I really don't see him being here at the start of the 17/18 season, and if he doesn't do at least somewhat better by the end of this season I wouldn't be surprised if he left this summer.
10
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 41
- Goals
- 15
- Assists
- 6
- Yellow cards
- 5
- Status
So true.Wayne Rooney may one day show Everton he really is a Blue
Over time, as the rancour fades and the rawness makes way for something more appealing, it can be easy to forget just how caustic and acrimonious it was for Wayne Rooney when he cut himself free from Everton, the club that are imprinted on his soul, and discovered the hard way how there is little in football that appals supporters more than rejection from the players they cherish.
One of Rooney’s worst professional memories was the time shortly before his transfer to Manchester United when Everton had a home game and, once the theme to Z Cars had died down, hearing the Gwladys Street End, where he had once been thought of as one of their own, singing about him again, but this time “there’s only one greedy bastard”. The interview his agent, Paul Stretford, set up with the Sun added to the malevolence given the poisoned relationship that newspaper has with Merseyside. Graffiti was daubed over Rooney’s walls and, even after he had left Merseyside, the unpleasantness rumbled on because of a dispute over the house Everton had bought for him and his family, close to their training ground, as part of the agreement when he signed his first professional contract.
His parents had moved in and Rooney had to buy the house and repay Everton everything they had spent on the mortgage. There were two years to find that money, according to the account in Rooney’s book, but he claims Everton tried to force him to pay early and threatened to turf out his parents.
Rooney, the Everton-daft kid who was taken to his first match in nappies, wrote primary school letters to the imprisoned Duncan Ferguson and grew up with posters of Anders Limpar on his bedroom walls, was a pariah and still remembers the night he was watching television as viewers texted in messages saying he was never a “true Blue”, calling him a “Judas” and worse. Rooney watched the messages flashing up on the screen then took his phone and texted one of his own: “I left because the club was doing my head in – Wayne Rooney.” A few minutes later, the Sky presenter made an announcement: “Would the people at home pretending to be Wayne Rooney please stop sending text messages?”
They have made their peace, or at least the process is well under way, and every one of us who has grown up supporting a team should appreciate how unsatisfactory it was that everything should end so dismally in 2004.
Everton’s crowd were hurt by him because, in short, they cared about him. It is almost always the same when a prized player wants to upgrade from a proud, emotional club, especially when it is a local boy who has come through the ranks, but now some of the politics and spite have made way, it will be intriguing to see what happens next.
David Moyes always felt that Rooney would go back to Everton at some point in his career. Bill Kenwright, the club’s chairman, has said the same and anyone who watched the BBC’s documentary on The Man Behind The Goals – an entertaining though plainly PR-managed, no-warts-at-all kind of event – could see how natural and comfortable the England captain was on his old turf. Rooney might have spent a lot of time away but he still thinks enough of Merseyside to make absolutely certain his children were born as Scousers in Liverpool hospitals, rather than allowing their passports to be stamped with Manchester, and even the most diehard Evertonian might have to accept the player had valid reasons for wanting to join a club of United’s stature and ambitions.
Would he ever return? It would not be a surprise here for various reasons even if, first things first, a player with Rooney’s competitive spirit presumably wants to believe he is capable of better times at Old Trafford, where his form has become a legitimate point of scrutiny. Rooney has done most things for United but he has never won a trophy as captain. He is still talking about playing in the World Cup in 2018 and, having received a personalised golden boot from Sir Bobby Charlton at Wembley on Friday after overtaking him as England’s record scorer, the next chase is to establish himself in that position with his club as well.
Rooney is third in United’s all-time list of scorers with 235, two behind Denis Law, and gradually reeling in Charlton’s total of 249, even if it is taking a little longer than he might have anticipated, with only one in his last dozen Premier League appearances. The hat-trick against Club Brugge in the Champions League playoffs should not be overlooked but, without wishing to be too negative, they were moderate opponents, currently sixth in the Belgian league, whereas in the Premier League, away from home, Rooney has the rather undistinguished record of scoring only once in the past 18 months. His form has waned to the point the Manchester Evening News ran a comment piece on Saturday encouraging Van Gaal to leave him out when United visit Everton next weekend.
He is certainly not the player he was, which we should probably expect given that he turns 30 within the next fortnight and has already crammed an extraordinary amount of football into his life. Rooney has had the kind of career that will earn him the respect of every professional in the sport and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, not a player who hands out compliments too easily, was absolutely right to note how unusual it was for a footballer to spend so long at the top of the sport.
Equally, we should trust what our eyes tell us. Rooney’s deterioration has been pronounced enough to leave the distinct feeling that he is suffering the effects of playing so much so young (the equivalent, at the same age, as two full seasons more than Ryan Giggs, with a much more crash-bang-wallop style). There is no point dressing it up: in the worst moments, he resembles a champion boxer who has had one too many fights.
At the highest level, there is little evidence that he can trouble defences in the way he once could, and when that is clearly the standard that Louis van Gaal wants to attain it is perfectly reasonable to wonder how long the United manager can tolerate these diminished performances. Until now, Van Gaal has always given Rooney unwavering support, but his treatment of Robin van Persie should be a reminder about what can happen when an old favourite fades.
The next level down is another matter and, though Everton are plainly more than a club of seconds and castoffs, they have a habit of going after players from Old Trafford who are either perceived as being on the way over the hill (Louis Saha, Phil Neville), or having never made it up the slope (Darron Gibson, Tom Cleverley). Rooney’s colleagues have certainly been given the impression he is entertaining the idea about finishing his career at Goodison and clearly it helps that the rawness has subsided a little, and he can go back to his old ground next weekend without the same levels of opprobrium he has encountered on his other appearances.
For now, Rooney’s first priority ought to be justifying Van Gaal’s perseverance with him. We are talking about next summer, at the very earliest, or more likely the following year before Everton explore the idea properly and, even then, it will not be straightforward when the player earns £235,000 a week, roughly three times Everton’s top earner.
“Once a Blue, always a Blue,” his T-shirt said. If it does come down to money, it might be that Rooney has to prove that again and, in the process, perhaps change the opinions of those on the Gwladys Street End.
http://www.theguardian.com/football...erton-blue-manchester-united?CMP=share_btn_tw
Over time, as the rancour fades and the rawness makes way for something more appealing, it can be easy to forget just how caustic and acrimonious it was for Wayne Rooney when he cut himself free from Everton, the club that are imprinted on his soul, and discovered the hard way how there is little in football that appals supporters more than rejection from the players they cherish.
One of Rooney’s worst professional memories was the time shortly before his transfer to Manchester United when Everton had a home game and, once the theme to Z Cars had died down, hearing the Gwladys Street End, where he had once been thought of as one of their own, singing about him again, but this time “there’s only one greedy bastard”. The interview his agent, Paul Stretford, set up with the Sun added to the malevolence given the poisoned relationship that newspaper has with Merseyside. Graffiti was daubed over Rooney’s walls and, even after he had left Merseyside, the unpleasantness rumbled on because of a dispute over the house Everton had bought for him and his family, close to their training ground, as part of the agreement when he signed his first professional contract.
His parents had moved in and Rooney had to buy the house and repay Everton everything they had spent on the mortgage. There were two years to find that money, according to the account in Rooney’s book, but he claims Everton tried to force him to pay early and threatened to turf out his parents.
Rooney, the Everton-daft kid who was taken to his first match in nappies, wrote primary school letters to the imprisoned Duncan Ferguson and grew up with posters of Anders Limpar on his bedroom walls, was a pariah and still remembers the night he was watching television as viewers texted in messages saying he was never a “true Blue”, calling him a “Judas” and worse. Rooney watched the messages flashing up on the screen then took his phone and texted one of his own: “I left because the club was doing my head in – Wayne Rooney.” A few minutes later, the Sky presenter made an announcement: “Would the people at home pretending to be Wayne Rooney please stop sending text messages?”
They have made their peace, or at least the process is well under way, and every one of us who has grown up supporting a team should appreciate how unsatisfactory it was that everything should end so dismally in 2004.
Everton’s crowd were hurt by him because, in short, they cared about him. It is almost always the same when a prized player wants to upgrade from a proud, emotional club, especially when it is a local boy who has come through the ranks, but now some of the politics and spite have made way, it will be intriguing to see what happens next.
David Moyes always felt that Rooney would go back to Everton at some point in his career. Bill Kenwright, the club’s chairman, has said the same and anyone who watched the BBC’s documentary on The Man Behind The Goals – an entertaining though plainly PR-managed, no-warts-at-all kind of event – could see how natural and comfortable the England captain was on his old turf. Rooney might have spent a lot of time away but he still thinks enough of Merseyside to make absolutely certain his children were born as Scousers in Liverpool hospitals, rather than allowing their passports to be stamped with Manchester, and even the most diehard Evertonian might have to accept the player had valid reasons for wanting to join a club of United’s stature and ambitions.
Would he ever return? It would not be a surprise here for various reasons even if, first things first, a player with Rooney’s competitive spirit presumably wants to believe he is capable of better times at Old Trafford, where his form has become a legitimate point of scrutiny. Rooney has done most things for United but he has never won a trophy as captain. He is still talking about playing in the World Cup in 2018 and, having received a personalised golden boot from Sir Bobby Charlton at Wembley on Friday after overtaking him as England’s record scorer, the next chase is to establish himself in that position with his club as well.
Rooney is third in United’s all-time list of scorers with 235, two behind Denis Law, and gradually reeling in Charlton’s total of 249, even if it is taking a little longer than he might have anticipated, with only one in his last dozen Premier League appearances. The hat-trick against Club Brugge in the Champions League playoffs should not be overlooked but, without wishing to be too negative, they were moderate opponents, currently sixth in the Belgian league, whereas in the Premier League, away from home, Rooney has the rather undistinguished record of scoring only once in the past 18 months. His form has waned to the point the Manchester Evening News ran a comment piece on Saturday encouraging Van Gaal to leave him out when United visit Everton next weekend.
He is certainly not the player he was, which we should probably expect given that he turns 30 within the next fortnight and has already crammed an extraordinary amount of football into his life. Rooney has had the kind of career that will earn him the respect of every professional in the sport and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, not a player who hands out compliments too easily, was absolutely right to note how unusual it was for a footballer to spend so long at the top of the sport.
Equally, we should trust what our eyes tell us. Rooney’s deterioration has been pronounced enough to leave the distinct feeling that he is suffering the effects of playing so much so young (the equivalent, at the same age, as two full seasons more than Ryan Giggs, with a much more crash-bang-wallop style). There is no point dressing it up: in the worst moments, he resembles a champion boxer who has had one too many fights.
At the highest level, there is little evidence that he can trouble defences in the way he once could, and when that is clearly the standard that Louis van Gaal wants to attain it is perfectly reasonable to wonder how long the United manager can tolerate these diminished performances. Until now, Van Gaal has always given Rooney unwavering support, but his treatment of Robin van Persie should be a reminder about what can happen when an old favourite fades.
The next level down is another matter and, though Everton are plainly more than a club of seconds and castoffs, they have a habit of going after players from Old Trafford who are either perceived as being on the way over the hill (Louis Saha, Phil Neville), or having never made it up the slope (Darron Gibson, Tom Cleverley). Rooney’s colleagues have certainly been given the impression he is entertaining the idea about finishing his career at Goodison and clearly it helps that the rawness has subsided a little, and he can go back to his old ground next weekend without the same levels of opprobrium he has encountered on his other appearances.
For now, Rooney’s first priority ought to be justifying Van Gaal’s perseverance with him. We are talking about next summer, at the very earliest, or more likely the following year before Everton explore the idea properly and, even then, it will not be straightforward when the player earns £235,000 a week, roughly three times Everton’s top earner.
“Once a Blue, always a Blue,” his T-shirt said. If it does come down to money, it might be that Rooney has to prove that again and, in the process, perhaps change the opinions of those on the Gwladys Street End.
http://www.theguardian.com/football...erton-blue-manchester-united?CMP=share_btn_tw
Yeah. £5m maximum and that's even a push.
He won't leave though. People are dreaming if they think he will. He's here to stay until 2019 and will be a first team regular until 2017 at least - and if Giggs is the new manager then he's the first name on the sheet until 2019.
Just to highlight how much football he's played. Giggs started early and was hardly injured. That is staggering.
I enjoyed this typo.
You lot are dreaming if you think the current rooney will start ahead of lukaku
this crossed my mind, would he automatically just walk into evertons side anyway in a years time
He wouldn't get in now. Nevermind in a years time.
Oh Jesus thats true isn't it?
*Shudders*
Shit.
It can't be great for the team either knowing they will be dropped for their form but other's wont..
Not only that but LVG is, apparently, breaking his cardinal rule of not fielding unfit players when it comes to Rooney. Strange behaviour indeed.
Only one man can save us now... Its up to Phil Jones.
Playing with poor form and lack of match rhythm. Awesome!
It is. And realistically van Gaal has at least until 2017 and he prolongs then maybe even 2018, then Giggs will very likely step in to replace him and get at least a year. Rooney's contract runs out in 2019 so he will definitely be a captain and a definite starter until then because no manager other than van Gaal and Giggs will be in charge and neither of them would ever drop him under any circumstances.
So it's basically 10 players + Rooney for the next 3 and a half years.
We'll be a much better team when he finally leaves, unfortunately doesn't look like he will anytime soon, out of form, out of fitness and just out of his league when compared to a bloody 19 year old, needs to have an extended break from the first team, being captain shouldn't make him undroppable if he's playing shit.
Plus the new contract Giggs will reward him with.
I think he will ask to leave himself at that point. I can't see his body being able to sustain Premier League pace at 33. Then again he doesn't even have to sustain pace, he just has to be on the pitch because no possible action of his would ever lose him his place in the starting XI.
Thinking about this, it's really counter-productive because Rooney himself would probably rather not be undroppable as it'd decrease pressure and add motivation.
@NextSeason
Thanks.
Thanks.
Somebody joked about this. Short of Rooney scoring an own goal, hat-trick, he won't get dropped. In fact even if he scored an own goal hat-trick, LVG and Rooney supporters will somehow suggest that this is a good thing and therefore must continue to play.
Martinez will be ruthless. If Rooney is bad, he'll bench Rooney. England legend or not.
In any case, I can't ever seeing Martinez saying yes to Rooney joining Everton. Martinez wants to keep his job.
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You don't seriously believe that do you? Are people being tongue-in-cheek here or do they actually think that Rooney with performance levels of the last couple of months will be United captain for the next few years? I'd wager that he'll be sold in the summer if he won't up his levels this season sharpish.
I think that his recent performances are exactly the evidence why he will absolutely never be dropped by van Gaal. He's reached his bottom level and he's still the first name on the team sheet, no one else gets anywhere near this level of leeway.
@Sarni
Yes, so far, so...erm, unbelievable. Two hypotheses I'd like to throw out there.
Rooney has been absolutely terrible. Not in just in terms of the player he used to be, but full stop. But that cannot continue. He is better than what he's shown so far. Surely, if any player would suffer this massive dip in performances without improvement, they'd do the honorable thing and retire. I think he'll improve (not greatly, but enough to contribute something to the team).
If that doesn't happen, and picking him keeps messing with the balance of our side, carrying a passenger Rooney, Louis will at some point drop him. It's still early in the season, he may see something totally different in training that gives him a reason to keep selecting him. But Rooney won't be able to go through a full season like this starting games, nevermind seasons beyond this one at United.
Yes, so far, so...erm, unbelievable. Two hypotheses I'd like to throw out there.
Rooney has been absolutely terrible. Not in just in terms of the player he used to be, but full stop. But that cannot continue. He is better than what he's shown so far. Surely, if any player would suffer this massive dip in performances without improvement, they'd do the honorable thing and retire. I think he'll improve (not greatly, but enough to contribute something to the team).
If that doesn't happen, and picking him keeps messing with the balance of our side, carrying a passenger Rooney, Louis will at some point drop him. It's still early in the season, he may see something totally different in training that gives him a reason to keep selecting him. But Rooney won't be able to go through a full season like this starting games, nevermind seasons beyond this one at United.
What is going on here? Surely LVG is committing suicide with his job by constantly playing Rooney - this makes no sense, and whatever else he may be, he's not stupid.
Sooner rather than later, the dressing room is not going to be so rosy. Human nature being what it is - there's no way his teammates won't get pissed off with this favourable treatment, especially when some of them end up cleaning up his mess on the pitch. It's hard enough playing your own role, and then having to pick up after someone who is not contributing is just crap.
I hope to God we win somehow, irrespective of Rooney. It's just shit!
Sooner rather than later, the dressing room is not going to be so rosy. Human nature being what it is - there's no way his teammates won't get pissed off with this favourable treatment, especially when some of them end up cleaning up his mess on the pitch. It's hard enough playing your own role, and then having to pick up after someone who is not contributing is just crap.
I hope to God we win somehow, irrespective of Rooney. It's just shit!
I hate to say it but I don't think Rooney and 'honour' will ever meet...
He's not Eric Cantona who recognised this and didn't let his ego get in the way of doing the right thing for himself and of course the team.
He hasn't done well for Utd his season (well... for the past 2/3 seasons if truth be told)
He never does well against Everton.
He shouldn't play this weekend.
He shouldn't be shoehorned into a team to accommodate him 'cause of history.... if that was the case we'd still have Cantona in the starting XI.. and the rest!
He never does well against Everton.
He shouldn't play this weekend.
He shouldn't be shoehorned into a team to accommodate him 'cause of history.... if that was the case we'd still have Cantona in the starting XI.. and the rest!
He will play. Best make your peace with it.
And he'll be shit. And we'll moan. And his ever-decreasing number of supporters here will remind us what a fantastic player Rooney is, and that he is better than this (despite that 'this' is what Rooney has been showing for a year or so). It is an insane situation.
Too right.Preach.
Hope Jones turns up, Rooney is a waste of space most of the times.
I really hope that we are not playing Jones as a second striker.
That depends on how long Everton will be able to hold on to him, and then there's also Barkley.
So we'll hate him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A shit knight.
But yea, it's 100% that he'll fecking play against Everton, it boggles my mind how nobody at the fecking club protests about it, it's not even about his form this season which is abysmal, it's that he's always abysmal against Liverpool and Everton.
Meh. Even moptop is better than him atm
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