[NinjaZombie]

Not only does he get to start every game, he gets to play the whole 90.

Would have liked to see Martial centre forward and Mata behind him when subs were made.

 

[Sam]

Yeah, he is useless despite trying hard, that's sad to see.

Yeah its pretty painful to watch atm.

 

[mattsville]

Rooney is finished simple as that, he was a few seasons ago, SAF had him gone then Fergie retired and golum signed him on a stupid contract. There are no excuses or angles to take on it, playing in the wrong position and all that shit, as a footballer he is f*cked, he is so frustrating to watch, he regularly displays poor ball control, poor short range passing and in particular, poor decision making, if you lose a yard of pace as you age, understandable, but it is so much more mentally fundamental than that. LVG doesn't feck around, that is just as clear, so what is going on here is a bit odd, politics of some kind perhaps, for me, this particular situation is without doubt the biggest issue around the club at the moment.

 

[Sylar]

He doesnt contribute anything

Its even worse being in the stadium and seeing it. His movement is terrible, he gets in the way of other players and right now is a detriment to the team.

There seems to be a lot of Rooney apologists though or those trying to find a way to justify his performance (like blaming others eg other people arent running, or the position hes playing, or hes better suited to bigger matches, or its his hair...)

Forget numbers though, just from watching the match, you can see how terrible he was. His first touch so bad, his second touch is a tackle. So frustrating.

 

[Cooksen]

He has been an international and a first team player since the age of 17 and all those games have done a toll on his body.

I dont doubt his effort at all but the touch has gone, the pace and power has gone, the passing has gone.\

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Supposedly a touchmap of a United #9

 

[Kakeru]

He has been an international and a first team player since the age of 17 and all those games have done a toll on his body.

I dont doubt his effort at all but the touch has gone, the pace and power has gone, the passing has gone.\

We would have a right to blame a number of unhealthy habits in his lifestyle as well. If he took good care of himself, I don't think we would talk about matches having a toll on him.

I only wish the board just cut the grass under Moyes' feet in the Rooney saga in 2013 and that many of us (including myself) were not kissing Rooney's feet that easily back then.

 

[Red Stone]

Supposedly a touchmap of a United #9

He did get very close to goal, though. Our goal, but goal nonetheless.

 

[Cooksen]

We would have a right to blame a number of unhealthy habits in his lifestyle as well. If he took good care of himself, I don't think we would talk about matches having a toll on him.

I only wish the board just cut the grass under Moyes' feet in the Rooney saga in 2013 and that many of us (including myself) were not kissing Rooney's feet that easily back then.

Agreed and when you compare to Ronaldo who treated his body like a temple and worked his arse off to be the best.

 

[Rado_N]

From the Indy.

Wayne Rooney - 7 out of 10
After turning 30 on Saturday, the United skipper led from the front. Delivering a display epitomising his responsibilities, his most memorable contributions came in front of his own goal.

Anthony Martial - 6 out of 10

Had little room to manoeuvre on the left wing, a position Louis van Gaal has insisted upon lately, and inevitably cut an isolated and frustrated figure.

 

[Kakeru]

Agreed and when you compare to Ronaldo who treated his body like a temple and worked his arse off to be the best.

Yep, and Ronaldo is a single father on top of that too; it's all credit to him for keeping himself fit and being still one of the very best despite.

When I look at Rooney's situation, I think this is where clubs should find ways to make sure players are fully accountable for their physical shape through healthy lifestyle habits. Anyone who steps out of line (of which physical fitness would be seriously impaired as well) should face consequences (fines, getting dropped, etc.) at any moment and regardless of past reputation.

 

[Andy_Cole]

I gave him a 2/10. That's generous.

 

[bosnian_red]

Yep. The similarities between Rooney this season, and Falcao/RVP last, are clear for all to see.

It's actually quite amazing how United relied for so long on world class strikers bailing us out under Fergie, to all of a sudden having to carry mediocre strikers who offer nothing for the 2nd season now. At least we know that in Martial we have one who will be one of the best in the world without a doubt in the near future and can perform brilliantly at his very young age, but it's just dependent on how long is Van Gaal willing to put up with Rooney up top? Last season he gave Van Persie and Falcao both a few months of constantly keeping them in the side to prove themselves, but then ended up giving up on both of them around February time I think? Which isn't too ridiculous, as at the start of the season when we signed Falcao and RvP right after the world cup, everyone still thought of them as world class strikers, same with Rooney. So 5 months or so later and Van Gaal completely drops them to the bench and decides he's getting rid. Not many managers would do that so quickly, even if the fans were saying it for a while. I don't think he'll be afraid to drop Rooney when he gives up on him though. For today, you could say we didn't have proper options really as Young was injured and Memphis has been in poor form just as Rooney has been, and it was the derby. Next week though, if Young is fit, I wouldn't be surprised to see him start on the left with Martial up top. Just hope that doesn't mean dropping Ander.

 

[Man of Leisure]

The Rooney problem is something that needs to be addressed immediately as it's clearly the biggest impediment to both our short and long-term success. Ignoring it isn't a solution, and if we think it's bad now I shudder at the thought of what the Rooney thread will be like in another year or two. He's on the hook for another £250-300k/week until June 2019. Based on past behavior, I just can't see him leaving elsewhere unless he got paid the terms of his current contract, even if that meant rotting on our bench. It's clear we need to be rid of as a sulking Rooney isn't going to help matters. But in all likelihood, for Rooney to move on would require United to subsidize a significant portion of his wages. I just can't work out any other solution than this. Who'd be willing to pay his full wages in his current state?

It's not likely that Rooney will score 14 more goals by the end of the season to break Sir Bobby's scoring record, in fact it'd actually be a small miracle if he did. I really hope the scoring record doesn't play any part in LVG's decision-making for sticking with Rooney. For whatever reason, LVG is unwilling to bench Rooney, let alone sub him. One can only hope that LVG will do what he must in the summer and that the club would support him. Wish he'd simply live up to his reputation of having big enough bollocks to bench anyone.

Giving Rooney a 5-year extension should have been a sackable offense in and of itself. Fecking Moyes. IIRC, plenty on here were quite satisfied when Rooney got his extension. This and the Moyes' hire should be a constant reminder that no club is too big to be exempt from massive repercussions brought on by bad decisions. Making Giggs our next manager would also qualify.

 

[Keenst]

No shots on target. No chances created. A passing accuracy of 55% (the lowest on the pitch). Lost possession 28 times (highest on the pitch). One touch in the opposition penalty area.

 

[beergod]

I was under the impression LvG is ruthless and cared less for reputations. Unless we're all missing something obvious Rooney is playing on past reputation. He should be nowhere near the first team.

I don't think he's even worth a place on the bench.

I'm hoping that LVG is giving Rooney every opportunity to prove how shit he is to the likes of Woody and the Glazers to get them to put up the cash to get rid of him next summer. I'm trying to see his inexplicable squad status in a positive light, because I agree that he should be nowhere near our starting 11. We would've been laughing at this form if Moyes had the balls to sell him to Chelsea back in 2013.

 

[Tyrion]

If you accept mediocrity then that's fine... Not for me.

I agree with most of what you said but there's a difference between the manager making what you consider to be bad calls and him disrespecting the fans. His irritation at the media does not mean he's disrespecting the fans.

 

[ZDwyr]

That 365 article is spot on.

 

[starman]

We are still in October, and had no summer international tournament. What will he be like next year after the Euros?

Hes played near 60 games a season since he was 18. Rushed back from injuries when he should have rested. Plus he hasn't taken care of himself like Ronaldo, it all adds up. If he didn't have such a ridiculous contract where he is getting a 1m a month, I would give him a month off, in the hope he could rejuvenate himself

 

[Red_toad]

Is it just a Rooney issue, or is it our style of play, Fallcow, RvP & Rooney have all been pretty dire up top for us over the last 2 seasons.

Rooney has always been a player who has to play into form, but it's now getting beyond a joke. Van Gaal needs to address this issue one way or the other, but as we're so short on striker options he's kinda in a difficult situation.

 

[Womp]

Is it just a Rooney issue, or is it our style of play, Fallcow, RvP & Rooney have all been pretty dire up top for us over the last 2 seasons.

Rooney has always been a player who has to play into form, but it's now getting beyond a joke. Van Gaal needs to address this issue one way or the other, but as we're so short on striker options he's kinda in a difficult situation.

All 3 of those mentioned players are past it, play style isn't the issue, take Martial for example

 

[Sky1981]

I don't buy tactics and formations not accommodating, even his biggest critics don't bother about him scoring if he at least doing the basic right. The most infuriating about him is that he manages to look like a nobody on the field, failing to trap a ball, failing to pass 10 yards under no markings, failing to win a "SINGLE" header (bar the one he did on our box) in not just "ONE GAME" but consistently for 18 months. Beggars believe, put anyone with sunday football experience and they can still pass the 10 yard pass without being intercepted, anyone in our youth setup can probably make that pass, let alone Wayne Rooney

Everybody lost form and ability with age, nobody holds it against him (I didn't), but take a look at Teddy Sheringham, Henrik Larson, Berbatov, Giggs, Scholes, Carrick, Rio, Vidic, Evra, and any other 30+ players, even 35 years old professional footballer didn't fail that badly. Even Scholes can still do the 10 yards pass.


What happens with Rooney? It's one of the biggest mystery in world football.

My theory is just his instict, brain and reflex still belongs in the 18 years old wayne's world, while his body is declining and he didn't retrain his basic. I played football myself, when I was 20 my brain told me to pass there, with x speed, and voila, it reaches where it's intended, but nowdays the same train of thoughts would get the ball moving slower because my motoric is getting weaker. I have to add some more strength to reach the same result.

He should really retrain his basic and getting his body and mind recalibrating, he should accept himself that there's something terribly wrong with his performance and acknowledge the problem if he still wants to have a top flight career in football.

 

[Sammyjunn]

I felt so sorry for him when he tried dribbling yesterday, one of the slowest pieces of movement I have seen in the last couple of years. He's really past it.

 

[Aussie_Red_Devil]

Can he control a ball anymore. Seemed like every time a ball was passed to him it came bouncing off and then he was in a fight for possession. Reminded me of Falcao last season.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Dispossed 6 times
Unsuccessful touches 3
Missed passes 15(out of 31)
Acc crosses 0/4

So he lost the ball 24 times, hit 0 out of 4 crosses. But to be frank I thought statistics in this case didn't show the entire story. He was still a lot better than he has been this season and showed a lot of desire and motivation at least. He hasn't set the bar high at all, so being one of the best display of the season doesn't matter a lot of course. We still want a world class player, not a liability.

 

[Eckers99]

Nice to see that headline news on the BBC website is an appalling piece defending him.

It's only a few days since Phil Mcnulty said there's "... No case for Rooney not starting up front for England at the Euros."
So according to the BBC's main man his form is not even worth debating. Nothing to see here. Everything is just fine. Move along...

 

[K2K]

It's only a few days since Phil Mcnulty said there's "... No case for Rooney not starting up front for England at the Euros."
So according to the BBC's main man his form is not even worth debating. Nothing to see here. Everything is just fine. Move along...

Let him start for England, and continue his abysmal performances for them at major tournaments..but please, not at United..we've had enough.

 

[Sky1981]

He did get very close to goal, though. Our goal, but goal nonetheless.

WTF is that, he's the striker isn't he?

He wants to be everywhere but the team won't pass to him, they want to pass to a striker who's halfway back in the circle, when the teams needs bodies in the circle he's jogging sluggishly to the opposition box.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Is it just a Rooney issue, or is it our style of play, Fallcow, RvP & Rooney have all been pretty dire up top for us over the last 2 seasons.

Rooney has always been a player who has to play into form, but it's now getting beyond a joke. Van Gaal needs to address this issue one way or the other, but as we're so short on striker options he's kinda in a difficult situation.

Style of play has to be a factor. Unless they're willing/able to dribble past people and create their own chances (i.e. Martial) being a striker for us must be a grim experience. Lucky to get one decent chance per game. Often less. That's no way for any striker to get any kind of form or momentum. Rooney's all-round play is so bad that it's obviously not just an issue with the creativity of the team but it's fairly obvious that this isn't helping.

 

[Kag]

Playing with him is like driving with the handbrake on

Couldn't put that any better.

 

[crappycraperson]

Style of play has to be a factor. Unless they're willing/able to dribble past people and create their own chances (i.e. Martial) being a striker for us must be a grim experience. Lucky to get one decent chance per game. Often less. That's no way for any striker to get any kind of form or momentum. Rooney's all-round play is so bad that it's obviously not just an issue with the creativity of the team but it's fairly obvious that this isn't helping.

Yes, it is easy to carry an over the hill striker if your team is constantly creating chances for him to put them away.
Problem is even if it may be a problem for Rooney, I don't think it is bad for the development of the team. Van Gaal is building from the back which many great managers aspire to do. The fact that we were not overrun by City in the midfield was a positive from yesterday given they have butchered us in that area in the recent past. (Of course, lack of Silva helped as well). Rooney at his peak would have made us more creative as well, right now he is in a state where he can be carried by others.

 

[devilish]

He was unbearable to watch and should have been subbed. However 6 goals in 14 games isn't that bad

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Yes, it is easy to carry an over the hill striker if your team is constantly creating chances for him to put them away.
Problem is even if it may be a problem for Rooney, I don't think it is bad for the development of the team. Van Gaal is building from the back which many great managers aspire to do. The fact that we were not overrun by City in the midfield was a positive from yesterday given they have butchered us in that area in the recent past. (Of course, lack of Silva helped as well). Rooney at his peak would have made us more creative as well, right now he is in a state where he can be carried by others.

Mata, Memphis, Schweinsteiger and Hererra aren't making us creative either. I really hope they aren't all over the hill too.

 

[crappycraperson]

Mata, Memphis, Schweinsteiger and Hererra aren't making us creative either. I really hope they aren't all over the hill too.

Schwein has not been the creative fulcrum for either Bayern or Germany in the recent seasons. For NT for example, he pretty much played as a pure DM allowing Kroos or Khedira to play more attacking role. He is playing more B2B role for us, especially alongside Schneiderlin but it remains to be seen if he will be a contributor to our attacking output.
Out of the other 3, I would say Mata is the clear disappointment for me. His attacking output is good for us but I expected more from him when we signed him. Some will say that he is playing on the right but he does gets the freedom to cut in at all times.

In any case, I am not disputing that we play in a rigid system with less freedom for attacking players. But I don't agree that is hampering individual performances to the degree that one may think. Athletico Madrid and Chelsea in recent seasons have played very rigid systems as well, yet plenty of attacking players and strikers at both clubs have done well.

 

[BennyBlanco]

It's going to be a nightmare when he's eventually dropped, he'll kick off about it, he's done so everytime he's not been selected in the past, then the media will be on the story each fecking game/presser like vultures, distracting our season.

Then theres the problem of the fact he hates not playing every game but is on such an inexplicably large contract that anyone he could conceivably start for wouldn't be able to offer him 1/3rd of his current wages.

 

[togg]

Mata, Memphis, Schweinsteiger and Hererra aren't making us creative either. I really hope they aren't all over the hill too.

Well Schweinsteiger seems to have that air of having a bit of fun before he hangs up his boots. Not sure he has that drive to win he had before. Memphis could very well turn out to be another Zaha. We will have to wait and see. No doubting the talents of Mata and Hererra...but the way LVG intructs the team to play seems to be stifling any creativity...which always needs an element of risk.

 

[hp88]

He can't kick up a fuss because he's genuinely shit, If he was on form scoring a couple of goals every weekend then he could argue his point. The squad, especially our strikers and wingers would benefit from Rooney being dropped as one or two of them would be back in the squad, they're not going to side with Rooney on this one. The media response does not matter, they have zero control over our squad selection and I can only hope we have a manager in charge who isn't scared of dropping someone because a certain player has friends in the media. This all boils down to the manager, he has got the final say on who starts for United.

 

[togg]

TBH I think LVG's rather irritated reaction to questions about Rooney (did you see his face go redder after he said 'I'm sick of it') could be interpreted as him being frustrated by Rooney as well. But he's in a bit of a dilemma. Drop Rooney and an unhappy pissed off Rooney could totally tear the dressing room apart. Just a theory mind.....

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Another straight to the point article.

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

We have made a rod for our own back, of course Rooney will have a strop if he is benched. He has spent his whole career both for utd and England getting starts and not being subbed despite his form because "he needs to play himself In to form". No other player gets this to the same degree, they get made to play themselves into form
In the reserves. Now all of a sudden people expect him to take being benched with good grace? It's too late, rooneys ego needed a boot up the arse and taming years ago but no one had the balls, not even saf until it was too late