Sturridge has to prove first that he is better than Rooney, not the other way around.
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Sturridge has to prove first that he is better than Rooney, not the other way around.
I agree, but if you listen to what people were saying during the WC (and build up) Rooney will want to prove them wrong was my point.
He will be motivated by the fact people even thought to question who was better, and Hogdson decided to shunt him out-wide in favor of Sturridge.
This. Can't even believe this is even up for debate. Sturridge has had one good season in Liverpool's best season for a while. Rooney, on the other hand, has had an above average season, in my opinion, in United's worst season in a while.
Sturridge has a very long way before people can claim he's better than Rooney, in my opinion.
Lol I think we are all in agreement (context)
If Hodgson had any sense like Van Gaal, he'd play a formation that allows us to play 2 strikers, instead of playing one of them out of position. Either that, or don't play one of them.
Yeah, there's no doubt Sturridge pushed himself ahead of Rooney in the Ingerland pecking order heading into the WC. A baffling decision for which Woy paid the price. Sturridge was absolutely diabolical in Brazil. I've a sneaking suspicion he'll bring that form back with him and go down in history as a one season wonder.
Rooney being fit and motivated can only be a good thing, initially him being made capt would have irritated the shit out of me, but if helps curb some of his less positive qualities letting him concentrate on being the player he is capable of then why not?
Lol. Soz, mate. I was just annoyed when people were saying drop Rooney for Sturridge in the WC because he's had one good season.
Honestly, it baffles me that he was shoved out on the wing from Hodgson. It's all over now, but what a brainfart. Hopefully Rooney can replicate the form he's shown thus far for the whole season. He'd easily end up with 25+ goals and 10+ assists.
Well there almost always are some agenda driven posters regarding almost every player, not just Rooney.
My thoughts regarding Rooney/LvG are/were that at least with LvG Rooney won't be kept on/played when completely out of form (which happens regularly from time to time). Everyone knows that Rooney is capable of world class performances, so nothing new here. But what will probably change now (and LvG has already proven it by taking RvP off at WC) that he won't be kept on and played all the time when he is terribly out of form or not fit.
Whoever thought him and LVG wouldn't get on are the same ones who say him and RVP can't stand eachother. It's nonsense. They're not teenage girls ffs.
Rooney looks slim and sharp as feck right now. Can see him having an awesome season, I'm calling 25 goals which would put him on the brink of Sir Bobby's record which would clearly be broken in the 15-16 season.
He's in fantastic shape this pre season, isn't he? Dead lean.
In a good vein of form, what's it 5 goals in America. Been really impressed with him on the tour, looking great aswell which can't always be said about Wayne..
Starting the season in such form is great as I said about RVP previously although he's struggling for fitness.. With the fixtures at the start, Rooney will really fancy a few goals..
Starting the season in such form is great as I said about RVP previously although he's struggling for fitness.. With the fixtures at the start, Rooney will really fancy a few goals..
I don't think he would care if anybody rates Sturridge higher than him. He will perform because he too ultimately wants to win and contrary to what some jokers say, is not all about 300k wages and marketing model of United. In LvG, he has a manager who will be able to get more out of him than Moyes could have ever got so he is well up for it as is the case with some other players in squad as well.
Amazing how things that were forever bleated out by fans...Mata is our best #10, Rooney is best as a striker, Ashley Young sucks...seem to have been addressed so easily and so quickly by LVG.
THIS looks like a rejuvenated Rooney. Still not back to his best, but definitely better than last season where he improved by default compared to 2012/13. And looks hungry for more.
THIS looks like a rejuvenated Rooney. Still not back to his best, but definitely better than last season where he improved by default compared to 2012/13. And looks hungry for more.
Oh yeah, but last year we had Mata on the wings and Rooney as the #10. Point was that these were seemingly obvious to everyone but the manager, who opted to stick rigorously to what he knew instead of adapting to the players he had.Thats still the case no?
To be fair, I think that when Rooney's playing some of his best football like in the second half of the 2010/2011 season, he is best as a number 10 but Mata's clearly not suited to the wings if you want to get his best, so it makes sense to play him in that role when Rooney can score plenty up top.
I would say that when you sum up the parts, Rooney as a goalscorer and Mata as provider is our best option, rather than shoe-horning players in the way Moyes did. Rooney might have more in his locker than your average #9 but he's got too many deficiencies to be a great #10 - the short passing, the positional discipline, the touch are all lacking.
But for me, he's also the best finisher on the team - look at the first goal yesterday for that - and you'd lose that when you ask him to be the creator. RVP might finish the most spectacularly but also misses a large number of sitters and I can't see him slotting in a goal like Rooney did with his weaker foot. Rooney's the most reliable and I'm expecting him to bag a lot of goals this year.
But for me, he's also the best finisher on the team - look at the first goal yesterday for that - and you'd lose that when you ask him to be the creator. RVP might finish the most spectacularly but also misses a large number of sitters and I can't see him slotting in a goal like Rooney did with his weaker foot. Rooney's the most reliable and I'm expecting him to bag a lot of goals this year.
Who's Warren Sapp?
Warren Carlos Sapp (born December 19, 1972) is a former American football defensive tackle. A Hall of Famer, Sapp played college football for the University of Miami, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American and won multiple awards. Sapp played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2007 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders.
Career history
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1995–2003)
Oakland Raiders (2004–2007)
Career highlights and awards
7× Pro Bowl (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
4× AP First-Team All-Pro (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
2× AP Second-Team All-Pro (1997, 1998)
Super Bowl champion (XXXVII)
AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1999)
NFL 1990s All-Decade Team
NFL 2000s All-Decade Team
Tampa Bay Buccaneers #99 retired
2013 Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Ring of Honor
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee (2013)
College awards and honors
Career NFL statistics
Games played 198
Games started 188
Tackles 573
Quarterback sacks 96.5
Forced fumbles 19
Interceptions 4
Career history
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1995–2003)
Oakland Raiders (2004–2007)
Career highlights and awards
7× Pro Bowl (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
4× AP First-Team All-Pro (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
2× AP Second-Team All-Pro (1997, 1998)
Super Bowl champion (XXXVII)
AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1999)
NFL 1990s All-Decade Team
NFL 2000s All-Decade Team
Tampa Bay Buccaneers #99 retired
2013 Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Ring of Honor
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee (2013)
College awards and honors
Career NFL statistics
Games played 198
Games started 188
Tackles 573
Quarterback sacks 96.5
Forced fumbles 19
Interceptions 4
Very impressed with him this pre season. Looks like the Rooney of old :')
Still our most influential player.
Playing up front is pretty darn exciting.
The prospect of 2 up front, with Mata behind, almost makes you hope we don't go for the 4-3-3 too soon.
I want him to be made captain.
After his bust up with SAF, trust and admiration from LVG is exactly what he needs for this last major phase of his career. I sincerely believe that the honour and responsibility of captaincy of our club will finally elevate him the next final level of development and he will genuinely fulfil his potential and a world great.
It worked with players like Roy Keane and Eric Cantona. I think we will see a similar level of impact with Rooney.
After his bust up with SAF, trust and admiration from LVG is exactly what he needs for this last major phase of his career. I sincerely believe that the honour and responsibility of captaincy of our club will finally elevate him the next final level of development and he will genuinely fulfil his potential and a world great.
It worked with players like Roy Keane and Eric Cantona. I think we will see a similar level of impact with Rooney.
Rooney is obviously the superior player by some distance and far more proven, but Sturridge went in to this WC as the league's 2nd top scorer having had a fantastic year as part of the league's most deadly partnership (albeit Suarez was the much bigger part).
Rooney had a good season but the reason people wanted him dropped was because he's been very poor for England at major tournaments. People get this idea in their heads that if we use the youth, if we try something new we'll be amazing. People were just tired of Rooney's abject performances (utterly woeful in South Africa) and blamed him for England's failures. He's meant to be our star player so every poor thing he does is analyzed closely.
Sturridge was rubbish though and seems to have somehow avoided criticism for just how terrible he was. I like him but no doubt he was poor, although to be fair to him its his first international tournament and he was far from the only one under performing.
Whether or not you wanted to go with Sturridge or Rooney depends on if you prefer to go with form over actual ability. If you choose the most in form players then he obviously makes it but on ability it was Rooney. Neither did particularly well.
Whereas average players dread masterful managers because the fear 'being found out', truly great players relish playing for managerial greats so they can prove to them that they are worthy of selection and trust.
Having to prove himself all over again to LVG (& Woodward) is the best thing that could have happened for Wayne Rooney at Manchester United, especially with his internal issues with the previous manager and chairman.
Woodward and LVG smartly have given him a clean slate and it looks like it has re-energised our sometimes troubled and wayward genius.
So many good things have happened in so short a time with LVG. It all feels so positive
Assuming not a sarcastic question because supposedly Rooney had no clue either. Warren Sapp is an ex-NFL player for the Tampa Bay Bucs - a hall of fame player - sadly like many athletes who've earned 10s of millions during their playing career, he is also bankrupt now (my first thought was - Sapp's going to auction that ball off which is why he is so happy).
It depends on how you look at it. Has Sturridge done enough to be considered a better footballer than Rooney when their entire careers are viewed? Of course not. But at the end of the day, it's not what you've done 10 years or 5 years ago that matters when you're still an active footballer. What you've done in the past year, month, week, is more relevant. If the two were playing for United and battling for one spot, it wouldn't be a shocking decision if Sturridge got the nod.
I really hope Rooney can maintain his fitness and form this time. I know it is only pre season but Rooney is playing with hunger and desire. He also has his smile back which was synonymous with young Wayne who loved playing for us. Considering things go well for him I can see him getting a bucket load of goals for us this coming season.
You wouldn't think he cared if the England manager rated Sturridge higher than him?
Thanks
I don't watch American Football. I can't stand adverts.
That is a pretty awesome reaction from Sapp.
Only a fool will rate Sturridge higher than Rooney and I don't think Hodgson is that big a fool.
It is how you look at it. Playing Rooney on left and Sturridge in center can also mean that Rooney is capable of playing at both positions while Sturridge can only be good at center so when you don't have much of quality on bench and have to play these two, you have to come up with best possible way to fit both.
You don't which is why hes not a good coach tbh.
I don't think so. Sturridge last season was more than comfortable exchanging positions with Suarez, Sterling and played like a fluid forward rather than a limited poacher who played on the shoulder of the last defender. If anything he is more mobile, quicker, agile and a better dribbler than Rooney. He would have been a better fit at the left with Rooney being central. When was the last time Rooney successfully played on the left? 2009 I assume. Hodgson didn't have the guts to drop one of them and was just trying to shoehorn both of them in his team. If anything Rooney should have played central with Sturridge playing on the left or right with Sterling.
Maybe Hodgson is not a v. good coach but that's not a point here. What I was saying is being compared with Sturridge will not be a thought playing on Rooney's mind. It is what fans wonder. He has been put through so much of pressure since he came up on stage, this is nothing for him.
For Sturridge to play well, that system was needed(last year's at Liverpool). Even there, he wasn't played out and out on 'left' so much. It was different system altogether. Just being better dribbler and quicker means nothing. He will be totally useless playing on left for England as the formation and tactics are different. Rooney is lot lot better crosser of the ball which will be expected in the system England played. I know Rooney is better at centre but if that was to be done, someone else would have been better on left than Sturridge and yeah Hodgson wouldn't have dropped either of them so he came up with this tactic. Don't forget the defending aspect of it as well where Sturridge would have done feck all.
Again, the original point had nothing to do regarding comparison of two players' quality. That has been done and should be done in England team related threads. The point is about the assumption that Rooney would be out to prove a point to Hodgson or prove he is better at center than Sturridge. Would hardly matter to him. Only thing which will matter is getting United back to top and winning trophies which any top player wants.
It would be an absolutely shocking decision. Sturridge looked good playing for a team that was producing bucket-loads of chances, with the best player in the league last season causing havoc in opposition defences, creating and scoring goals for fun. Rooney's been the main man at United for years and we were over-reliant on him yet again last season. Wait and see how Sturridge copes when the onus is on him as the main goal-scorer and Liverpool have a less perfect season than they did last time round, trying to bed in new players and balance the demands of PL and CL football. That's when we'll find out if he's in Rooney's class. As it stands, he's not even close.
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