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2014-15 Performances


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5.9 Season Average Rating
Appearances
37
Goals
14
Assists
6
Yellow cards
4
Red cards
1
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I don't understand people claiming he's not a good midfielder - well he's not that good a centre forward either! He'll have to earn his place in the coming years IMO unlike this year when he has been an automatic starter.
 
Not a midfielder. Just doesn't have the dynamism or the guile. He's not quick enough in the head. You see Mata and Herrera using the ball with split second decisions, and it makes Rooney's overall play look like a slow-motion replay.

I still think he's a solid centre forward, but that is all he is. I just don't know what all these pundits are seeing when they say that they see Rooney being a midfielder in the next few years. If anything, I see it going the other way, and I predict he'll be more of an Inzaghi centre forward into his 30s, limited involvement and just playing on the shoulder. I think he'll always be a good finisher, but his mobility and quickness of thought will wane, and I don't think he's too strong at the latter anyway.

Sadly, i agree. He's a good CF, but imo, hes been on the decline in about 5 years now and i don't see him getting any better. His technique, has always been mediocre, but he made up for that by having God-like physique and fighting spirit. I fondly remember the days when he could just glide past players and brush off center backs with seemingly no effort.

What he delivered today, was embarrassing for a United captain. I know very well that CM is not his position, but that does now excuse his complete lack of effort, desire and leadership today. All he did was drop back, pass sideways, drop back, pass sideways, make a meaningless crosspass, drop back, pass sideways, repeat ad infinitum
 
He is unable to control the tempo of central midfield so that is why he should never be there. His success as a striker is based on pace, aggression, good positional sense and a good eye for goal. It's his natural position. We look like a pub team when Rooney plays in midfield. If you put Van Persie or Mata in central midfield than you get a similar result..you get a player that is like a fish out of water...controlling the tempo in central midfield is a very specialized role that very few players like Carrick, Keane or Scholes specialize in. Giggs wasn't bad at it. Rooney is atrocious at it
 
He thinks he is Scholes. Scholes did the cross field pass perfect and at the right time.

Rooney does it and it's a slow loopy ball. Which allows opposition to retreat back. It's like Scholes in slow motion.
 
He thinks he is Scholes. Scholes did the cross field pass perfect and at the right time.

Rooney does it and it's a slow loopy ball. Which allows opposition to retreat back. It's like Scholes in slow motion.
Scholes also had more in his locker, the cross field pass was just something he was very good at.

Take for example scholes assist to Rooney in the game Vs Milan in 2007. Rooney simply doesnt have the vision for that kind of pass.
 
He's shit in midfield, it's nothing new. He can't control the tempo and his passing is nowhere near consistent enough.
 
So poor lately. All he contributes is sideways passing. If van Gaal insists he must play then play him wide and move Mata infield.
 
He thinks he is Scholes. Scholes did the cross field pass perfect and at the right time.

Rooney does it and it's a slow loopy ball. Which allows opposition to retreat back. It's like Scholes in slow motion.

Not always true. He really pinged in some great balls to the right today (sadly that is all he can do at the moment). The difference is Scholes had Ronaldo and Valencia at his peak to pick out. Rooney has Mata who can't wait to pass the ball back in the direction it came from.
 
Not always true. He really pinged in some great balls to the right today (sadly that is all he can do at the moment). The difference is Scholes had Ronaldo and Valencia at his peak to pick out. Rooney has Mata who can't wait to pass the ball back in the direction it came from.
He can try something else you know, like pass forward.
 
LVG is not a fool he sees what is going on. There is no way our present set up could have any form of success in the CL. Next season Rooney's role will be greatly diminished.
Finally people are seeing what I have said all along about Rooney or at least more are getting brave enough to speak up without fear of being branded blasphemous.
 
He's shit in midfield, it's nothing new. He can't control the tempo and his passing is nowhere near consistent enough.
If you put him on the right then he's just going to stand there pinging the ball into the crowd. He has nothing else in his locker but a long pass to right at the minute.

Edit: Bollocks I've quoted the wrong person. Apologies.
 
He has gone from a 'Silent Dominator' to just being silent. Seems like both on and off the pitch. What happened to those famous pregame speeches? Needs to start giving them again.
 
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He is one of those players that will be a bit of a mystery to me. I honestly cant make up my mind if he is a great player, or a good player in great teams. He will go on to be United and Englands top scorers and I will still think, he could have actually been so much more.
 
When Rooney plays well, he plays well but god when he's average he's just plain average. He's having less and less of those good games as he's getting older. Let's all remember that he will be 30 two months into the new season.
 
So poor lately. All he contributes is sideways passing. If van Gaal insists he must play then play him wide and move Mata infield.
For me, this is one of my biggest beefs with LVG this year: this rod he's created for his own back, insisting that Rooney must play. In the future, that simply can't be the case.
 
Watching him in midfield is just painful but since we have no one else really, what can we do? We seriously need to strengthen our midfield 3 for next season. Bring in Gündogan and Xhaka or Schneiderlin and we will even get through a Carrick injury without having to suffer Rooney in midfield.
 
Problem isn't Rooney. It's the fact that we don't create much. Young and Mata, even during their impressive patch, hardly created a chance for our forward/s. It's no surprise that RvP looked better when playing in midfield, he was actually able to exercise his left foot from outside the box.
 
At 29 years old? Behave.

He clearly can't play for us anymore. Not a midfielder and not scoring enough to reach the top level. He's holding us back and doesn't merit a regular starting place.

If we want to sell him, there won't be many takers for his salary/ability ratio. MLS is a great fit where he can have a big salary and lots of attention in a Beckham Mk. II type of deal. We could even get a decent fee out of it.

Maybe Portland Timbers? The climate would be very familiar. I'm sure Colleen would love it there.
 
The Rooney era needs to end. Should have ended a couple of years ago.

I am inclined to agree. As a striker he simply isnt prolific enough - compare him to any of the main strikers for other top teams and he comes up short.

In midfield he is just not very good. His performance today reminded me of how cleverley used to play
 
His performances bother me less than his role as captain. I thought he was meant to be fiery, a born leader, an on-pitch manager? I know we don't watch his every move for 90 mins, but I see very little of this when shit hits the fan.
 
His numbers have been and are fine ffs. We barely create openings for our strikers and people expect to bin them and for a new one to somehow instantly come in and score. Fellaini is a hindrance to the forward in that sense, Mata has never been amazingly creative - he is more of a second striker and in this set-up creates very little, and Young's end product is spikey.
 
I don't understand people claiming he's not a good midfielder - well he's not that good a centre forward either! He'll have to earn his place in the coming years IMO unlike this year when he has been an automatic starter.
He's a better centre forward than he is midfielder, that's for sure. But, either way, he's in decline and has been for a couple of years. We need a more dynamic, younger centre forward.
 
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