That international break seems to have done him a world of good. He's got got 5 in 4 including the England games and he's actually playing well too.
Hope it continues for as long as possible.
Hope it continues for as long as possible.
10
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 37
- Goals
- 14
- Assists
- 6
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Its all because of how he's gone about certain things that people will always look for fault because they feel strange from loving him when his love for the club was brought into question twice, which is fair in my opinion but that's for another thread.
As for now a lot of us questioned Rooney being made captain and we were skeptical of his captaining ability but credit too the man he has worked his bollox off to fill the role and each game looks more and more of a leader and more and more mature. In this form and being a credit and example for the team in his new role I'd easily say he's one of the most influential players in Europe at the moment.
Another good game from Wayne. Hopefully this form continues! Well taken goal too.
This illustrates my point about people forgetting form when it comes to Rooney. From mid-September to the beginning of December last season Rooney played 13 matches scoring 10 goals and providing 11 assists. If anything his form was probably better than we've seen in the same period this season.
Here he is displaying his ability to take the ball past players during that spell and in the Champions League later in the season. It was of course "the best he had played in years".
It really is amazing the way Rooney seems to cause this weird amnesia amongst some fans. Every time he does anything decent it's as though people can only remember his debut season and the last game.
"Good to see him dribble with the ball today, he hasn't done that in years"
"A long range goal. He hasn't scored one of those in years"
"A good run of form. Haven't seen that in years"
The thing is, you hear these comments every year!
"Good to see him dribble with the ball today, he hasn't done that in years"
"A long range goal. He hasn't scored one of those in years"
"A good run of form. Haven't seen that in years"
The thing is, you hear these comments every year!
He's a magnificent son of a bitch. The haters can feck off to whichever hole they crawl out of when he has his occasional bad touch.
Lucky to have 10+ years of him playing for United.
Lucky to have 10+ years of him playing for United.
Last edited:
Amen.....Despite the Millions spent, still the best player at the club and in my opinion best in the PL. The guy is the ultimate footballer. He does everything...pass, tackle, head, score. He'll be like Scholes and the other great players, we wont truly appreciate him until he's stop playing.
That is a big call to make.
Yep, who's better than him at what he does? Aguero and Hazard are unbelievable at present but they're playing in settled squads playing decent football. Also Rooney's contribution isn't just about scoring, its so much more than that......
I remember the stats, I also remember the performances. Quite a lot of those assists, as I recall, were set pieces too. They weren't brilliant pieces of inventiveness. That's not to say Rooney should be punished for taking good set pieces, my point is that compared to his previous standard Rooney massively dropped off. Are you genuinely trying to tell me that Rooney's performances were as good as the Champions League quarter finals at Stamford Bridge in 2011? Or West Ham away the same year?
Also isn't that second clip from the Olympiakos game which was long after December 2013?
Only David de Gea played consistently well last year, Rooney has said that himself. Rooney has never pretended because he hit some great volleys last year that he had a sparkling season. He knows he is capable of more and he has actually been doing more on a more regular basis this year.
As ever, shit loads of revisionism with Rooney after a good / bad performance. A few points from me:
- Simmering negativity from some United fans is understandable after flirtations with City and Chelsea. That said, he's here for the long haul now, so best to get over it.
- He's in brilliant form at the moment, and seems to be revelling in captaincy. Fair play, as I was very critical after his West Ham red card. I'm warming to him massively as leader.
- The next person who says he's not the same as when he broke through is going to get a slap. No player ever is. The exuberance has been replaced by a colder, far more productive player.
- Not being on the same level as freaks like Ronaldo and Messi does not equate to failing to fulfil potential.
- Simmering negativity from some United fans is understandable after flirtations with City and Chelsea. That said, he's here for the long haul now, so best to get over it.
- He's in brilliant form at the moment, and seems to be revelling in captaincy. Fair play, as I was very critical after his West Ham red card. I'm warming to him massively as leader.
- The next person who says he's not the same as when he broke through is going to get a slap. No player ever is. The exuberance has been replaced by a colder, far more productive player.
- Not being on the same level as freaks like Ronaldo and Messi does not equate to failing to fulfil potential.
I tend to remember the shit things that he has done more than the quality touches and moments of brilliance.
I can understand why people forget Rooney's good form, actually. He was in top form at the start of last season, it gets forgotten cos the team as a whole were so shit and were dropping points everywhere under Moyes. When things truly capitulated, ie when it was obvious we weren't getting top four, Rooney's form nosedived which you can't really blame him for given that the season was finished. He was just as guilty as anyone of playing badly from January onwards, awful displays vs Bayern and Everton stand out in peoples minds more than, for example, at MOTM display in the otherwise dour 0-0 at OT with Chelsea.
Was in great form the year City first won the title too, the way we lost the league overshadows that a bit I think
When we won the league in 10/11 he was in astonishing form from Xmas onwards and we wouldn't have won that year without him. Before that he was in shit form because he played while injured at the World Cup and all that business of him getting caught with prossies again, and tried to force a transfer. That sticks in peoples minds more than, for example, when he dragged up near single handedly from 2-0 down to victory at Upton Park.
So you can see he's obviously struggled to maintain good form over a full season, so I can understand a degree of criticism, despite the aforementioned mitigating circumstances (injuries, negative stuff in the press, being the only senior outfield player pulling his weight under an incompetent manager)... Still cant deny its frustrating to me as someone with a naturally good long term memory when people say he's been below par for years and question his ability.
Was in great form the year City first won the title too, the way we lost the league overshadows that a bit I think
When we won the league in 10/11 he was in astonishing form from Xmas onwards and we wouldn't have won that year without him. Before that he was in shit form because he played while injured at the World Cup and all that business of him getting caught with prossies again, and tried to force a transfer. That sticks in peoples minds more than, for example, when he dragged up near single handedly from 2-0 down to victory at Upton Park.
So you can see he's obviously struggled to maintain good form over a full season, so I can understand a degree of criticism, despite the aforementioned mitigating circumstances (injuries, negative stuff in the press, being the only senior outfield player pulling his weight under an incompetent manager)... Still cant deny its frustrating to me as someone with a naturally good long term memory when people say he's been below par for years and question his ability.
As you can see from my post above I'm a fan of Rooney but I don't think that's a fair comparison. Rooney tried to force a transfer at least once, none of those three ever did anything like that.
In a world of crap wrote on this forum, best post I've read for a ages. The negativity towards our own players never fails to amaze me. The sad thing like the quality players before him, we'll only fully appreciate his quality when he's no longer here. For example, I have to laugh when people were talking about selling Giggs.....the myopia of forums!!!
I hope he's going to be alright for the Stoke match. It seems like when he plays it gives a real lift.
I have to say Rooney has impressed me recently. I criticized rooney alot mainly because while he is a great productive player, he wasn very consistent in his overall play which I think is important in establishing and maintaining the team's rhythm in possession. However, more recently, he's shown a more consistent touch, quicker decision making, better positioning and so on and so forth.
I think some of his criticisms had merit but if you look at the stats too generally, you'll miss it.
I think some of his criticisms had merit but if you look at the stats too generally, you'll miss it.
Rooney's finishing is genuinely incredible. It still doesn't get the credit it deserves, because the reality is that - Messi and Ronaldo aside - it's as good as any centre forward we've seen in the last decade or so. His goal tally is testament to that.
I'm enjoying his all round game a lot more this season, too. Much sharper and tighter. One of our best players this season, certainly.
I'm enjoying his all round game a lot more this season, too. Much sharper and tighter. One of our best players this season, certainly.
Last edited:
Giggs did something a lot worse but okay, wasn't football related. Keane had his contract issues and looked to leave before, cantona was suspended for a while because he kicked a fan, etc..
I'm not saying what rooney did was right, but that it's so small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things that people go way overboard with the criticism and hate just because of 1 contract situation.
There's probably only one other player that instantly comes to mind who I think is destined to score any one on one he gets and that is Aguero. After him, I'd say Wayne is probably the best around.
Ever thought that the team as a whole had declined since then - with some key players ageing or retiring - and Rooney's performances had to be seen in that context?
It might not be coincidence that, since we've gone out and replenished the squad with genuine attacking quality - the Matas, the Di Marias, the Falcaos - all of a sudden he's looking very good again (not that he looked particularly bad last season or in 2012/13).
Any news on his injury? Hopefully he isn't out. Especially with Di Maria out, we need him fit and firing for Tuesday.
Van Gaal says he hopes to have him fit for Stoke.
Aye, true about Giggs, so to answer your previous question, I wouldn't really find it that odd if a United fan didn't like Giggs because of what he did. I sometimes don't look at him the same way anymore.
I'd argue that it was more than just a contract situation, Rio had one of those like Keane did and it was quickly forgotten about. Rooney publicly slated the clubs lack of ambition and was seemingly flirting with City. Personally it seems the guy was being genuine when he apologised and said he realised he fecked up massively, others would be perfectly entitled to disagree and think he's just a greedy sod. You have to admit too, when he plays badly he's really really bad, which I don't think you could accuse those 3 of.
Great, thanks!
With Giggs its weird, I normally just see him as a legend and completely forget about what he did, but then as a human being he's probably a complete scum bag to do what he did, and that really puts a downer on his reputation. Case of love him as a player, but wouldn't want him to be our manager and part of the reason for that is what he did.
With Rooney, yes he did slate the clubs lack of ambition, though he said that to Fergie, and then Fergie said it in the interview, no? Don't think he came out and said we're lacking ambition in public. When you look at the transfer window the year before and that year though, it would probably be a natural fear (sold Ronaldo, let Tevez go, signed Valencia, Obertan, Bebe, Hernandez (bargain of course), Owen, etc..). We basically brought in a lot of money from transfers and hardly put anything back into the club, which would be worrying for anyone.
And I always found it harsh for people to say he flirted with City or whatever. All there was, was made up stories about City wanting to sign him in January, I doubt he would have ever gone there. I think he was more looking to go abroad when he wanted to go, the stories about City were never going to happen IMO.
He wasn't always that good a finisher but I think he turned a corner in that monster 09/10 season and hasn't looked back. I agree that if we played him as the lone striker with a Di Maria- Carrick- Herrera midfield behind him and wide players with genuine pace and flair flanking him he would surpass his previous best, easily. Which makes me think that one of our biggest challenges in the next six months is us streamlining our forward line up so that we can play our best players in their natural positions, can be able to field a lone striker formation and still have enough games to develop Wilson, Januzaj and Keane.
So if he doesn't make the Stoke match (even though it is more likely he will) who replaces him in the team? He would be a big loss.
Falcao is half-decent as understudies go.
I'm not sure he would be fit enough to start though.
With regard to his finishing, I'm sure I read an interview with him before where he basically credits the evolution of his finishing prowess to Ole. Learning when to give the eyes and go near post, give it the dink etc. I can't stand the man but I have nothing but praise and admiration for his effort, willingness to learn and end product as a result of that. His footballing character is unquestionable.
At the beginning it looked like the captaincy had a negative impact on him but now, he revels in it and is doing a good job as captain
I think the issue with Rooney, is that the difference between his good and bad games are very obvious.
As Schmikes said of Scholes, all players have their good and bad games. The thing about Scholes is that his bottom level is so high, that on his off day, the teammates would just feel that he's having an off game, but it won't go noticed by the spectators.
Coming back to Rooney, when he's having a bad game, he's very bad. His first touch is heavy, doesn't get pass any players, passes gone awry, always in the wrong place due to him falling back to midfield in an attempt to get more involved and generally reduced to hopeful long shots that doesn't find the target. In general, being painful and frustrating to watch. And there are times where he could go two or three matches in a row having a bad game like that. Him being one of the best (and therefore most closely watched) players at the club, having off games like is very memorable.
The other factor being that his time at United coincides with the rise of Ronaldo. Both players come to United at almost the same time with "wonderkid" reputations; one went on to be an absolute monster, and Rooney went on to became a very good player, though not quite World Class. So when people compared the two, Rooney always seemed like he failed to lived up to his potential.
And of course, twice being publicly unhappy doesn't quite endear him to us - the 1st time when we weren't showing enough ambitions by signing enough top footballers, then 2nd time when we were indeed signing top footballers, just that they play in his position.
I still think an in form Rooney is the best player we have (bar an in form Di Maria, of course), f*ck the haters.
The problem is with how long does that period last.
Usually very long given his stats for us over his career here.
Di Maria rates him anyway:
People act as if he has a couple of good games every now and then followed by lots of mediocrity. The fact is he's had a very good level consistently for a decade (with ups and downs), which is pretty rare in football. I also think a bit too much is made of his 'bottom level', even when he's not performing he usually manages to contribute to the team.
I think pretty much everyone in football does. Regardless of who is in our team it's always Rooney that opposing managers and players say they fear facing. It's only really certain fans who seem to not rate him, despite him being our most consistent performer since Ronaldo departed.
- Status