Seems to get a free pass as long as others aren't creating chances for him. The very top strikers have the ability to make things happen on their own - you beat a man, create an opening for a shot, run down channels etc. Don't think he can do much of that anymore because he's lost all his pace and the quality of his touch changes from month to month. There's excitement when the likes of Aguero or Suarez received the ball in the final third because they can turn and run. Rooney on the other hand, typically just passes it sideways/backwards and then strolls towards the box.
10
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 41
- Goals
- 15
- Assists
- 6
- Yellow cards
- 5
- Status
The whole attack is a million miles away from being good enough in reality. Other than almost screwing up a sitter, I don't think he did anything wrong today. Of course, a title contending team would like to think their main striker can do better than simply not doing anything wrong.
It's early days, and Rooney would certainly be better with a more dangerous attack around him, and I think the manager is ultimately responsible, but I think Rooney should do better too. He simply isn't really much of a goal threat. It's all well and good saying he can finish, and will do so if an endless supply of sitters are supplied, but he also needs to be more threatening.
Van Gaal is mainly at fault though, for all his reputation, he is a negative and defensive manager, and we are terrible to watch under him. We may not have the best players, but of the ones we do have, he doesn't set us up to go out and beat teams.
It's early days, and Rooney would certainly be better with a more dangerous attack around him, and I think the manager is ultimately responsible, but I think Rooney should do better too. He simply isn't really much of a goal threat. It's all well and good saying he can finish, and will do so if an endless supply of sitters are supplied, but he also needs to be more threatening.
Van Gaal is mainly at fault though, for all his reputation, he is a negative and defensive manager, and we are terrible to watch under him. We may not have the best players, but of the ones we do have, he doesn't set us up to go out and beat teams.
He was sharp as a razor today. A lot of the front players were, touch was great again.
Problem is, I'll keep saying it over and over every game that we create absolutely sod all chances. He's not an off the shoulder/line leading striker. He's a 10SS who is best arriving late in the box in a fluid system.
On the plus side he's basically a sorcerer, instead of gambling on a one touch finish he traps the ball on a dime and someone from the opposition as if under a charm comes and spikes the ball into his own net.
Problem is, I'll keep saying it over and over every game that we create absolutely sod all chances. He's not an off the shoulder/line leading striker. He's a 10SS who is best arriving late in the box in a fluid system.
On the plus side he's basically a sorcerer, instead of gambling on a one touch finish he traps the ball on a dime and someone from the opposition as if under a charm comes and spikes the ball into his own net.
Amen
There were a couple of moments in the first half when Rooney's touch let him down, besides that I can't feel criticism of him is uncalled for. We could have had Suarez or Aguero up front today and it would not have made any difference. The gap between our number 10 and our holding players is massive, so massive that we never even looked like building any kind of move going forward. Rooney was left to run around after hoofs or hope that we'd nick the ball high up the pitch and play him in. Once again, a striker is not the issue for this team. If we actually gave Rooney two or three clear cut chances I'm sure he'd score them. I genuinely feel even Messi would have issues playing in the shape and system we use.
I disagree. Suarez and Aguero are great at creating something for themselves, they have the skillset to be unpredictable and beat a man.
I think Messi could create a bit more..he's a decent midfielder too with an ability to beat his man or 4..but yes, for the rest of the human players..our system isnt helping at all..
How do you create something for yourself if you don't see the ball? Its like the 2009 Champions League final. Yeah we had Ronaldo but after the first 10 minutes we couldn't really get the ball to him. On his day Ronaldo, shown more often for Portugal these days than a club level, can literally destroy sides on his own. Only if he can get the ball though.
I lost count of the amount of times in the second half we just went for the hoof forward. We barely used midfield, mostly cos there was nobody in midfield. Two sitters screening defence and a black hole between them and Memphis/Herrera. Even prime Drogba would have struggled to actually do anything in today's system. Even if he did bring down one of the hoof balls, there would be so much space between him and a supporting team mate he'd probably lose it before the cavalry arrived.
Sharp as a razor today ?? We should thank god for Walker , cuz Rooney was sleepwalking .
If Walker wasn't there he just passes the ball into the corner of the net past a rushing Vorm. Six of one and half a dozen of the other really.
You can argue that he wasn't anywhere near as bad as some, including myself, are making him out to be but the bit in bold is complete nonsense any way you look at it. I was genuinely surprised to see no white text following such a statement. A sharp Rooney would have bagged that chance with no problem/hesitation.
Really? If Smalling wasn't there today we would have witnessed a massacre. Such statements don't make any sense.
Someone bagged it for him? Like I said, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. I see no problems here, his touch was great, he layed on a couple of good passes in the attacking third and received absolutely no critical ball off the back at all to score or received no pushed up players to create quality touches around the area. This isn't a problem with Rooney, it is a problem with possession football and the Van Gaal system and the way Young and Mata work as inverted wingers. I have said this before, he won't score many in this system but if he plays like he did today then he will keep his place because this is exactly how Van Gaal forwards operate.
Yes. He's one on one in the area with the keeper who's rushing and has a signature instep curler into the near corner and he definitely would have buried it, hands down. Someone put it in for him, end of story.
That's true, but he was there. If Walker put his foot in front of the ball instead of pass it back into his own goal, Rooney would have missed.
He took very long to react, which isn't good. He should be tapping those in with one touch.
He was very poor today, really hope he's dropped if he keeps this up.. Enough with the "captain is never dropped" rule
You're missing the point. It was by chance that the own goal happened. A lot of the time the defender/keeper would have simply disposessed Rooney which was relatively easy considering he took the extra unnecessary touch and the goal was a result of being dispossessed. You're telling me that Van gaal forwards operate based off luck and chance and that just because Rooney's mistake happened to lead to a goal means that he was razor sharp? 9 times out of 10 he would have simply been tackled without any own goal. Once again, Rooney should have buried it first time, without the touch, and if he was in top form I have no doubt of him doing that. I doubt a lot of aspects of his game but finishing is not one of them.
He was not exactly one on one with the keeper, Walker did very well until that point to make Rooney's life difficult but then made the very costly mistake of deflecting it into the net. You said it yourself, someone put the ball in the net for him which wouldn't have been necessary had he made the right decision in the first place.
Either you're on the wind up here or just are not capable of seeing past your love for Rooney. There are many on here who are big fans of him who would admit he messed up in this particular occasion.
There was another moment where he ruined one of our counterattacks by mishitting a very simple short pass into Memphis. Any player worth mentioning, would have not made such a mistake if they were in 'razor sharp' form. Most of our attacking players were just as bad today. It's not like I'm singling out Rooney here but frankly what you're saying is just not true.
Last edited:
I'm not missing the point at all, we could argue any scenario we like. Twist it any which way to make out that Rooney is a championship level striker. I'm not doing that. We scored, regardless of what happened. End of.
Yes. He was. I think you need to watch it again. Walker is at full speed on the edge of the area when he is instinctively setting himself for the touch, look at the distance of the keeper and how out of position he is. He'd have tapped it in, or Walker scrambled to do it for him. End of story.
We can go on all day making up stupid arguments to bash Rooney with. It has to stop. It is completely and utterly ridiculous, not worth anyone's time including yours or mine.
I praise his hold up ability but that's as far as it goes and that's not a dig at him, just not enough service for him to do anything more.
thought he did pretty well. You can see he is still a little rusty. give him 3 or 4 games. He will be there. He does lack service. I blame the way van Gaal has the team set up. Still experiemnting I feel.
Unfortunately he's not a natural hold up player and when your wide forwards are Young and Mata there is little you can do in any case. I'd be surprised to hear Van Gaal speak poorly of him after that performance. (Have not seen his comments)
I'm not missing the point at all, we could argue any scenario we like. Twist it any which way to make out that Rooney is a championship level striker. I'm not doing that. We scored, regardless of what happened. End of.
Yes. He was. I think you need to watch it again. Walker is at full speed on the edge of the area when he is instinctively setting himself for the touch, look at the distance of the keeper and how out of position he is.
We can go on all day making up stupid arguments to bash Rooney with. It has to stop. It is completely and utterly ridiculous, not worth anyone's time including yours or mine.[/spoiler]
That mindset is very backwards.
Yeah sure, he was by definition, one on one and managed to get dispossessed by an outfield player within a second of receiving the ball. Would you listen to yourself? Whether it resulted in a goal or not is purely based on luck at that stage and if we are going to hinge our season on a 'razor sharp' Rooney who relies on luck to deliver the goods then that's very worrisome. I'm not even bashing Rooney here. I have repeatedly stated that if he was up to his usual standard in this particular game, he would have buried the chance before Walker reached the ball in the first place. What you're saying actually benefits my argument more than yours. I have also continued to say none of our attackers were up to their usual standard today and were just as bad if not worsethan Rooney. You are the one with an obvious agenda here, not me.
We can go on all day making stupid arguments to defend a relatively poor performance which a few players beside Rooney were also guilty of. Frankly, your unwarranted defense of him in this particular instance is what is 'utterly ridiculous'.
Even if you are still adamant that his performance was not poor, to say it was 'razor sharp' is completely unjustified.
Last edited:
Club captain and leading striker on the same money as Ronaldo and messi, it is a joke, he has been atrocious the past couple of seasons, I have a few issues with the current setup at the club, but he is without doubt the biggest one given the status he has been given, it is not highlighted because he is protected by the English media, Fergie seen it and had him gone, unfortunately he retired and golum fecked up, by what we are paying him, if he is our answer to Ronaldo, messi, neymar etc is at any wonder we not at the races.
The ball went into the net and it ended up being the single goal that gained the three points. I don't know what you want me to do other than state the facts of what happened? Rather than fabricating some illustrious breakdown of what could have, should have, may have, might have, possibly have happened.
I never said it wasn't based on luck, again, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.
I've not even talked about other players in this instance. If simply stating the facts of what happened and being happy with his performance and in the notion that if he is not credited with the goal it is not the end of the world, then call me agenda driven. I'm not here to invent a multitude of scenario's that involve a desperation to paint Rooney as some shite championship striker. I'll call his game as I see it, today his game was decent playing a role he's clearly not suited to. It culminated in forcing an error and own goal which went on to be the match winner.
Like someone here said, he didn't do much wrong today.
Which isn't nearly good enough. Depay and Mata will have to score 25 goals each if we are to challenge for the title, if Rooney is to play up front like this for the rest of the season.
Which isn't nearly good enough. Depay and Mata will have to score 25 goals each if we are to challenge for the title, if Rooney is to play up front like this for the rest of the season.
All Rooney had to do was be there and he is capable of far more than what he showed in that moment. If you're going to credit anyone, credit carrick who made the vital interception that led to the counter attack from such a dangerous position in the first place. He contributed a lot more to that goal than anyone else in the attack but of course you will shower Rooney with praise simply for being in the position he should be as a striker, despite not scoring a fairly easy goal by his standards. If we're talking about a defender would you praise him simply for being in the right position despite getting dribbled/muscled off the ball? Because that's the equivelant of what you're saying from a defensive point of view Furthermore, if that was Falcao or RVP they would be getting absolutely and rightly hammered on here but it's ok becacuse we're talking about Rooney? . We are paying far too much for a player of his capabilities to do just that don't you think? As for playing a role he's clearly not suited to; what are you talking about?
I have complete faith in Rooneys goal scoring abilities, it's his other attributes that slightly worry me but thats for another discussion. Whether you consider him world class or not, this was a poor game by his standards, as it was for all our attacking players.
Last edited:
Player who can produce world class moments rather than a world class player.
Though its less and less recently.
Though its less and less recently.
He needs to sort it sharpish. LvG is putting a lot of faith in him.
I think you're hurting your own brain. It was a 1-0 win and Rooney played well, there is no need to tangle yourself up in a desperate attempt to find something to bash Rooney with. I don't particularly care if anyone else thinks he's crap, or was crap against Tottenham, I stated my opinion and now I am walking away.
Hope Chicha will get some minutes in next games..
What I was surprised to see is, how he was always in a wrong position, when the midfielders were pressing and knocked the ball from the opposition. He was just never near enough to get to the ball first.
Not sure if it's just bad luck or bad positioning. But the repeating occurrence of it makes me think it's the later.
Not sure if it's just bad luck or bad positioning. But the repeating occurrence of it makes me think it's the later.
Watching depay play in the middle behind rooney its clear that not only depay will play on the left but Rooney will be playing where depay is once we get a striker.
An attacking midfielder who makes runs past the central striker is what rooney has been doing all his life.
Rekon we are in for a striker that will go straight to the first team.
An attacking midfielder who makes runs past the central striker is what rooney has been doing all his life.
Rekon we are in for a striker that will go straight to the first team.
Why would Rooney be so deep as to be playing near the midfielders? Can you explain what you mean by that?
I am not bashing Rooney whatsoever unless you consider that to be fair criticism for what was a generally underwhelming performance by his standards. My initial qualm with what you said is that you implied he was 'razor sharp', which even the most avid Rooney supporters would agree he was no where near today. I would have the same objections if the same was said about any of our attacking players today for that matter. If Rooney was in his supposed top form today as you suggest then there is no way in hell he should be leading the line for a title challenging team. Goodbye
thought he was sub par and contributed next to nothing if I am being honest. He even tried not to score when gifted a shot at point blank requiring a trap and had to have Walker help him. We need a proper striker again.
No, I mean near the opposition's own box. He was there trying to interfere, but never close enough to actually get the ball.
Saw him at the cinema today.
Did he also miss the film?
Apparently Walker went in and watched it for him.
was awful anyway
- Status