Times: Wayne Rooney - Man Utd lack character, heart and emotion

Tyrion said:
I hate when pundits talk about character, heart and emotion. They're such vague qualities that are impossible to quantify.
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Precisely this.

There's loads of other actual concrete reasons why we're poor - primarily due to our squad building plan (i.e. choosing which positions to recruit) is terrible, and then the actual recruitment itself is also terrible. That comes from poor board -> poor director of football -> poor scouting team.

And then years of average managers playing crap footballing styles.

It's like we've taken everything Sir Alex was good at and then just decided to replace him with people who are completely mediocre at them.

Of course doesn't excuse the players being crap, but half the players we have I wouldn't have signed in the first place. No amount of heart or emotion is going to fix a player that isn't suited to a top team or the PL.
 
Jeppers7 said:
Guys got issues with Ronaldo. Just accept he was levels above you despite the hype you received and move on.
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Seeing as he regularly played in different positions to accommodate Ronaldo, I'd say he's made peace with that ages ago. Hes bang on with hia comments but don't let facts get in the way of hero worship
 
marktan said:
Precisely this.

There's loads of other actual concrete reasons why we're poor - primarily due to our squad building plan (i.e. choosing which positions to recruit) is terrible, and then the actual recruitment itself is also terrible. That comes from poor board -> poor director of football -> poor scouting team.

And then years of average managers playing crap footballing styles.

It's like we've taken everything Sir Alex was good at and then just decided to replace him with people who are completely mediocre at them.

Of course doesn't excuse the players being crap, but half the players we have I wouldn't have signed in the first place. No amount of heart or emotion is going to fix a player that isn't suited to a top team or the PL.
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Keane is especially bad at it. It's like he thinks he was good at football just because he got angry and would kick people. Sometimes I think he forgets he has actual talent.
 
Tyrion said:
I hate when pundits talk about character, heart and emotion. They're such vague qualities that are impossible to quantify.
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Why's it important that every quality should have a number attached to it? So that armchair experts on caf, social media etc who love to pass expert opinions about a player in Turkey based on whoscored stats can talk a big talk?

Plenty of ex footballers who've been there and done it consider it a trait they see and value. I'd say even casual fans can see how certain players wilt under pressure while others don't which I doubt even you'd disagree so it's odd to say it can't be quantified so it's pointless.
 
He is right. However he needs to be careful as he might end up being pushed by the 'job for the boys' lads into a role that he's not prepared for. The last thing our manager needs is more pressure.
 
Varun said:
Why's it important that every quality should have a number attached to it? So that armchair experts on caf, social media etc who love to pass expert opinions about a player in Turkey based on whoscored stats can talk a big talk?

Plenty of ex footballers who've been there and done it consider it a trait they see and value. I'd say even casual fans can see how certain players wilt under pressure while others don't which I doubt even you'd disagree so it's odd to say it can't be quantified so it's pointless.
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This. Yes, heart, commitment and desire are intangibles but surely fans have eyes, we can see who is ready to exert maximum effort?
 
devilish said:
He is right. However he needs to be careful as he might end up being pushed by the 'job for the boys' lads into a role that he's not prepared for. The last thing our manager needs is more pressure.
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But don’t think he is criticising ETH but really calling out players who have not been up to par for 12 to 18 months now? I don’t think any of us can really disagree with his point that some of our players really don’t have the mentality to play for United?
 
Esquire said:
But don’t think he is criticising ETH but really calling out players who have not been up to par for 12 to 18 months now? I don’t think any of us can really disagree with his point that some of our players really don’t have the mentality to play for United?
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As said in the previous post he is right. However Rooney needs to also acknowledge that he is a United legend AND a football manager. That carries ample weight. The last thing he wants is for him to be seen as an alternative for ETH, a sort of king in waiting. He's not prepared for that and the club can't afford another Ole.
 
The internet. Perpetuates disagreeability to heights never seen before. Everyone has to have a countering argument just for attention.
 
EngimaMK said:
No. He was one of those that burnt out early due to fitness and body type but he never lacked character, heart or emotion.
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By lack of fitness I assume you mean the lack of dedication, smoking, and late nights he chose to inflict on himself.
 
r1z3mu said:
Wayne is 100% correct. And I don't need Rooney to see that Ronaldo has destroyed any chemistry we've had in preseason. And Rashford is really not the same player he was 2 years ago.
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True.

Rashford hasn't been the same since Ole played him all season with an injury and he had his operation after the England run.

I wonder if that injury has badly impacted him.
 
TheReligion said:
You mean the times when we won the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa?
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Definitely those times - it can confuse people though, Rooney cared as much as ever but he was never the same after being rushed back from the ankle injury against Munich I think, and he didn't dedicate himself to staying fit as a top footballer should. So even though he wanted it on the pitch, his body wasn't right due to factors in and beyond his control.
 
marktan said:
Precisely this.

There's loads of other actual concrete reasons why we're poor - primarily due to our squad building plan (i.e. choosing which positions to recruit) is terrible, and then the actual recruitment itself is also terrible. That comes from poor board -> poor director of football -> poor scouting team.

And then years of average managers playing crap footballing styles.

It's like we've taken everything Sir Alex was good at and then just decided to replace him with people who are completely mediocre at them.

Of course doesn't excuse the players being crap, but half the players we have I wouldn't have signed in the first place. No amount of heart or emotion is going to fix a player that isn't suited to a top team or the PL.
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That is all a reason but can anyone honestly say Brighton and Brentford, on paper, are better? The reason they won other than just better organisation is genuinely cos they wanted it more. They chased our players down and did what they were told

You can have Pep and Klopp managing you but if you don't play with the right energy they want them no point. It is one of the reasons Fergie managed to win with such average players at times, they worked damn hard and made the most of their talent

"Heart" etc. may be generic but it is absolutely true that it is vital to be successful. If they aren't motivated and willing to play with everything then they will cost
 
Wayne needs to STFU and focus on his team. They just got trounced 6-0. I wonder if they also lack character, heart and emotion.
 
This is exactly what I was thinking last evening when I was watching the games.

Almost every player "wants it" more than I have seen from a United player (except maybe Fred) in a long time. We lack that "will die on the pitch" attitude that is required at this level. Until that comes back, we have no chance of any kind of success.
 
Jeppers7 said:
Guys got issues with Ronaldo. Just accept he was levels above you despite the hype you received and move on.
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Ronaldo is beyond criticism for some of you, isn't it? We can lose 15 on the trot with Ronaldo missing 10 pens and you lot will still be talking about how he was levels above everyone in 2008 and at Real Madrid.

Don't see anything wrong with what Rooney's saying. Timing may not be great but I'd rather that people like Rooney talk about how the level of effort from some/most of our players isn't good enough and how the likes of Ronaldo and Rashford shouldn't be automatic picks anymore.
 
Agree with him completely. We desperately need players who will give 100% at all times, players who genuinely care. Doesn't matter how much technical ability you have, if you're not putting in the effort you're a waste of space

Team harmony is something else that is crucial for success. It's why I believe its imperative we remove Ronaldo from the club.
 
Some of the quotes coming out are pretty much same as what many have been saying here:

 
The dressing room is broken. I don’t know who outside of Ronaldo needs shifting on but only a purge is going to fix it. Adding all these players on top want work if you don’t remove the issues. There are definitely players there who not only dislike each other but who don’t respect or trust each other. You can’t be together on the pitch if that’s the case. He’s also bang on about Martinez.
 
Cloud7 said:
His body abandoned him near the end after a long career that started younger than most but one thing Rooney never lacked was character, heart and emotion. He embodied a lot about what it meant to be a Manchester United player for me.
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Unfit and massively overpaid? Because that what he was for his last 3 years.
 
marktan said:
Precisely this.

There's loads of other actual concrete reasons why we're poor - primarily due to our squad building plan (i.e. choosing which positions to recruit) is terrible, and then the actual recruitment itself is also terrible. That comes from poor board -> poor director of football -> poor scouting team.

And then years of average managers playing crap footballing styles.

It's like we've taken everything Sir Alex was good at and then just decided to replace him with people who are completely mediocre at them.

Of course doesn't excuse the players being crap, but half the players we have I wouldn't have signed in the first place. No amount of heart or emotion is going to fix a player that isn't suited to a top team or the PL.
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I think that's as bad for us as the recruitment. All the players who got promoted from the academy along with the players we bought young like Martial, Shaw etc have never had the same coaching as most their peers. EtH has a lot of work ahead of him in the coaching department, we should have replaced lvg with a manager who had the same philosophy as him.
 
"Player will look better in a better team" isn't really anything revelatory.

Also, "managers like myself and ten Hag..." made my eyebrows raise up. Steady Wazza, you got relegated from the Championship and are at Miami Rovers or whatever they're called.
 
Varun said:
Seeing as he regularly played in different positions to accommodate Ronaldo, I'd say he's made peace with that ages ago. Hes bang on with hia comments but don't let facts get in the way of hero worship
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What facts?
 
If Ronaldo starts, I imagine he gets himself sent off early on. He doesn’t want that Liverpool smoke any more than Pogba did. That would be very alien to Rooney.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Ronaldo had 3 great years here. Rooney was a key figure throughout the club's most successful era. Sorry to state facts Ronnie addict.
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Ronnie was the clutch in that era. With Ronaldo we won three league titles in a row, the CL, the league cup and the club World Cup. In Rooney’s remaining united career he only won 2 more league titles, 2 league cups, 1 fa cup and the EL.

Rooney played at United for longer but he didn’t reach the level Ronaldo did and wasn’t the catalyst for as much success. He was a great player though.
 
Jeppers7 said:
Ronnie was the clutch in that era. With Ronaldo we won three league titles in a row, the CL, the league cup and the club World Cup. In Rooney’s remaining united career he only won 2 more league titles, 2 league cups, 1 fa cup and the EL.

Rooney played at United for longer but he didn’t reach the level Ronaldo did and wasn’t the catalyst for as much success. He was a great player though.
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"Only won 2 more league titles, 2 league cups, 1 FA Cup and the EL" :lol: the horror. Fergie retired in 2013 and that obviously set the club on a very different path as we all know. Rooney is a proper United legend, though. All time top goal scorer, with the club for 13 years, clearly still loves United. He was unbelievably world class and just more of a legend for the club than Ronaldo will ever be.
 
Jeppers7 said:
Ronnie was the clutch in that era. With Ronaldo we won three league titles in a row, the CL, the league cup and the club World Cup. In Rooney’s remaining united career he only won 2 more league titles, 2 league cups, 1 fa cup and the EL.

Rooney played at United for longer but he didn’t reach the level Ronaldo did and wasn’t the catalyst for as much success. He was a great player though.
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Ronaldo left to go play with Benzema, higuain, kaka, ozil and a bunch of other world class players. He left along with Tevez and guess who we replaced them with Obertan, Owen and Valencia. We were left with only 1 world class attacker after Ronaldo and Tevez left. We only stayed competitive because of Sir Alex, a good midfield and a class defence.
 
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