You're missing my point Pogue, probably on purpose i would suggest!
Is rooney a wc striker or a wc player?
For me a striker can be wc and still be dependent on service. A wc player is not dependent on service, when they get on the ball they make things happen, they have the ability to change the game by what they can provide to their team by their own contribution.
They should have something extra that others do not have that clearly sets them apart. I don't see that any longer with Rooney, he used to have it, but no more.
How many strikers in the world can get other players involved in the attack as much as Rooney? The amount of time's he put in a long crossfield ball out to the wing was amazing; no he didn't pull it off as many times as they did, but he often was under more pressure when he was doing these passes, anyways. He beat his man for dead yesterday too; but of course, his dribblings shite. Defenders back off and 2v1 him when he's got a bit of space too; you notice that? Yes, his 1-2's feck up when he's not in good form, but he still executed about half of them; it's just that the final ball after the initial 1-2 (or second 1-2 in the same sequence) was off; Kagawa and all are better than him at this. Kagawa's also got far better vision in terms of delicate through balls; and I think Kagawa can also play the long balls to the wingers; Rooney's got far far more of a goal threat, however.
The real qualm for me was that, despite his body position obviously not being ready to take the cross where it eventually came to him, he shot it straight to Howard. Now, I expect him, as good as he is, to put that away. I wouldn't expect Welbeck to, not even Hernandez maybe; but he was in front and missed (again, his body wasn't ready for the shot because he expected the cross to be directed in front of him rather than straight at his heel). That would've been 1-0.
Also, in the 7th minute he was faster than Distin to the ball; I was very happy with his speed.
Anyways, to all you lads who think Rooney is undroppable; well I don't think he is, anymore.
Last season, if you wanted to drop him, you'd be picking Welbeck and Hernandez in your 4411, and that's obviously never going to work out nearly as well; Welbeck and Hernandez are nowhere near Rooney's level, and neither can distribute the balls to the wingers (Which we were so reliant on to provide assists) with the crossfield passes that Rooney so often did last season. He's critical to our play, but with Kagawa and RvP now competing for the 2 central attacking spots (and both can pass a ball very well, and RvP can compete for the goal scoring position) rather than having Welbeck/Hernandez and no-one (Berbatov wasn't getting a look in, was he) well, no-one ever is going to drop Rooney for Welbeck, are they?
Fact is, he's no longer our undisputable best striker now RvP's here, and he's not our undisputable best CAM either. If Rooney's in good form, he will start, anywhere, however. Because he's that good. He can kick any player off the team, as long as they are in one of the 4 attacker spots.
He's going to get a kick up the backside if he doesn't perform to a very good standard over the next 3-4 games, but it's silly to suggest he was a pub footballer yesterday. Welbeck was almost invisible, and he doesn't have the passing range that Rooney did (82% completion) so he wasn't even involved in our play because he doesn't offer that to us as a team. Welbeck was meant to offer chance creation, and finishing, from his almost central striking position (Zonal marking had his average position VERY close to Rooney's) and whilst he made some good runs, he didn't end up completing the finish, and he certainly offered very little in chances; he certainly didn't do any real threatening crosses nor did he distribute the ball that well.
Rooney's essential to distributing the balls to the wings; but the players we've gotten now ensure that he can be dropped if he's not offering us a goal threat in addition to this. Kagawa played a brilliant volleyed crossfield pass against Hannover, to our Left winger (can't remember who, could've even been Evra) ¬ about 20-25 metres too; that lad is a great number 10.
Zonal marking also indicated that Rooney, RvP and Nani (later Young) interchanged their position to play anywhere across the front 3 when they came on (except Nani/Young didn't go central) i.e. Rooney / Rvp played right left and central, but Kagawa stayed central behind them; indicating we will be seeing a very fluid front 3; we will be able to include Rooney, RvP and Kagawa, plus another (probably winger) into a 4213 / 4231 ish formation.