He's definitely past it, but unfortunately there aren't really many alternatives out there at the moment. He can still be useful as a backup or second striker if we ever revert back to 4-4-2 but I don't even have the slightest of hope that he will be a class player for us again. Would love to be proven wrong though as not only would it save us a lot of money (making his contract worth it and not having to find an expensive replacement) but it's also sad to see this United legend on such a dramatic decline.
Poll: Is Wayne Rooney past it and should he be sold?
- Thread starter Raees
- Start date
I have slipped towards the "past it sell him" belief. Hope he proves me wrong.
Its not even this season only..even last season under our best run, he was only good in the Spurs game..defend his performance and stop with the silly scapegoating thing..Using that is just an easy cop-out instead of just talking about his performances..Is Martin Samuel scapegoating him too?
I'm sure he will come good but the club should be taking action if he isn't fit after pre season. He looks way off fitness and form.
Easily my least favourite United player and I hate the fact he is club captain. Goal scoring record aside, he won't be held in high regard by anyone who remembers what he did when trying to leave.
LvG is one ruthless feck, so this gash patch of form will soon see him dropped. And rightly so.
Easily my least favourite United player and I hate the fact he is club captain. Goal scoring record aside, he won't be held in high regard by anyone who remembers what he did when trying to leave.
LvG is one ruthless feck, so this gash patch of form will soon see him dropped. And rightly so.
For me it's a combination of the way we are set up as well as Rooney being in decline. Even in decline I think he can still get 20 + goals if given the chances - he's a superb finisher when on form.
All in all this may well be shaping up to be his last season here if he doesn't deliver. Can't believe LVG won't cut him loose unless he steps up.
All in all this may well be shaping up to be his last season here if he doesn't deliver. Can't believe LVG won't cut him loose unless he steps up.
Do you hold Rio or Keane in high regard? I can see where you're coming from though, as he went from having god-like status among us to just another important member of our squad/history, but I stopped holding any grudge against him for the contract situation after maybe the end of that season. I still remember fondly the old Wayne Rooney, who was a joy to behold his first 4-5 years in a United shirt despite* not impressing too much in the goals department.
*I say despite because goals and assists is the only thing that can keep him from the mounting criticism now. He was world class in his overall play (05-06 season anyone) the first years so I didn't really care about him not scoring as many as his talent would suggest (although we had others to sort that out). I remember one newspaper labelling him 'The world's best goalless forward' (which was a compliment, not a dig) after a match against Copenhagen in the 06-07 season. I kinda liked that label. Now it's a different matter, though. Looks like a pub player most of the time.
3 years left on his contract at the end of the season. At 200k a week that's over 30m. Nobody's taking that contract from us.
He always starts slowly.
He definitely isn't 'past it' - but we should not be shy in using different options in attack, especially Wilson.
He definitely isn't 'past it' - but we should not be shy in using different options in attack, especially Wilson.
Another thing that could be good for him is not being captain. I have never seen him as skipper material, and obviously we have Schweinsteiger now who blatantly is.
Hard to make that transition perhaps but it could be good for his game. Make his responsibility all about goals.
Hard to make that transition perhaps but it could be good for his game. Make his responsibility all about goals.
He always starts slowly, has a dip mid-season and ends slowly. The problem is, as last season showed, the "slowly" is becoming not only "slower", but also "clumsier," and "sloppier." His passing and touch are criminal at times.
He was very poor at the weekend, to the point where he should really be dropped... but probably should stay in the team to get fit. Not good I agree.
But his form over the last few seasons has certainly not been as poor as people are making out.
But his form over the last few seasons has certainly not been as poor as people are making out.
He will score tomorrow and will probably get a couple against Newcastle, all the 'haters' will get a load of stick on here and Rooney will be a elite player again. Form will drop off for a couple of games and then he will do something against Liverpool so the process of judging him will start again.
He has moments of brilliance which are surrounded by vast and long periods of utter mediocrity. Compare to a world class player like Aguero or Sanchez, who literally make your heart stop in fear each time the ball lands at their feet. Rooney of the past few seasons just is not good enough.
You'd advocate making Schweinsteiger captain despite being here for 5 minutes?
There is a single truth; the current Rooney is a shadow of what he was capable of 5 years ago. He deserves great credit for what he achieved for the club but we shouldn't just play him to scrape towards Sir Bobby's record. Players should start games based on what they accomplish and right now Rooney is holding us back. He's one of the biggest reasons we're not creating enough chances. He provides no movement up front and that is why he makes it so easy for defenders to close down channels that we could exploit. Memphis on the other hand can split a back 4 with a simple diagonal movement.
Rooney used to ask questions of defenders, could create that extra yard to make a shot and defenders were scared of his strength, pace and agility.
Rooney used to ask questions of defenders, could create that extra yard to make a shot and defenders were scared of his strength, pace and agility.
The trouble with this debate is, as always the lack of backup. It's all well and good deciding Rooney is past it and needs to be sold (for the record, I don't believe he is), but realistically our chances of winning the PL go from fair to zero if he leaves.
This should only be up for discussion if/ when LvG brings in at least 1, preferably 2 top class strikers to challenge for his position.
Personally I am surprised he is getting so much stick simply for having a slow start to the season, we've played 2 games so lets allow him to at least settle in to the new campaign.
Newcastle are his play thing so I'm expecting at least a brace from him at the weekend!
This should only be up for discussion if/ when LvG brings in at least 1, preferably 2 top class strikers to challenge for his position.
Personally I am surprised he is getting so much stick simply for having a slow start to the season, we've played 2 games so lets allow him to at least settle in to the new campaign.
Newcastle are his play thing so I'm expecting at least a brace from him at the weekend!
All reports indicate he has been an excellent captain since being handed the armband.
Taking the armband from him would destroy Rooney's self-confidence, which already looks pretty low. He has, despite his temper, always been a sensitive soul. Just look at how badly he reacted to Sir Alex giving Van Persie bigger billing in the side. If Van Gaal stripped him of the United captaincy he would react very, very badly.
Something isn't right in his head right now, that's why he's playing badly. You don't lose your ability to trap a football overnight. If it was just that Rooney couldn't physically do it that would be a big worry. However, his issues are all fixable things like touch and decision making. We've been here before with Rooney and he's turned it around. He'll do so again.
His turnarounds have become shorter and are becoming incerasingly fewer and farther apart.
My problem with Rooney, whether on his own accord or by managers instruction is that he tracks back wayyyyyyy too much.
Watching the game against Villa, Januzaj was further forward then him and I was getting annoyed. I don't know if he's lost his ability to play as a centre forward or lost it altogether but he needs to bring the goals in otherwise this season will again be a massive struggle!
Watching the game against Villa, Januzaj was further forward then him and I was getting annoyed. I don't know if he's lost his ability to play as a centre forward or lost it altogether but he needs to bring the goals in otherwise this season will again be a massive struggle!
These slow starts have long been a (really frustrating) feature of his time with us. Once he's up and running he'll do well, I'm pretty sure of that. He's probably past the point where he can be a top striker, but he's more than good enough to score goals in a side that actually has some sort of attacking intent.
Yeah, I think you're probably right. The indecent haste with which half the people on here are calling time on his career is weird but all part of the underlying animosity that he's been subjected to for years now. My only slight concern is how bad a performance it really was. Quite possibly the worst performance I've ever seen from him. I watched the Chelsea game and thought Diego Costa was a bit shit but he was still miles better than Rooney, who literally looked like a pub footballer for most of the game. Which isn't ideal in a season where he has so much responsibility. He'll get going soon enough, though. You're spot on about that.
I care not for Samuel's comments, nor do I care for the constant moaning, even after winning.
Team isn't creative, thus any striker is not going to look good in it. Will it improve, yeah I expect so. Will moaning about individual performances help, I'd guess not...
There's some irony in me ending up as one of Rooney's defenders, I've been one of his harshest critics over the past four years. Especially in 2012/13, and particularly in 2013/14 when I thought he media threw a protective blanket over his altogether poor season and made out he'd been amazing. If I honestly thought Rooney was finished I'd say so.
Rooney played awfully last Friday night but that's not because he's lost his ability. The way he hesitated when clean through against Spurs seems to show the problem is in his head not his feet.
Once Rooney gets his head right he'll be back to his best. It was only a few months ago he was running his way through the Spurs back line and slotting one home. Don't be so quick to write him off.
He should have come off. LVG should have put another striker on or pushed Januzaj upfront
All that said, I think we're walking a tightrope with him in terms of replacing him. He looks to me to be someone whose form will just fall off a cliff and that'll be it for him. i don't think it'll be for another couple of years yet but when it happens I really hope we're more prepared than we seem to be at present.
He has performed poorly for England too over the last year, is that because they arent creative too? Does removing an non performing individual help the team? Id think so..The team did create chances against Villa, with Bastian specifically giving him two brilliant defense splitting passes which he fluffed? to do we blame the teams lack of creativity for that too? his poor first touch that leads to lost chances..that too?
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The question is can we afford to keep the team carrying him until he found his form?
We don't have the best squad in the world, and every game counts, at the end of the day a few win instead of draw might be the difference between winning the league or coming 4th. We are lucky in this 2 games, but you don't get lucky every time, and EPL is no spring chicken league, lower table teams can hurt you, we will need all fire power we have.
We don't have the best squad in the world, and every game counts, at the end of the day a few win instead of draw might be the difference between winning the league or coming 4th. We are lucky in this 2 games, but you don't get lucky every time, and EPL is no spring chicken league, lower table teams can hurt you, we will need all fire power we have.
I think you are right, to an extent, in that Rooney will certainly get better than he was against Villa. He will obviously not end the season on 0 goals, unless injury intervenes. The question is, even when he settles this season, will it still be at a level that is good enough anyway?
I'm not convinced. Rob van Persie came in a few years ago and briefly showed us what can be achieved with a top striker. Rooney, even then, was far from that. He has had spells of what I would call decent form since then, of course, but you are going back waaaay too far to when he was good enough to be the man that he is being asked to be for us. And I'm not having that this is because he's been a central midfielder or whatever position he rather controversially had a spell in here and there.
The days where he is a dynamic, menacing match-winner are gone and won't be coming back. As the #1 striker in this system, though, I think he can get 1 goal in every 2 games. That's no longer the benchmark for brilliance but certainly still good enough for us if the rest of the team is chipping in. Stay healthy, get a run of form and 20+ goals is doable. He's always had a knack for turning up against non-Merseyside rivals, and I hope that continues. But yes, we need to either bring in his eventual replacement or, if that's Wilson, start giving him proper match time soon.
The most infuriating thing, is the free pass he gets for being the captain. There's no way in hell he should have stayed on that pitch. He was trash.
What made it worse, the second Bastian came on, he was giving orders. I can't remember Rooney doing that throughout the entire game.
I don't think Rooney will be looked on as one of the very best strikers when he eventually calls it a day. He'll be considered as an incredibly versatile, hard-working attacking footballer capable of both creating and scoring goals consistently over the course of his career. A really valuable member of any squad and someone who is extremely highly rated by everyone who has managed him. We all knows that he blows hot and cold. He always has. Apparently if he doesn't score in the next two games he will equal the longest goal drought of his career. Which was, guess when? His first season at United.
So yeah, he's always been a streaky player but that's not a problem, over the course of a season or a career, providing you have other players ready and able to step up when he's not firing. It's the lack of those other players which might hurt us this season, rather than Rooney somehow suddenly being "past it".
He clapped and shouted at someone, I only remember this because I tweeted, that's the only thing he's done right the whole game.
Is the team holding him down? or is he holding the team down?
I think that was partly down to Hernandez being a bit under-cooked after missing so much of pre-season and partly down to keeping Rooney on the pitch long enough that might shin one in, despite himself and give him that confidence boost he so badly needs ahead of our upcoming games.
In fact, his average position was actually at par with Januzaj and behind Depay. Shows how much he has been dropping back for no reason. He allows the other team's CBs to compress field of play and leaves us with lesser space in midfield to create chances.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/ed...opta-review-aston-villa-0-1-manchester-united
Quite possibly the case. But I don't think Hernandez would have done worse that Rooney. I'm not even sure he'd have shinned one in on Friday he was that bad!
see the difference was RVP was on fire from game one the season we won the title last, he was setting a benchmark from the first whistle of the game to Aguero, Suarez etc. if you want to win the title you have to outscore me first.
Wayne on the other hand has already missed 2 or 3 easy chances to score in the first 2 games, at 300k a week he really needs to hit 25+ goals this season. Secretly he knows that
Wayne on the other hand has already missed 2 or 3 easy chances to score in the first 2 games, at 300k a week he really needs to hit 25+ goals this season. Secretly he knows that
You say that as though Aguero hasn't. He missed 2 or 3 easy chances in the last game alone.
Don't get me wrong. Rooney was utter shite against Villa but the one think you can't accuse him of doing is squandering easy chances. He's only really had one decent chance out of 180 minutes of football and that ended up in the back of the net anyway.