[Minimalist]

I think Rooney's main problem is his physique. I don't practice any sport but I look much fitter than Rooney ever did. I mean if you look at pics with his shirt off, he's like my dad whereas most footballers look like proper athletes.

I don't think it's his main problem at all but after you've groaned at his atrocious first touch, ponderous dribbling and indecisiveness, his physique is certainly a bit of a joke for an supposed athlete. At least Messi, while not looking like an athlete keeps his weight down (although he's probably one of those types that couldn't gain weight if he tried).

Then again, Rooney is not the only footballer who looks like a lad down the park. It's just most of the players who look like that aren't described as elite level players.

 

[buckooo1978]

And then there will be barren periods where he does absolute nothing (like he does now) and injuries. Which isn't the worst thing. What's actually worse is what follows - people calling him world class and arguing he's still got it. And you know what will happen next - he will continue to be the mainstay when he should be benched every now and then like every other player is. I really hope LvG sees this and realizes that Rooney isn't half the player he was.

Who knows.....

Van Gaal can be extremely stubborn as we know

Van Gaal can also be ruthless as Van Persie can testify

the other thing to consider is that there isn't a wealth of talent available - you could almost count the top strikers in the world on a hand these days

I just hope Rooney gets his sharpness back quickly and with his power and he isn't slow he should be giving defences a harder time....

 

[Sandikan]

Rooney has always been a striker who plays well in spurts....with the exception of that one year he banged in 30+

when he gets his first a few more will follow

that's a surprisingly sensible post on here.

poor Rooney, nothing will be good enough this season!

I hope Brugges and Newcastle see him get off the mark.

City have shown what we're up against this season. 2 thumping wins from a team a lot of idiots had written off. seemingly just because we pumped them in our hot streak, on their low form period.

 

[Kill 'em all]

Rooney has always been a striker who plays well in spurts....with the exception of that one year he banged in 30+

when he gets his first a few more will follow

It's not acceptable for Manchester United's main striker to take 5 or more games playing like shit until he gets into some kind of form, scores 5 and goes back to being shit again. A Manchester United striker has to bang them in from day 1.

 

[santeria13]

Don't forget 'hidden agendas' as well.

Yep. I criticise players all the time however when it's Rooney I'm criticising I'm a disrespectful hater with an agenda. In current form, he's even worse than Cleverley or Young were under Moyes, and by current I mean since April 2015..

 

[Ixion]

One away goal in the League since March 2014, no more than a single shot on target in a game this year...

Yeah he might bag a couple against Brugge and Newcastle but then he'll probably go 6-8 games without a goal. He told Van Gaal he can be our main man and get the goals this season so he has to deliver, no long streaks with no goals, not only scoring at home etc. He is at his peak and gets paid a fortune, there can be no excuses for him.

 

[Sammyjunn]

What irks me is the argument of him being close to our all time goalscoring record when someone questions his goalscoring ability. Now the problem isn't just lack of goals, his all round play is very bad. The current Rooney doesn't even come close to the standard required at a club that aims at being at the top. If Rooney keeps this kind of form which he carried throughout most of last season, we will be in big trouble. To think we used to make fun of Torres.

He's played here for so many years, no wonder he's close. Scoring 15 goals per year as a striker of the biggest club in the country isnt some extraordinary stat that makes you an unquestionable world beater even though you've deflined.

 

[buckooo1978]

It's not acceptable for Manchester United's main striker to take 5 or more games playing like shit until he gets into some kind of form, scores 5 and goes back to being shit again. A Manchester United striker has to bang them in from day 1.

this is Rooney's first season as main striker since 2009/2010 though? Berbatov, Hernandez, Van Persie and Falcao have played as our main striker invariably since then with Rooney deeper

lets be 'supporters' eh and give him a chance to regain confidence and form - its been a long time since Rooney was playing as our most advanced striker

 

[Treble]

One away goal in the League since March 2014, no more than a single shot on target in a game this year...

Yeah he might bag a couple against Brugge and Newcastle but then he'll probably go 6-8 games without a goal. He told Van Gaal he can be our main man and get the goals this season so he has to deliver, no long streaks with no goals, not only scoring at home etc. He is at his peak and gets paid a fortune, there can be no excuses for him.

That's pretty damning if true.

 

[Treble]

this is Rooney's first season as main striker since 2009/2010 though? Berbatov, Hernandez, Van Persie and Falcao have played as our main striker invariably since then with Rooney deeper

lets be 'supporters' eh and give him a chance to regain confidence and form - its been a long time since Rooney was playing as our most advanced striker

Rooney played as our most advanced striker in the last months of the previous season.

 

[Kill 'em all]

Rooney played as our most advanced striker in the last months of the previous season.

He managed how many? 4 in 14?

 

[facund]

this is Rooney's first season as main striker since 2009/2010 though? Berbatov, Hernandez, Van Persie and Falcao have played as our main striker invariably since then with Rooney deeper

lets be 'supporters' eh and give him a chance to regain confidence and form - its been a long time since Rooney was playing as our most advanced striker

I'll give him time to adjust to the positional and tactical demands of a "new" position (one he got a run in for the last few months of last season and has had all pre-season to adjust to) but won't be so sympathetic about his distinct lack of control, passing and general game awareness. The two different aspects of his game are in no way interdependent.

 

[buckooo1978]

Rooney played as our most advanced striker in the last months of the previous season.

yeah that's fair enough....

In the poll I think he will score 15-20 in the league...if our defence is tight and if Hernandez, Wilson, Depay, Pedro (hopefully), Mata, Adnan and Young can chip in with 50 or so between them it could be enough to cement our top 4 place and make a challenge this year

His form has been awful since Spurs at home last season and his performance the other night was as bad as I've seen - I think he can turn it around though....here's hoping

 

[Treble]

yeah that's fair enough....

In the poll I think he will score 15-20 in the league...if our defence is tight and if Hernandez, Wilson, Depay, Pedro (hopefully), Mata, Adnan and Young can chip in with 50 or so between them it could be enough to cement our top 4 place and make a challenge this year

His form has been awful since Spurs at home last season and his performance the other night was as bad as I've seen - I think he can turn it around though....here's hoping

Surely he can. But only for 2-3 months and then he will be bang average again. The performance against Villa won't be his worst this season.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

this is Rooney's first season as main striker since 2009/2010 though? Berbatov, Hernandez, Van Persie and Falcao have played as our main striker invariably since then with Rooney deeper

lets be 'supporters' eh and give him a chance to regain confidence and form - its been a long time since Rooney was playing as our most advanced striker

I don't think it's a confidence thing with Rooney, it's not like he has been unlucky with anything in pre season or these first two games, he has just been off with everything, passing, first touch, pace, etc, this is before we even know if he still has the killer instinct in front of goal because he hasn't managed a single shot yet.

Yes of course we should support him, but I think we need to realistic, the guy is the number one striker with no real competition for his place, at a club with ambition of winning everything, and that for me is very alarming.

 

[buckooo1978]

fr

Surely he can. But only for 2-3 months and then he will be bang average again. The performance against Villa won't be his worst this season.

that's a bold statement (literally) - I can't remember him being that poor in years

 

[Kill 'em all]

His movement, energy levels, technique, awareness and power. I want that Rooney back.

He had something special, his first touch always took him away from his marker. He could set up the ball perfectly for a shot with just his first touch.

 

[buckooo1978]

Rooney was awful the other night but the other thing we need to consider is our build up play

we rarely created chances for Falcao, RVP or Rooney last season....we haven't been a team that creates lots of chances for a long time

last season Falcao, RVP and Rooney struggled to get involved in games and were anonymous on many occasions.

Rooney's form has been poor for a while granted (and his control and passing was dire the other night) but as a team we haven't provided good service or created lots of chances for our strikers in a long time

 

[Treble]

I think that Rooney is declining and only his biggest fans refuse to see it. Seriously though. He can't be that bad. It's impossible for an elite footballer to be as bad as he was against Villa. I think that the reason is psychological. Rooney knows that he doesn't deserve the fat contract he has and that he can't live up to the expectations. This makes him playing worse than his actual ability. That contract is bad not only for United. It is bad for Rooney himself and, IMO, this will become obvious over the next months and seasons.

 

[Treble]

fr


that's a bold statement (literally) - I can't remember him being that poor in years

It's quite natural actually if you take into account that he's declining and that we are going to play with far better teams than Villa.

 

[Treble]

One thing should be clear though. He has had a fantastic career at United. It's far from easy to play so many seasons at top level. That's an achievment in itself.

 

[Ixion]

He came on to the scene in the League and International level at such a young age and has played non-stop since he'll probably burn out sooner than most players, he should be at his peak now but I think we'll look back and realise that was his mid-20s. He is definitely better than we saw at Villa though. It's interesting that he hasn't posted anything to his instagram since the Villa game, he generally posts something after every game and all the other players have done, I'm sure he knows he played poorly.

 

[santeria13]

Just bringing up some old interesting Fergie quotes about Rooney.

"When the game gets to that casual bit, he is worse than the rest of them.

"He gets really casual about it. It is better when he is on the edge. Then he is a marvellous player."

We really do need another striker to have any hope of him reaching any kind of dangerous form

 

[facund]

Just bringing up some old interesting Fergie quotes about Rooney.

"When the game gets to that casual bit, he is worse than the rest of them.

"He gets really casual about it. It is better when he is on the edge. Then he is a marvellous player."

We really do need another striker to have any hope of him reaching any kind of dangerous form

So basically we need a second "world class" striker in order to get our first reputedly "world class" striker firing?

Seems to be an awful lot of trouble to go to just to get a player motivated. If we sign another striker it should be to replace him rather than anything else IMO. If Wayne has trouble motivating himself then he really shouldn't be in the team, let alone its captain.

For what its worth I always took Fergies quote to mean that he doesn't show up for meaningless games, like the ones after you have already qualified from the CL group or secured the PL or when the team have already got a comfortable lead in a game and decide to sit on it.

 

[Cheesy]

So basically we need a second "world class" striker in order to get our first reputedly "world class" striker firing?

Seems to be an awful lot of trouble to go to just to get a player motivated. If we sign another striker it should be to replace him rather than anything else IMO. If Wayne has trouble motivating himself then he really shouldn't be in the team, let alone its captain.

For what its worth I always took Fergies quote to mean that he doesn't show up for meaningless games, like the ones after you have already qualified from the CL group or secured the PL or when the team have already got a comfortable lead in a game and decide to sit on it.

I don't even think another striker would have to be a "replacement", as such, but more so just the extra top quality that we're currently lacking up front. When we signed RVP, he wasn't intended as a replacement for Rooney, and nor was Falcao.

We don't have to get rid of him, as such, but we do definitely need to be looking at adding quality to our group of strikers, and you'd hope we'll eventually get a top class addition who can improve on Rooney.

 

[LeftyBlaster]

Well this is a new low. New excuse for Rooney; striker is a new position for him. What a laugh.

 

[Adam-Utd]

The problem for me was against Villa, he isn't making any runs behind the defense. Even then if he comes to get the ball to feet he can't turn sharply or take his marker on, instead he just looks to play it to a wide man. That just gets predictable and easy to defend against. The best strikers like Suarez/Aguero can do all of that, which makes them so unpredictable. Rooney used to be able too, but now his only form of scoring is either tapping in crosses or shooting from the edge of the box if he has room.

 

[AttackingFlair]

Shocking performance, needs to up his game.

 

[Kill 'em all]

He came on to the scene in the League and International level at such a young age and has played non-stop since he'll probably burn out sooner than most players, he should be at his peak now but I think we'll look back and realise that was his mid-20s. He is definitely better than we saw at Villa though. It's interesting that he hasn't posted anything to his instagram since the Villa game, he generally posts something after every game and all the other players have done, I'm sure he knows he played poorly.

That didn't seem to stop Messi, Ronaldo, Giggs and Scholes.

 

[Rozay]

Well this is a new low. New excuse for Rooney; striker is a new position for him. What a laugh.

He's spent his career as either a winger or midfielder if you listen to some. We are basically 'converting ' Rooney to a striker now, at least for the first time in 6 years or whatever.

 

[LeftyBlaster]

He's spent his career as either a winger or midfielder if you listen to some. We are basically 'converting ' Rooney to a striker now, at least for the first time in 6 years or whatever.

By that logic we should excuse Blind of any screw ups or mistakes in defence because it's new to him too!

 

[RedDevil@84]

Bad day in office for Rooney. Lets move on. If he continues to be crap, then he should make way for Chicha or Wilson.
More importantly, now would be a good time to buy a decent striker.

Watching Aguero score like that y'day had me almost in tears.

 

[Slevs]

Well this is a new low. New excuse for Rooney; striker is a new position for him. What a laugh.

You do know there are several different striker roles? He's played as a number 10 since 2011. Hasn't lead the line since 2010.

 

[LeftyBlaster]

You do know there are several different striker roles? He's played as a number 10 since 2011. Hasn't lead the line since 2010.

You HAVE read the posts defending him right? They defend him by saying that he's an intelligent player who has excellent game sense and can score 20+ goals. Number 10 isn't a striking role, it's a playmaking role. Your instincts as a striker don't magically disappear. Your basics don't magically become shit.

You're saying his crap passing, reactions, control and speed of thought are a product of his not leading the line since 2011 and the fact that there are subtle differences between striking roles that he has not been employed in for awhile? What a joke.

ps. yes I do know that there are differences in striking roles but the fact that you're stooping to splitting such hairs shows how deluded people have become when defending him.

 

[Sky1981]

yeah that's fair enough....

In the poll I think he will score 15-20 in the league...if our defence is tight and if Hernandez, Wilson, Depay, Pedro (hopefully), Mata, Adnan and Young can chip in with 50 or so between them it could be enough to cement our top 4 place and make a challenge this year

His form has been awful since Spurs at home last season and his performance the other night was as bad as I've seen - I think he can turn it around though....here's hoping

We dont need rooney if top 4 is all we aim, benteke will do

 

[Slevs]

You HAVE read the posts defending him right? They defend him by saying that he's an intelligent player who has excellent game sense and can score 20+ goals. Number 10 isn't a striking role, it's a playmaking role. Your instincts as a striker don't magically disappear. Your basics don't magically become shit.

You're saying his crap passing, reactions, control and speed of thought are a product of his not leading the line since 2011 and the fact that there are subtle differences between striking roles that he has not been employed in for awhile? What a joke.

ps. yes I do know that there are differences in striking roles but the fact that you're stooping to splitting such hairs shows how deluded people have become when defending him.

Give him a good run of games and see how he regains his senses. You are seriously underestimating him.

What you described in the second paragraph has nothing to do with strikers and positioning, it can be applied to any outfield player. It's mental. Everyone knows Rooney never starts the season on fire. Give him a good run and games and see how the "crap" you described will change.

 

[Sky1981]

Give him a good run of games and see how he regains his senses. You are seriously underestimating him.

What you described in the second paragraph has nothing to do with strikers and positioning, it can be applied to any outfield player. It's mental. Everyone knows Rooney never starts the season on fire. Give him a good run and games and see how the "crap" you described will change.

We don't give him a good run? He never dropped all these years. That's not enough of a run?

 

[Slevs]

We don't give him a good run? He never dropped all these years. That's not enough of a run?

I thought it was obvious I was talking about the beginning of the season.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Ever since he got more hair, he's been shit.

If he allows his baldness to reappear, he'll rediscover his form.

 

[kps88]

We need to start managing him more wisely. His enthusiasm/insistence on playing every game is coming back to haunt him; he's played a silly amount of games with barely a break for someone his age.