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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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He's been playing out of position and it shows.

That last paragraph is nonsense, by the way.

It when you see sentences like that one - the pass was an 'easy hoof into space' - that you can reasonably assume there's an agenda afoot.

Because it was blatantly a well timed, well placed and well executed through ball to create a goal scoring opportunity. But some are just reluctant to give Rooney any credit, hence the contortions.
 
Wasn't at his best today and against Stoke everyone was pretty poor but apart from that he's been in really good form actually. Don't think he's tired, just a couple of bad team performances and he was just part of that.

He's also average against 10-man Villa and Spurs.
 
It when you see sentences like that one - the pass was an 'easy hoof into space' - that you can reasonably assume there's an agenda afoot. Because it was blatantly a well timed, well placed and well executed through ball to create a goal scoring opportunity. But some are just reluctant to give Rooney any credit, hence contortions like that one.

Not quite. Just an expectation for a player of his calibre to complete a pass into 40 yards worth of space for Di Maria to run into. Even on a poor day.
 
I never associate Rooney with looking tired no matter how many games he plays, but maybe this new role has taken more out of him since it's adding more work to an older player. His passing today was almost as bad as Fletcher's, in fact there wasn't much to split him, Fletcher and Herrera for sloppiness with the simple passes, it was why we couldn't get any momentum.
 
Another poor performance. A great, match winning game vs Newcastle is the anomaly amongst tumescent displays vs Villa, Spurs, Stoke and Yeovil. Fatigue is a caveat that can excuse poor positioning at times but it cannot excuse his wastefulness on the ball. Simple passes going awry is a worry for any player

He needs to address this form. Perhaps Angel Di Maria's return can lead to him having a rest for a game before he takes Mata's place again.

Lastly, an assist today should not mask the fact it was the only pass he could make in that situation and it was an easy hoof into space at that.
Him and Mata were our 2 best players against Spurs and he was definitely our best player against Villa. He's had 2 below par games, no need to go and change history and saw the others were bad because he didn't score in them.
 
He's also average against 10-man Villa and Spurs.
Wrong. Was our best player in that game if I recall. Quick look at his stats, 111 touches, 94% passing, and everyone was saying he played really well after that game.
 
Not quite. Just an expectation for a player of his calibre to complete a pass into 40 yards worth of space for Di Maria to run into. Even on a poor day.

It wasn't just a forty yard pass into space though, was it? It was a curled forty yard pass that fell perfectly into Di Maria's running stride, and which took the defender that was marking him out of the game. Rooney had to spot it, then he had to execute it. He did both, hence it being a very good pass-cum-assist, as even the people who are saying he didn't play well are conceding.
 
Wrong. Was our best player in that game if I recall. Quick look at his stats, 111 touches, 94% passing, and everyone was saying he played really well after that game.
Which one? against 10-man Villa? Maybe our best player, but still looked average (to me). Everyone's complaining about lack of creativity after that game. We only played a bit better toward the end when Herrera was on.
 
Looked unfit today, just casually jogged about, poor touches, too many simple passes when he could be pushing the team forward and just takes too long to distribute the ball sometimes. The pass at the end was good, but come on, hardly a worldie. He's been average to poor in each game since Newcastle which is a shame as he was starting to look pretty good again.
 
Wrong. Was our best player in that game if I recall. Quick look at his stats, 111 touches, 94% passing, and everyone was saying he played really well after that game.
Most of his passes are backwards, he doesn't look ahead of play enough. Part of the problem for our slow build up right now.
 
Looked unfit today, just casually jogged about, poor touches, too many simple passes when he could be pushing the team forward and just takes too long to distribute the ball sometimes. The pass at the end was good, but come on, hardly a worldie. He's been average to poor in each game since Newcastle which is a shame as he was starting to look pretty good again.
He just wasn't arsed today against League One team. Simple as that.
 
It wasn't just a forty yard pass into space though, was it? It was a curled forty yard pass that fell perfectly into Di Maria's running stride, and which took the defender that was marking him out of the game. Rooney had to spot it, then he had to execute it. He did both, hence it being a very good pass-cum-assist, as even the people who are saying he didn't play well are conceding.

It was a good pass. One you'd expect him to make. I still class it as an easy hoof for a player of his calibre given the space available to play it into. I fail to see your gripe here. I've merely commented that it shouldn't mask over the performance which some have thankfully not done from reading a few posts here.
 
It was a good pass. One you'd expect him to make. I still class it as an easy hoof for a player of his calibre given the space available to play it into. I fail to see your gripe here. I've merely commented that it shouldn't mask over the performance which some have thankfully not done from reading a few posts here.

I would agree that one good pass doesn't make a summer, and have said it was a poor performance from Rooney (while putting that into the context of this being his 4th full 90 minutes in just 9 days).

But you initially said the assist was 'an easy hoof into space', and that is far from being the case. Called out on it, you are now conceding that it was actually a 'good pass' - and there is a world of difference in tone between calling his ball into Di Maria an 'easy hoof' and calling it a 'good pass'.
 
He's played the last 5(?) games in midfield and is still our joint top highest scorer. Should be played further up the pitch. Hope this isn't a permanent switch to midfield.
 
Even when Rooney has a poor game like he had today, he works his arse off and then comes up with the goal/assist like he did today. Wonderful ball to Di Maria.
 
Was extremely poor today but still managed to come up with a decent assist.

He really does have a very low bottom level when he struggles with his touch and passing but you can never bet against him making an impact on the score sheet. Not the most consistent of players game in game out but an incredibly productive and as such a valuable player to have.

Needs a rest though.
 
Needs to play upfront or behind the striker. He is one of the most potent finishers the league has seen.
 
Even when Rooney has a poor game like he had today, he works his arse off and then comes up with the goal/assist like he did today. Wonderful ball to Di Maria.
He certainly did not work his arse off today. He just casually jogged about all game.
 
Was extremely poor today but still managed to come up with a decent assist.

He really does have a very low bottom level when he struggles with his touch and passing but you can never bet against him making an impact on the score sheet. Not the most consistent of players game in game out but an incredibly productive and as such a valuable player to have.

Needs a rest though.

True. He looks quite sluggish and slow. It'd be good if he got some bench time to recuperate himself, especially since he's played so much in the past couple of weeks.

His touch, passing, positioning, and movement were quite sloppy, particularly in the first half. In the second half, he improved in keeping possession of the ball, but he was still quite slow, overall. The pass to di Maria for the 2nd goal was beautifully executed, however, and it shows that he still has that world class quality in him even if he's not having a good match.
 
He was playing Yeovil. He should have been able to play in any position without looking as out of sorts as he did. I'd chalk this match up to bad form and nothing more. It's not one you should use to call time on his future as a midfielder.
 
He's just not a central midfielder. Credit where it's due for being versatile enough to give it a go but if Van Gaal is determined to persist with this experiment indefinitely it would be the most absurd managerial decision I've seen in 30+ years following this club.
 
He was really sloppy today. Seemed mentally tired. He's played a lot of football in a short space of time over the past couple of weeks and keeping up the level of concentration needed can be tough. A weeks rest should do him good. We will need him at his best for Southampton.
 
He's a striker - he should never, ever be judged while playing as a midfielder, because he isn't one.

It's credit to how good a footballer he is that he can blag it as a midfielder, but he isn't one. He's a brilliant, brilliant striker, and if he were being played as one we'd be in a better way as a team.

I personally hold the somewhat controversial opinion that some of our top players might have 'game time' written into their contracts and this is why we're seeing this odd set up of shoe-horning Rooney, RvP and Falcao (3 strikers!) onto the pitch at pretty much all times from a manager that throughout his whole career has had a preference for playing 1.
 
Our (slight) recent dip in performances have IMO been a result of a bit of poor form of Rooney and Carrick.
 
I really want him to break the our goalscoring record, so the sooner he moves out of midfield, the better. Ideally, he'd be a lone front man, but I just don't know how we're going to do it with the current personnel. I'd love to see a formation where Mata, Herrera and ADM are all feeding just Rooney, no Falcao, no RVP, no Wilson. Just Rooney. He'd score for fun. However, it seems unlikely that LVG will drop not one, but two guys earning 200k a week. Meh.

Just imagine the football this team could produce:

Rafael - CB - CB - Shaw
Carrick - Blind
Herrera - Mata - Di Maria
Rooney
Good Lord Almighty. Herrera and Di Maria just floating around, doing whatever they want.
 
He is our best player this year.

He was our best player last year.

He was our second best player the year before.

He is our best player of the past 10 years.
 
He's just not a central midfielder. Credit where it's due for being versatile enough to give it a go but if Van Gaal is determined to persist with this experiment indefinitely it would be the most absurd managerial decision I've seen in 30+ years following this club.

I always thought Rooney in CM was an exiting idea, because he ticks all the boxes (almost). He has a great engine, he can tackle and he has a superb range of passing. Still, i fear you are right though. Time and time again, he has shown his very best when playing as a striker
 
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