When he's this bad, it's hard to remember that he's actually any good. I've never seen any other player with such a disparity between his peak and trough - and the cycle repeats itself every season. He's out of position but that's no excuse: executing basic five yard passes should be independent of positon.
10
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 37
- Goals
- 14
- Assists
- 6
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
77% pass completion is shite for a CM. He's getting worse and worse at playing a position he shouldn't be playing in the first place. All the more so with Carrick, Blind, Mata, Herrera and Fellaini all fit and available. This absurd experiment needs to stop.
He can have one or two good games as a CM but overall he really isn't one and cannot be expected to have regular decent performances. If LVG wants ADM so badly up front, then play him with Rooney then. At least both of them would have that pace so important to him.
Indeed. And in fact, he can be allowed to get away with such stuff when he's played upfront. Such performances are criminal in midfield though. Especially when the idea is to have a possession based system.
Spot on. For some reason people think he's doing well. He's clearly not, these are bang average performances at best.
Rooney isn't a CM but he isn't that bad either. My two cents: He has tried to prove too much - by being everwhere on the pitch, helping in defence, getting on the end of crosses, becoming our leading goal scorer while plaing as a CM, being an impecable captain, etc. Therefore, he run himself in the ground and now he isn't fresh enough both physically and mentally.
He wouldn't make a significant difference up front. He is more dynamc than RvP but his ability to hold up the ball is limited. Still, he is a striker and should play as a stiker. I'm not sure that he would improve us up front, I'm skeptical about that, but he deserves to get a chance to show what he can contribute as a striker.
He wouldn't make a significant difference up front. He is more dynamc than RvP but his ability to hold up the ball is limited. Still, he is a striker and should play as a stiker. I'm not sure that he would improve us up front, I'm skeptical about that, but he deserves to get a chance to show what he can contribute as a striker.
If only we had a £30 million midfielder with good movement and passing to play possession football...I can't believe we are watching Rooney play in central midfield after spending so much money in the summer.
Looking at his body language, he seems to be giving that seen before message that he is not happy playing there....
He always says the opposite in his interviews.
Yep. Put him up front and he'd be just as bad. He needs to be dropped/rested; we have plenty of options for his position.
He's a good option to bring off the bench when Radders is tiring.
I think he said in 2013 that he's happy to play there to help out, when we're short of options. But he doesn't want it to become his permanent position at this point in his career. And at the moment, it looks like it might be. So I wouldn't be very surprised if he isn't happy, and that this is affecting his performances.
If the management are then going to say 'But we no longer think you're good enough as a striker or a 10' (which would be rather harsh, considering he's still our joint top scorer even while playing from deep, and Falcao and RvP have hardly been pulling up trees themselves), then that's probably when he gets itchy feet.
'If you no longer feel i'm good enough to start in the position I want to start in, then sell me to a club who do'.
Of course that's the melodramatic interpretation. Another is that he's now club captain, is prepared to shoulder the responsibility of playing out of position, isn't playing well at the moment because no-one is - least of all among our star attackers - and will pick up when the team in general does.
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You should check out his current interviews. LvG and Rooney both are willing for the latter to play in the midfield, not because he is a stop gap but because they do think that he would be better in that role. Well, at least according to them, Rooney brings in a kind of physicality which Herrera lacks. That would also explain why Herrera isn't starting and Rooney is still playing CM even though Falcao/RvP aren't really banging in the goals.
Okay, but they're hardly going to say anything different in public, are they?
Get him out of midfield and put him up front.
Either play him up top, or drop him. He's not a midfielder, and he doesn't look particularly happy playing as one (probably angry and confused tbf).
Well he should have left then, considering he was apparently not happy about playing "out of position" under Fergie. It's not like it's the first time this has happened. He seemed fine a while ago but seems like he doesn't know what he wants now, and his performances on the pitch are showing it. Putting him up top wont guarantee better performances either. Funny how when LVG came in Rooney was happy to play anywhere for the manager, coinciding with him getting the captaincy but now he looks as though he's sulking.
I think those two games in two days have drained everything out of him. He played all of those festive fixtures and now just seems below par. It isn't a lack of effort either I iust think he needs a rest. Our next PL game is Leicester on the 31st. Surely we can get past Cambridge without him and give him a week off.
Here's Rooney's exact quote from October 2013 anyway:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/09/wayne-rooney-reasons-leave-manchester-united
Do we think his attitude towards playing in midfield has changed substantially in the space of a year?
Of course even as a Rooney fan boy, I would argue that it's his job as the well renumerated captain of Manchester United to set an example and just get on with it. Which is what he's been doing, to be fair.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/09/wayne-rooney-reasons-leave-manchester-united
Do we think his attitude towards playing in midfield has changed substantially in the space of a year?
Of course even as a Rooney fan boy, I would argue that it's his job as the well renumerated captain of Manchester United to set an example and just get on with it. Which is what he's been doing, to be fair.
So many assumptions based on nothing.
Well, he did throw a tantrum under Fergie.
Except quotes from Rooney himself? He said in 2013 he was wanting to leave because he wasn't playing upfront, then when LVG came he said he was happy to play anywhere. Wonder if the new contract and captaincy had anything to do with it.
Not publically though. It was Fergie who let slip that he'd apparently asked to leave, rather than Rooney.
He's got a couple of poor games lately, but other than that he was very good playing in midfield and behind the strikers.
Every time he's played striker this season he was shit, but people keep calling for LVG to play him there because he was amazing 5 years ago. I think his best position is behind the strikers and he showed it every time he played there this season, but LVG prefers to play him in midfield because Mata is doing really good lately and he can't be dropped.
Every time he's played striker this season he was shit, but people keep calling for LVG to play him there because he was amazing 5 years ago. I think his best position is behind the strikers and he showed it every time he played there this season, but LVG prefers to play him in midfield because Mata is doing really good lately and he can't be dropped.
You're just assuming he isn't happy to play there now though and is sulking. He's said nothing of the sort recently. No more than a week ago did I see an interview with him on MUTV saying he's happy to play in midfield.
Here's what Rooney said about playing in midfield in October 2012:
And then have a look at the quotes above from October 2013. It turns out he hadn't actually wanted to play there at all.
I don't care what Rooney said about playing in midfield in 2012. The post I quoted suggested:
"He seemed fine a while ago but seems like he doesn't know what he wants now, and his performances on the pitch are showing it.... now he looks as though he's sulking."
It's pure assumptions. Anyone want to read the quote about him being happy to play in midfield from last week?
Still a tantrum...
The point remains though. No idea what fruit this experiment would bear though.
He looks like a frustrated player out there. Why wouldn't he be though, considering he chops and changes his mind all the time.
But that's the whole point: he said publicly in October 2012 that he was 'enjoying' his 'new midfield role', then admitted in October 2013 that he hadn't actually wanted to play there at all.
What footballers and managers say in public, and what they actually think, can often be diametrically opposed, because they have to play the P.R. game.
I don't think we're actually disagreeing. My point is that just because Rooney says publicly that he's happy to play in midfield, it doesn't necessarily make it so. He might well be happy to play in midfield, but if so, it means he's had a major change of heart within the space of a year.
Does he? He looks fine to me. A tad tired at the most which is entirely feasible given how much he played over Christmas. You're just making assumptions to suit you're agenda. There is no reason to suggest he is sulking.
I'll provide a little context shall I. Early in the 2012/13 season he was playing in a midfield three with Carrick and Cleverley and was the most attacking midfielder. He posted that tweet after the Newcastle away 3-0 game iirc when he played at the tip of a midfield diamond (with Carrick, Cleverley and Kagawa).
At the end of the season he was playing in a midfield two next to Carrick. It's entirely feasible that he liked the former and not the latter.
Some of Rooney's behaviour has been annoying at times but to assume he's sulking now about playing in midfield is a bit far-fetched. LvG even said against Aston Villa away he was too defensive so he told him he needs to be more attack minded and get forward more and he did that the next game. I don't think what we are seeing now is anything more than a little tiredness.
I'm not sure but I think he didnt play any games as a striker this season. I may be wrong.
People making thins up again - like he is frustrated, not happy and is sulking.
Nothing new then..
On the other hand, after we've spent some money for midfielders it doesnt make sense that he plays in the midfield. He looked the best as nr. 10 and although Mata has been decent maybe Rooney should be brought back to that position instead of him or of course should be a striker.
Looks like this has turned into pro-Rooney vs anti-Rooney, I don't think it's like that personally, I just think he's sick of spending more time chasing back than he is attacking, and the tireder Carrick gets the more running backwards Rooney is having to do.
The real issue though is that he's not a CM no matter how much he's played there, at best he could play as an AM in a midfield 3, but the stupid thing is he's stuck in the role because we lack any box to box CM's, so our best striker and Captain is not playing in the role where he can help the team the most. He'll still be our first, and maybe only, player to get double figures this season though, but just imagine if he was actually playing as a striker, he'd likely already be there and we might have a few more points.
The real issue though is that he's not a CM no matter how much he's played there, at best he could play as an AM in a midfield 3, but the stupid thing is he's stuck in the role because we lack any box to box CM's, so our best striker and Captain is not playing in the role where he can help the team the most. He'll still be our first, and maybe only, player to get double figures this season though, but just imagine if he was actually playing as a striker, he'd likely already be there and we might have a few more points.
I don't know if it is or isn't the case. But I would argue it's not far fetched at all, given that just over a year ago he was openly talking about how he didn't want to play there, and how this had affected his performances.
We all know he can't pass 5 yards but I think he's doing okay in the middle, gives us lots of drive and contributes loads defensively. Makes good runs
He played at least 5 games as a striker this season, most recently Soton away.
That's a myth. Energy does not equate to what we need in midfield. Sure he hounds the ball, but he does so in a mindless fashion that makes us lose our shape in midfield. Also, contrary to what you said, he does not make good runs. Hell, he has no idea how to exploit and occupy space that looms large in front of him. Go rewatch our games and you'll find him standing next to Carrick or in line with him, many times unnecessarily standing in a clear passing line between someone else and Carrick asking for the ball.
All of these would be inexcusable if he was a midfielder by trade. What IS inexcusable though are the basics that he's fecking up such as misplacing simple passes and losing possession. I would go so far as to say that even his lack of intelligence in exploiting space should be questioned; strikers should know how to do that.
Van Gaal probably knows better than you from his 1000s hours in training whether he plays midfield well so I'm not too worried about your sweeping absolute statements
Yes and look how well that's doing for us. By the way i gave specifics, not sweeping absolutes.He's scored plenty of goals from midfield this season, a number of them involving well timed runs from deep - quite the feat, when he apparently isn't any good at this.
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