Here's a Rooney thread from 7 years ago:
I shouldn't start Rooney debates on a Utd forum but if he was such a hardworking presser as recently as 7 years ago then why did his top flight career end way earlier than Ashley Young or CR7 who are slightly older than Rooney but still active? Blaming genetics or his early debut is iffy because tons of players debut at 16-17 worldwide and in Japan top pros who stay fit can retire in their 40-50s in the lower leagues where the standards are lower. Neymar's injury weight gain (still not as tubby as prime Rooney) proves that genetics are an excuse, if a footballer plays & trains regularly, is mostly teetotal, and eats semi-healthily he would have no problem being lean. Rooney was visibly overweight throughout his career because he drank, smoked, ate late kebabs and visited casinos even when there was a game on Sunday. If he was such a hard worker then there's no reason why it won't reflect in his overall fitness levels or career longevity? Why would coaches not keep him around if he was sprinting 11km every game and why didn't he win a Ballon like Owen since he was much more talented? Blaming genetics makes no sense because basic nutritional science means everyone now knows Calories In Calories Out, today almost no elite or CL-level players have a similar body type as Rooney and the bigger dudes like Adama are all muscle. At the Euros the Hungarian striker Adams was called fat but nobody cares since he plays in Hungary. Utd fans will slate Sancho for video games yet claim Rooney wouldn't get flak for visiting casinos past midnight, eating junk & drinking til he blacked out if he was a young player in 2024? You don't see "genetic fatties" as much now because top flight pros are made to hire private chefs who report back to the club if players don't follow the nutrition plan, iirc Barcelona got upset after Dembele sacked his chef in favor of takeout.
Prime Rooney was mostly criticised for being unfit at the start of every season and needing a month to shed holiday weight (i.e. he doesn't exercise at all in the off-season which wouldn't fly now) so Ferguson would bench him to be a supersub til he lost weight. People let Rooney off because he was very talented yet oft compared him to CR7 who was tenacious, disciplined and hardworking enough to rival Messi for Best Player titles even if he wasn't as naturally talented. CR7 is old now but at his prime he carried RM and Portugal to win its 1st title in 2016. Rooney was probably the more talented player when they both started out at Utd but he never had the level of commitment and hardwork CR7 had to improve and his BdO rankings reflected it.
My point still stands that Mbappe would fit in well if he played in the 2000s or earlier where pressing was uncommon but Rooney would be slated for being unfit while earning 350k a week if he played today. Some are claiming Rooney fits contemporary pressing systems but he would hate it; professional football has only gotten stricter with higher fitness/lifestyle standards and Big Data analysis of players' training sessions to see who deserves starts much less their onfield performances. Players get banned for gambling and chastised for playing too much PlayStation now, the industry has changed from even the early 2000s or even the 1990s when smoking and drugs were no big deal. Much of the change is down to the tactical evolution to prioritise pressing due to Pep and Klopp but I find it a bit of a pity aesthetically because creative players have less time and space to execute their vision now (Vini's ability to do rainbow flicks in this era tells you how good he is, nobody else has the time to execute tricks when pressed), these day a languid #10 will find it harder to break through (Palmer probably didn't make the cut at City due to this) and athletic physical CAMs like Bellingham are prized for their workrate and all-rounded ability to win the ball high up the field and attack near the opponent's goal. Morgan Rogers looks similar.
