Wayne Rooney, The Midfield General? Mourinho Says No.

What should we do with Rooney ?

  • Keep him as a starting XI player

    Votes: 23 6.7%

  • Sell him

    Votes: 221 64.8%

  • Keep him as a squad player

    Votes: 97 28.4%
  • Total voters
    341
  • Poll closed .

032Devil

Full Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2004
Messages
22,147
OK guys, lets have this out!

Quiet a few posters seem to feel that Rooney can't become a midfielder, hasn't got the abilities of a midfielder and is terrible at passing the ball. Recently, I rebutted a poster in another thread who said that he can't pass, he can't dribble and has no vision to be a midfielder. For me, he has now for three games dominated the middle area of the pitch (FA Cup Final and two England games at the Euros), spraying accurate passes around the field and occasionally taking a pot shot at scoring. With each game his confidence and influence is growing and today (versus Wales), he added a new dimension to his armoury by making excellent crosses from corner-kicks and free-kicks.

His command of the middle of the park was so impressive that established English midfielders were all second-rate to him. He was MOTM vs Russia and arguably vs Wales too.

What does the forum think?
 
Won't cut it in the PL and how soon Mourinho ditches the idea will decide how our first season under him will go.

If England go deep the tournament, he'll be exposed too but the England team isn't very good anyways so the 2 sides of the debate will be split again between him being shit and the rest not being there to help.
 
He was great today. If he can keep his performance like that, I think he will be great midfielder for us next season..
 
032Devil said:
OK guys, lets have this out!

Quiet a few posters seem to feel that Rooney can't become a midfielder, hasn't got the abilities of a midfielder and is terrible at passing the ball. Recently, I rebutted a poster in another thread who said that he can't pass, he can't dribble and has no vision to be a midfielder. For me, he has now for three games dominated the middle area of the pitch (FA Cup Final and two England games at the Euros), spraying accurate passes around the field and occasionally taking a pot shot at scoring. With each game his confidence and influence is growing and today (versus Wales), he added a new dimension to his armoury by making excellent crosses from corner-kicks and free-kicks.

His command of the middle of the park was so impressive that established English midfielders were all second-rate to him. He was MOTM vs Russia and arguably vs Wales too.

What does the forum think?
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Just no and he never dominated any midfield as all 3 teams just defended deep letting him do hes thing making him looking better than he is and never impressed in either game other than hes 40 long range crosses to the right FB per game. If he is gonna be our main creative midfielder next season prepare for another season without CL.
 
This isn't the thread for me.
 
He's not a midfielder. He's played against a shite Russia team and Wales. Both games he's had times where he's dawdled on the ball as the last man in midfield and against a team that is half decent going forward we'll get picked off on the counter so quickly we won't even know what's happened.

It's fine when he loses the ball because of his awful first touch and his shit short passing when he's up front because we've got most if not all of the team behind him to mop up but do that when he's the deep lying playmaker and we're in serious trouble.

The other players seemingly always give it to him, a bit like Gerrard in his final days at Liverpool (think slip moment), like they're submissive to him because he's Wayne Rooney.

Yes he can ping a ball about, there's no doubt about that from the amount of diagonals he sends to Valencia each week for us but he's not an inventive passer and he's not disciplined enough positionally or technically good enough to keep the ball in dangerous areas as a midfielder.

Shouldn't be in the team and we should sell him to China if the opportunity presents itself.
 
He has the workrate, technical ability and physicality to do well in this role. I would like to see him pass it vertically a bit more, but apart from that he has been good in this position. If we can get a better deep-lying playmaker then we should, but until then I am happy with Rooney playing this role.
 
032Devil said:
His command of the middle of the park was so impressive that established English midfielders were all second-rate to him.
Click to expand...
What established English midfielders? Are the famed midfields of Palace, Wales and Russia really the bar we're setting as Manchester United quality?
 
I agree, he keeps possession well and always looks for a forward pass. Also, he adds alot of winning mentality to the team. You can tell how much he hate losing the ball, the way he tries to win it back.
 
My main problem is that ther is no variation to his passing. Almost every pass is wide, long or short.
 
Didn't watch the game today, how you lot rate him - out of 10?
 
032Devil said:
OK guys, lets have this out!

Quiet a few posters seem to feel that Rooney can't become a midfielder, hasn't got the abilities of a midfielder and is terrible at passing the ball. Recently, I rebutted a poster in another thread who said that he can't pass, he can't dribble and has no vision to be a midfielder. For me, he has now for three games dominated the middle area of the pitch (FA Cup Final and two England games at the Euros), spraying accurate passes around the field and occasionally taking a pot shot at scoring. With each game his confidence and influence is growing and today (versus Wales), he added a new dimension to his armoury by making excellent crosses from corner-kicks and free-kicks.

His command of the middle of the park was so impressive that established English midfielders were all second-rate to him. He was MOTM vs Russia and arguably vs Wales too.

What does the forum think?
Click to expand...
Dominated what exactly. You've got to be joking to make such statements. How can you view rooney as a midfield general when he is incapable of setting any tempo. He has a very poor first touch and is pretty much barren of ideas. His first and only instinct on the ball goes hand in hand with any rightback. Let's not confuse an average performance from him and start this hype train. He isn't a very good midfielder but he has desire at the very least. That desire helped us out during the FA cup but what about the minutes before that?
 
Take Kroos vs Ukraine and Rooney vs Wales or Russia.. One of the players is a midfielder the other a retired striker.
 
I left the match at around 86 minutes when it was 1-1 and he had been average throughout, except at set pieces. I'm assuming he must have done something spectacular between that time and the end of the match to warrant this thread? Or is it just more Rooney ass kissing
 
Okay, but what are we going to do when Valencia isn't playing? Wazza would still be looking for him in the stands.
 
When has spreading the ball become a joke? Keep switching it to Valencia, it's not a bad thing.
 
Midfield General? Oh please. It's one thing to be biased but it's another thing to pretend like we haven't seen top midfield performances in the last couple of days in the Euros. If he is a General, what does that make the likes of Modric, Kroos, Iniesta etc? He has done ok but not anywhere enough to be called a good, let alone top midfielder as far as the big stage is concerned.
 
Adisa said:
My main problem is that ther is no variation to his passing. Almost every pass is wide, long or short.
Click to expand...

Not sure he has that many options because he plays in fits and starts, which suggests he's neither the complete midfielder and no longer a striker.

He always looked like a natural striker but now he looks like a workmanlike midfielder. Granted he has moments but he isn't a game changer and can disapear in games against top oppos
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
One's been playing there for most of his career, one has just started.
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Just another excuse. So it's either you are admitting that he is not a midfielder or should not be regarded or treated as one. So when do we start to compare him with rest of his peers? After another 4 years in the midfield. He is an experienced midfielder by all accounts and if people are happy to call him a midfielder then be ready to use the same yardstick that are used for midfielders in the world of football.
 
I think he's done quite well the last few games for us, towards the end of the season in the middle and has looked good for England there too, infact all in all he's had a good 2016 so far i'd say, after a very, very poor 2015. I think he can still offer us something.
 
SirAF said:
And then we get a thread calling him a midfield general??
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Some seem to be impressed with him hitting the same diagonal pass over and over again.

He looked best when we were chasing the game, but then that's because he was essentially playing as another #10. He also lost his temper in typical Rooney fashion to give away the foul needlessly that Wales scored from.
 
He's got to improve on his decision making. Often, I find him releasing the ball too quickly and other times, holding onto it for long.
 
Mourinho has never said he will play Rooney in midfield. I doubt he will either. Not crapping on Rooney today but it wasn't like watching Luca Modric. His best work was in and around the box. I suspect he will be Mou's #10.
 
kenny19 said:
Dominated what exactly. You've got to be joking to make such statements. How can you view rooney as a midfield general when he is incapable of setting any tempo. He has a very poor first touch and is pretty much barren of ideas. His first and only instinct on the ball goes hand in hand with any rightback. Let's not confuse an average performance from him and start this hype train. He isn't a very good midfielder but he has desire at the very least. That desire helped us out during the FA cup but what about the minutes before that?
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Almost everything went through him today. His first touch was good and his passing varied. He showed more vision in his passing that almost any other player on the field including Bale.

LVG was using Rooney with Carrick and Fellaini rather than using our other midfielders who where sitting on the subs bench.

The issue is not about hype but about a striker who his former manager at United and the England manager believe his future lies in the midfield.
 
Massive over-hype on this. He has had 2 matches where he has been decent. Not amazing but decent. However let's not forget it was Russia and Wales. And as Welsh as I am the level of the opposition was not at a higher standard

Rooney needs time and space on the ball to be hitting his long diagonal pass over and over. When he is pressed and closed down, he struggles as he doesn't have the change of pace. I am not saying he cannot do a job for Utd there next season, but I don't think he is the answer in that position either if we want to be competing for the title
 
I have been as critical of Rooney as anybody this season but over the last few games I believe he has shown that he could become a good option for us in midfield.
 
cyberman said:
When has spreading the ball become a joke? Keep switching it to Valencia, it's not a bad thing.
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When did doing the same thing again and again and again become creative? You spread the ball for a reason, it's to change the angle of attack, not to look pretty. When you know that every single time Rooney gets the ball he's going to try and pick out our right back, before looking to get the attacking midfielder or even the striker on goal, what does it achieve?
 
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