class. We went from being all over the place with Villa trying to put pressure on us to back in control when Schweinsteiger (and Herrera) came on.

 

[Barca84]

Will prove to be the signing of the summer and not just for us but across the whole of the EPL. Let's hope the rest of the team prove up to his level.

 

[Cassidy]

Will prove to be the signing of the summer and not just for us but across the whole of the EPL. Let's hope the rest of the team prove up to his level.

Lets hope he stays fit, because if he does, I think you may just be right.