The Van Persie, Mata and Rooney conundrum..

Raees

Pythagoras in Boots
Joined
May 16, 2009
Messages
29,553
Dare I say it but is it arguable that none of them are really up to the task (by task I mean Premiership winning material).. like they can do it in fits and spurts, still capable of producing decisive moments but over a 90 minutes.. they're not at the level of your Robben, Ronaldo's etc.. heck they lack more movement and mobility than your average Prem players and that is we go down the flanks more often than we need to. They're arguably holding us back from playing more direct and attractive football, with more thrust through the centre.. i.e. forwards who can take on players and create chances out of nothing like an Aguero/Suarez.

I don't think anyone would miss them if say the summer came, we got into the CL and we brought in a top wide player or two and managed to keep Falcao fully fit and firing.. supported by some younger, more energetic strikers.

I also think we could do with a more dynamic number 10.

Thoughts..
 
Its starting to dawn on me that of all our big name attackers, only Di Maria is properly world class. The rest are living off past reputation.
 
I think Rooney should stick as our number 10. RVP (despite being poor) and Falcao up front should be good enough.

Mata just sits way to deep and stays anonymous all game that United are forced to spam it down the wings instead of trying to create something through the centre.

And sorry to open this debate again, but Welbeck would be a fantastic option to have right now.
 
Rooney should be first pick out all of them each and every time. We simply look a better team with Rooney, even when he's playing 'shite'.

What does Rooney have to do to get any recognition from some of you?, 3 goals every game?, seriously.
 
Falcao has done nothing to prove himself so far; lets not get ahead of ourselves.
 
Rooney's the only man in our current squad that can lead by the looks of things.
 
Rooney has to play. Should be first name on the team sheet

The others should be fighting for the places
 
Rooney was having a pretty good season so far and is no problem at all. He does the role of 2 players always with his work rate and productivity. RvP and Mata though? Wouldn't complain if both were sold in January to be honest. Don't do anything on the pitch.
 
Raw said:
I think Rooney should stick as our number 10. RVP (despite being poor) and Falcao up front should be good enough.

Mata just sits way to deep and stays anonymous all game that United are forced to spam it down the wings instead of trying to create something through the centre.

And sorry to open this debate again, but Welbeck would be a fantastic option to have right now.
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Was about to post a similar thought in the RVP thread but decided it was probably best to leave it. At this point, it would seem that Mata and RVP are both utterly replaceable sadly.
 
Cina said:
Rooney has been excellent apart from his red card brain fart and we are far worse off without him.
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He was far from excellent, he was one of our worst players in first three games in PL. Since than he has been good though.
 
Rooney is the only one of those three that I'd want starting, in any system.
 
Part of me just feels like we should just throw them all on and make the opposition deal with it. Best form of defence is attack right?
On a serious note, Rooney deserves to be in the team every week. We lack presence without him.
 
On plus note. I thought Falcao looked razor sharp when he came on.. I really think once he gets going, he is going to smash it.
 
Rooney is better than both and is far more suited to the English game. It is very obvious through his good start to the season and producing the goods for 10 years now.

People these days are obsessed with first touches and being good in tight spaces but Rooney is productive, produces moments of magic and works extremely hard and also isn't slow and weak.

Still the heartbeat of United after all these years. And only 29 years old and looming as fit as he has ever been. Incredible player.
 
I'd like to see Rooney and Falcao up front with Herrera playing him behind them, ADM in a free role and Fellu/Carrick and Blind in midfield.
 
kps88 said:
Falcao has done nothing to prove himself so far; lets not get ahead of ourselves.
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Hardly had a chance to. No reason not to expect him to come good if given the chances given his ability.

I really want Mata to do well in the role behind the striker and I genuinely thought he was at least a class better than Rooney in that position. Now, I'm not going to base my opinion solely based on a few games, but he hasn't grabbed this chance like I hoped he would. RvP has started this season quite poorly too, so a rest might do him some good. Might spark him up as well. Wouldn't mind seeing Falcao up front with Rooney and Di Maria roaming around behind.
 
iBoss said:
RVP, Rooney and Falcao was fine.
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I still think when we attack, there is a yard of pace missing from the nature of our attacks..every team we come up against, they look more fit, hungry and dangerous than us? reminds me alot of watching England over the years, who rely on big names gelling but there is no balance or pace to the side. It relies too heavily on Di Maria to be a spark. You need thrust from both wide areas as well as centrally..

Take the 93/94 side as an example..

Giggs/Kanchelskis.. thrust from either flank. Cantona.. excellent dribbling skills, eye for a pass and solid stamina, a league above a Juan Mata.. and then Mark Hughes, typical number 9 in the mould of a Falcao.

Our current side.. Di Maria = beast, right side.. non-existent, number 10.. Rooney is decent in his current guise but no Cantona and until Falcao doesn't get up to scratch.. we're missing a dynamic 9.
 
Raees said:
I still think when we attack, there is a yard of pace missing from the nature of our attacks..every team we come up against, they look more fit, hungry and dangerous than us? reminds me alot of watching England over the years, who rely on big names gelling but there is no balance or pace to the side. It relies too heavily on Di Maria to be a spark. You need thrust from both wide areas as well as centrally..

Take the 93/94 side as an example..

Giggs/Kanchelskis.. thrust from either flank. Cantona.. excellent dribbling skills, eye for a pass and solid stamina, a league above a Juan Mata.. and then Mark Hughes, typical number 9 in the mould of a Falcao.

Our current side.. Di Maria = beast, right side.. non-existent, number 10.. Rooney is decent in his current guise but no Cantona and until Falcao doesn't get up to scratch.. we're missing a dynamic 9.
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We massively lack pace uptop. Just look what Behihno (spelling?) did to us today for their second goal. The only player we have that could break the line like that is Di Maria, and he plays in midfield. We're a bit of a mess in all honestly, lots of star names, not much balance. Just thinking about it all makes my head hurt.
 
Love to see Rooney, Mata and Falcao.

As pointed out on MOTD a few games ago. Falcao and RVP are very similar, almost restrict each others play because of it.

Think having RVP/Falcao up top with Rooney beside and Mata in behind would cause team nightmares. You leave have one of RVP/Falcao to streach the defence with movement, then you have Rooney and Mata floating in and out, almost interchanging.

Not that QPR are the greatest side, but the front 3 looked best with that system.
 
I expect 2 of the 3 will be gone by this time next year. We should be looking at someone like Firmino.
 
Sam said:
We massively lack pace uptop. Just look what Behihno (spelling?) did to us today for their second goal. The only player we have that could break the line like that is Di Maria, and he plays in midfield. We're a bit of a mess in all honestly, lots of star names, not much balance. Just thinking about it all makes my head hurt.
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It is like having 3 Balotelli's up front.
 
We're just not the same team without Rooney. Even when he's dogshite he makes the team look better.

Falcao up top, Rooney behind. The rest on the bench.
 
No issue with Rooney. He should be in the first team when everyone is fit, which is indicative of his importance to the team when you see performances like today and he doesn't feature.

A decision certainly has to be made with van Persie and Mata though. It really is farcical that van Persie has started every league match since the Sunderland match when there isn't one distinct improvement in his performances, despite having a lengthy run in the team. It's as if van Gaal is hopelessly trying to play him back into form, but his efforts are clearly futile. As for Mata, he just isn't influential enough in the number ten role, shies away from responsibility, can't cope with physical, imposing players in tight areas and creates next to nothing. I'm a fan of his and I hope he can recapture his Chelsea form, pre-Jose, but it doesn't look likely as it stands. At least one has to go within the next two windows and I wouldn't be aggrieved to see both leave.

wr8_utd said:
I'd like to see Rooney and Falcao up front with Herrera playing him behind them, ADM in a free role and Fellu/Carrick and Blind in midfield.
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Completely agree with this.

I'm hoping that in January we will have signed either Strootman or Schneiderlin and our front six will be: Scheid/Stroot, Blind, di Maria; Herrera; Rooney, Falcao. I think we would see a noticeable improvement in our attacking play and overall performance.
 
It's gotten to the point with RVP and Mata that even I don't want to see them on the pitch instead of Rooney.

They're both fecking useless at the minute.
 
Mata will be sold in either January or the summer, RvP should go to Italy where I think he'd get another couple of seasons out of his gams.

There is no way Rooney is going anywhere, he's not a #10 or an AM but he's physical and more often than not effective.
 
..................Rooney......................
.....................Mata....................
....AdM......Fellaini...Herrera....
..................Blind..........................
Shaw....Rojo...Jones....Rafael....


is worth a try now.

The last working 2 striker partnership I can remember is Rooney/Tevez. No point persisiting with 2 on top with the rest of team in flex.

+ Rooney at best on top
+ Mata at best as SS (CL win behind Drogba)
+ Added strength to midfield.

If Fellaini is not for future, replace with someone else, but this might be the way to go...
 
I wanna see this at some point...

----------------------DDG-------------------
Rafael--------Jones-------Rojo-------Shaw
---------------------Blind--------------------
-----Herrera-------Carrick-------ADM------
-------------Rooney--------Falcao-----------

Neither Mata or RvP on the pitch.
 
Januzaj Falcao
Rooney
Di Maria Herrera
Blind
Shaw Rojo Jones Rafael
DDG
​
I'd like to see this given a bash.
 
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