That comment was designed to get Rooney wound right up. No easy rides this season, either step up or find another club.
Wayne Rooney, The Midfield General? Mourinho Says No.
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This is why Jose is a winner. Everything he has said is music to my ears.
and then he will send him on the bench
I think Rooney will be first choice No.10. Jose likes his No.10s to put in a good shift and contribute with goals/assists, Rooney does both.
LVG came into the job with a reputation as someone with cojones but in reality was a wimp, Mourinho is showing what a real boss looks like, says it how it is, Rooney is not a CM.
The 'General' got court-martialed on short order. 
At a push, these are Rooney's last 12 months at this club.
At a push, these are Rooney's last 12 months at this club.
Apart from he didn't say that or get close to saying it.
These comments by Jose that rooney will not play in midfield, just shows Jose Mourinho the common sense one
It's now up to Wayne - if he makes the effort & plays well then great, everyone's happy; if he no longer has it, then, if nothing else, he'll have to consider his United situation because of the clash between his United position (on the pitch) and his newfound England position.
People don't understand why we are excited.
Managers have decided to shoehorn Rooney around th pitch when he isn't playing well, in an effort to play him out into form.
Mourinho has made it clear Rooney has only one position.
It's either he plays well in that position or he is dropped.
Managers have decided to shoehorn Rooney around th pitch when he isn't playing well, in an effort to play him out into form.
Mourinho has made it clear Rooney has only one position.
It's either he plays well in that position or he is dropped.
Obviously people can take whatever they want from it, but the general meaning I got was that Mourinho doesn't believe Rooney's a midfielder, and that if he wants to remain an integral part of United's side then he's going to have to perform as a striker.
He's not going to be sold (yet), or even going to be dropped necessarily, but he will be if he doesn't seriously, drastically up his game next season. Which is a fair route to take - he's a club legend, and perhaps warrants one more season to prove he's still up to it. But if not, then he'd possibly be off.
He's not going to be sold (yet), or even going to be dropped necessarily, but he will be if he doesn't seriously, drastically up his game next season. Which is a fair route to take - he's a club legend, and perhaps warrants one more season to prove he's still up to it. But if not, then he'd possibly be off.
perhaps he's just being diplomatic. Van Gaal screwed us over by playing him in midfield last season. We had better players for the role but the Dutch knucklehead was determind to have his way. Not having understood anything the other old idiot screwed England over by doing the same. Two old fools just wanting to be right all of the time.
He quoted 3 positions though.
Still, don't let direct quotes get in the way of jacking yourself silly over the prospect of Rooney leaving the club.
He'll start as 10 I'm sure, hopefully he remains consistent enough to maintain the place and armband but I'm sure Mourinho won't suffer too much in the way of poor form, though suppose he did this year from a lot of Chelsea players.
It's more like reading between the lines. As he said in his pressed, Jose likes specialist players and knows Rooney keeps getting shunting around the pitch, just to accommodate him and I'm private probably acknowledges this is to the detriment of the team.
Well if he's vying for a strikers position against Zlatan, Rashford and Martial I wouldn't fancy his chances at all. At #10 there is obviously less competition but he could still potentially face Mhikitaryan or potentially Pogba there if that's a goer. Again, wouldn't fancy his chances at all.
It's all guesswork really, but it's based on reading between the lines of his pressed and knowing we now have a manager who will not cater to the whims of a mediocre player who is only here because Moyes and LVG didn't have the bollocks to drop 'a name'.
Think we should sell him to China, if the opportunity arises
That's my take on it as well. I envisage Rooney being benched early season and at that point things will start to unravel for him. It's his last season at the club I'm convinced.
It doesn't sound like he will be dropped and talked highly of him, the downside to playing Rooney upfront is a Zlatan/Rooney combo upfront would be terrible.
Loved every bit of that interview.
Re Rooney, I still think he has something to offer if played up top with good players around him. His finishing and positioning is still ace, it is everything else that has gotten worse.
Re Rooney, I still think he has something to offer if played up top with good players around him. His finishing and positioning is still ace, it is everything else that has gotten worse.
He surely will be if he continues to perform poorly. It'd be utterly fecking mental for him to continue playing as our main man if he's not performing.
I agree, opposition managers know fully well that Rooney isn't the same animal anymore, it's quite obviously apparent but they will still refer to him as such when pressed upon it. Being a huge name helps in that regard, as he's clearly well-respected in the game but I do feel some managers can be tight-lipped on their true opinions of him as a player now.
As for his role at the club. I expect Jose to deploy him at #10 at the start of the season and dependant on how well he performs he'll either retain that position or just be dropped indefinitely for someone more deserving of game time. In Jose we don't have a bollockless manager anymore.
If he isn't sold this summer, that would probably be the most prudent decision and in Jose's pragmatic nature. He wouldn't want to cause some sort of mutiny by instantly dropping him straight off the bat, as he knows how well-respected Rooney is in the dressing room.
Hope you are right, just hope he doesn't do a LVG and see him as the undroppable captain.
The hope I have is nostalgic, admittedly - I always remember how Wayne performed excellently when he was wing-man or sidekick to talents like Ronaldo, Saha at his best etc etc. I hope he can recapture that form and appetite while playing behind Zlatan and co.
This was a most of mine in the pre-transfer Zlatan thread. With Rooney being denied a place in midfield, this process of reducing Rooney's standing within the club becomes so much easier as long as Zlatan continues his form from last season. If he doesn't leave this summer I'm pretty certain he'll be looking at other options next summer at the latest. He'll need to find a club that will start him regularly if he's to have any hope of being a starter at the World Cup in 2018, regardless of whether his performances warrant one or not.
Incredible that it takes so much time and effort to phase out a player. Really goes to show how badly Moyes and Woody fecked it up with the new contract.
You can just feel that this man was born to be Manchester United's manager, straight talking, no beating around the bush boss. Reckon he's gonna be here for some time.
He'll be playing 10 then as first choice.
The issue I have is that Jose is a stubborn arse and he might persist with this combination rather than dropping one of them. It took him a good third of the season before he started to drop some of the Chelsea first teamers when they were in terrible form. Will he have learnt his lesson from last season? I think he'll persist with Rooney personally even if he's in awful form (which we all know is a common trend nowadays).
We won't be selling Rooney though, you don't go and visit a player during an International Tournament to tell him his future is safe and then sell him a few weeks later. That would cause bad blood in the dressing room, so I think Rooney will be here for at least another Season.
Are we back in 2013?
looks very unlikely though, he plays like a 35 years old now.
Superb news! So much for all the experts bowing to the greatness of our next Midfield Maestro.
I agree with those that say he was trying to rile Rooney up a bit with this. Haven't really seen him publicly challenged like this since Sir Alex really.
Maybe, chief. I wonder if a shorter supply of energy is the reason he tends to drop so deep - where there are no challenging opponents - and, possibly, why Hodgson left him out of the Slovakia game. Wayne conserves energy a lot, these days, and is often content to play short and near-pointless passes...maybe this & his occasional runs disguise the fact that the famous engine is running out of fuel.
Pundits had spent months snaking on Rooney's passing. Mourinho basically shat on it.
you have no idea what people are willing to claim on here. Not long ago I had about 5 posters telling me that Valencia was the best right back in the league when I was saying he is not even a decent one in the PL let alone Europe.
Funny how people are so excited by this.
Probably don't realise this means with 99% certainty that it will be Rooney on the 10 behind Zlatan. Only 1% chance he is off to China.
I hope Rooney gets dropped but for the life of me I can't see it happen under Jose. He wanted to buy Rooney 3 years ago to have him at Chelsea. Wouldn't be surprised if we had actually sold him Rooney then, he would buy him back now to play him here again. I hope I'am wrong but I just can't see any other way that Rooney will be a keyplayer under Mourinho, if he doesn't think it is as a central midfielder then for sure it means he will play him more on top as a striker or as a 10.
Probably don't realise this means with 99% certainty that it will be Rooney on the 10 behind Zlatan. Only 1% chance he is off to China.
I hope Rooney gets dropped but for the life of me I can't see it happen under Jose. He wanted to buy Rooney 3 years ago to have him at Chelsea. Wouldn't be surprised if we had actually sold him Rooney then, he would buy him back now to play him here again. I hope I'am wrong but I just can't see any other way that Rooney will be a keyplayer under Mourinho, if he doesn't think it is as a central midfielder then for sure it means he will play him more on top as a striker or as a 10.
Tbf, his finishing is still there.
I think you are right. He was never technically the best, but his drive and energy was what made him white pele. He seems to be lacking both now.
The 'General' got court-martialed on short order.
At a push, these are Rooney's last 12 months at this club.
Trying to imagine Rooney speaking mandarin in a scouse accent
This is how i see it. He will play Rooney in the Lampard role i think.
Trying to imagine Rooney speaking mandarin in a scouse accent