Wayne Rooney | 2012-14 Performances

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RedRossi said:
Who cares?!?!

All this "he's the heartbeat of the team" bullshit thats branded around about him is sickening! There is enough quality on that pitch to win us the match!
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The point is not whether the team is still good enough. The point is we have dropped one of our two best players. It is completely and utterly bizarre and a bit of a pointless decision IMO.
 
Randall Flagg said:
it's a huge surprise and a risk IMO.

For me Rooney is our best player.

Of course some will be fairly shocked at the news. But Fergie gets it right far more often than not...
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Oddly enough, I just knew on Saturday evening, that he wouldn't start. I don't know why I had that feeling though. So it's not that big of a surprise to me.

I like Rooney as a player, but in the majority of big European games, he has been rubbish. I can reel off a whole list of games in Europe where he has had one of his bouts of can't do anything right syndrome.

There is enough quality on that pitch for us tonight and at the same time, it comes down to the atmosphere that fans create that inspires the players.
 
Cina said:
That's true, though it then makes me wonder, why not Kagawa? Maybe because he's just not as defensively good as Welbeck, which in itself worries me.

It has shades of the City line up last season to me, I'm quite worried here.
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Not like the City lineup at all for me. we simply went out for a 0-0 there. Welbeck did very well last game, specially after he moved to the middle. SAF's simply continuing that because of Alonso.

Rooney should have started over giggsy though for me.
 
RedRossi said:
Oddly enough, I just knew on Saturday evening, that he wouldn't start. I don't know why I had that feeling though. So it's not that big of a surprise to me.

I like Rooney as a player, but in the majority of big European games, he has been rubbish. I can reel off a whole list of games in Europe where he has had one of his bouts of can't do anything right syndrome.

There is enough quality on that pitch for us tonight and at the same time, it comes down to the atmosphere that fans create that inspires the players.
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Usually when he is on the wing.
 
amolbhatia100 said:
If he was our heartbeat he'd be starting. In fact forget that, I don't think Rvp is our "heartbeat" either. It's just such an overused and nonsensical statement to overstate someone importance. He's one of our best players, our second best IMO (or possible equal second with a fit vidic) but I don't see how he's THE vital cog. We have many very important cogs.
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Agree with that entirely, it's a load of nonsense that makes no sense when you factor in how many times he will go through long spells of bad form. The thing with Rooney is, people bang on about the shift he puts in and how he is the center of the team and all that, but when he's not in form, none of that fecking exists! Putting a shift in means nothing when you can't perform basic passes, or do anything with the ball apart from lose it, which is what we saw first half against Norwich, and that was still a world away from his worst off form days. But...then you have the second half against Norwich, a perfect example of why he is worth playing even through his bad spells, our attack at times was going entirely through him and had the game gone on another 30 minutes he probably would have scored or assisted another 5. I can see some sense if we take the game against Madrid into context, he wasn't really effective, but then there should have been enough against Norwich to see he was surely worth starting today, and given that was just a few days ago, I'd start the hell out of him. It's odd, but there surely has to be a good reason SAF has made the decision, perhaps he can come off the bench early in the second half if needed and prove a better threat against a tiring Madrid defence.
 
Cina said:
That's true, though it then makes me wonder, why not Kagawa? Maybe because he's just not as defensively good as Welbeck, which in itself worries me.

It has shades of the City line up last season to me, I'm quite worried here.
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Maybe Welbeck is on the wing and giggs is in a 3 man CM.
 
Hectic said:
Agree with that entirely, it's a load of nonsense that makes zero sense when you factor in how many times he will go through long spells of bad form. The thing with Rooney is, people bang on about the shift he puts in and how he is the center of the team and all that, but when he's not in form, none of that fecking exists! Putting a shift in means nothing when you can't perform basic passes, or do anything with the ball apart from lose it, which is what we saw first half against Norwich, and that was still a world away from his worst off form days. But...then you have the second half against Norwich, a perfect example of why he is worth playing even through his bad spells, our attack at times was going entirely through him and had the game gone on another 30 minutes he probably would have scored or assisted another 5. I can see some sense if we take the game against Madrid into context, he wasn't really effective, but then there should have been enough against Norwich to see he was worth starting today, and given that was just a few days ago, I'd start the hell out of him. It's odd, but there surely has to be a good reason SAF has made that decision, perhaps he can come off the bench early in the second half if needed and prove a better threat against a tiring Madrid defence.
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Exactly, there is a fecking scud missile up Rooney's arse and you can bet when he comes he will chomping at the bit.
 
Personally I think it's a huge mistake not playing Rooney in favour of much lesser players. Anyway, the manager knows what he's at so...
 
thegregster said:
Maybe Welbeck is on the wing and giggs is in a 3 man CM.
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Hope not. Giggs starting out wide over Rooney and Welbeck as a defensive forward over Rooney makes sense. Swap them around and it's a bit awkward. I don't think Fergie trusts Rooney to do a job on someone like Alonso anymore.

Overall, am quite happy with the team as it is what I wanted aside from Rooney instead of Giggs.
 
It's up to Rooney how he reacts I guess. After this he could chuck his toys out of the pram good and proper or he can make himself undroppable.
 
I have to say that I think the Madrid players will get a boast when they hear Rooney isnt starting. If I was a Madrid defender I would be delighted that he is on the bench.
 
Sixpence said:
He would have been chomping at the bit from the start. It's Real Madrid ffs.
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True but I don't feel it's as much an aberration as some make out and there's no question it will hurt Rooney and it will motivate him off the bench.
 
No point if he comes off the bench and grabs goals if the games already lost a la Beckham. You don't leave your best players out so that they can come off the bench. He's been left out because SAF thinks other players can do a better job than him at this moment in time.
 
There's shades of Beckham 2003. Benched v Real, problem wife interfering. Watch out for cuts around Rooney's eye and him wearing a hairband shortly.
 
kps88 said:
No point if he comes off the bench and grabs goals if the games already lost a la Beckham. You don't leave your best players out so that they can come off the bench. He's been left out because SAF thinks other players can do a better job than him at this moment in time.
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Which I alluded to, there is no issue for me. Welbeck deserves it from the 1st leg and I expected Giggs to start.
 
Sir Alex's explanation is pretty much what I thought. Welbeck will deal with Alonso better with his relentless running and Giggs and Nani should be better out wide than Rooney.

Rooney's reaction to this will be interesting, in the past you could very easily see Rooney be petulant about it. I guess we'll see if he's matured as much as he seems to of.
 
It's a silly decision for me, obviously I hope SAF is proven correct but it makes no objective sense.

It's an unnecessary sideshow anyway. Some focus and pressure off Ronaldo, which is not what we need.
 
gza the genius said:
Sir Alex's explanation is pretty much what I thought. Welbeck will deal with Alonso better with his relentless running and Giggs and Nani should be better out wide than Rooney.

Rooney's reaction to this will be interesting, in the past you could very easily see Rooney be petulant about it. I guess we'll see if he's matured as much as he seems to of.
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Rooney's a team player, he gets frustrated like everyone in life, however he's never struck me as one with a big ego.
 
Sixpence said:
He would have been chomping at the bit from the start. It's Real Madrid ffs.
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To be fair doesn't matter what the opposition is or the occasion, Rooney doesn't always play with the right intensity and almost comes across subdued. This will fire him up no doubt and against tiring legs, he could be fearsome.
 
Ole's_toe_poke said:
Think it will be Giggs nominally on the left and Welbeck behind RVP.

Welbeck to loosely man mark Alonso to stop him pinging balls out to Ronaldo and co.

He did it well in the 2nd half at the Bernebeu.
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Looks like this is the plan then from SAF's interview.

Dortmund stopped Ronaldo by stopping Xabi.
 
Calm down. Wayne will play. Wayne will score. We will prevail.
 
Feel a bit sorry for him - him and kagawa were the 2 best players in your last game
 
gza the genius said:
Sir Alex's explanation is pretty much what I thought. Welbeck will deal with Alonso better with his relentless running and Giggs and Nani should be better out wide than Rooney.

Rooney's reaction to this will be interesting, in the past you could very easily see Rooney be petulant about it. I guess we'll see if he's matured as much as he seems to of.
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I think Rooney problem is he just isnt great at playing in the hole in Europe. In attack he can be fine. Being and extra man in the CM and stopping a deep lying play maker like Alonso has never been his strong point.
 
If Giggs starts out wide with welbeck in the middle then I think that's a poor decision. If we're playing a three man midfield with welbeck as a part of the trio of attackers then I think it's fair.
 
Adebesi said:
Did Keano just suggest "the writing is on the wall" for Rooney? That's a bit OTT isn't it.
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Funnier still was Chiles reaction to his suggestion. He was speechless and reacted like Keano had just given him a public death threat.
 
Fergie has extra time in the back of his mind. He's thinking about who's on the field on 90 mins.
 
Hectic said:
Funnier still was Chiles reaction to his suggestion. He was speechless and reacted like Keano had just given him a public death threat.
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Indeed. There's nothing like a bitter Roy Keane trying to stir shit up. Chiles was stunned into silent disbelief, probably stifling the urge to ask "what the feck Roy?"
 
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