Pepe Silvia
Active member
Oh but when he buries one the world moves in slow motion! (Atletic 2nd Leg)
Wayne Rooney
- Thread starter nebeer
- Start date
B
barcelonista
Guest
Weird player. Whenever I watch him, he looks okayish but nothing special. He can't dribble, his touch lets him down way too often for someone who got voted the fifth best player in the world according to the Ballon d'Or rankings, he's super inconsistent and his final pass and vision isn't on a world class level either. And yet he scored 26 goals in 33 league games as a second striker this season. Either I'm completely blinded by Barcelona standards or the quality of football has really dropped immensely in this decade. Am I the only one who thinks Rooney would struggle in a more technical league? He's the typical "drive and determination" player without any sort of flair. And yet he's probably valued at € 60 million. 
Raed
Dr. Raed St. Claire
You are very harsh on him, his goal against Barcelona in the CL final was world class. He is a very good player, world class even, and whatever he lacks in finesse makes up for it in that drive you speak of. The team around him is absolutely garbage and perhaps he has a lot to do each match but you cannot doubt his talent. When Ronaldo was there their combination was world class, it is just that he really has no one out there to combine with or attract players away from him, yet he did score 26 goals.
Jenks
Senior Member
At present, he would walk into the Barcelona first team on either flank. If you're judging a striker, it's strange to mention passing and vision (which are hardly a weakness of his to begin with), but not movement or finishing. Of course he is not on the level of Messi or Ronaldo, but he's still a top class player that any team would love to have.
Metaphysical
Bomb Dropper
Rooney's problem is that there's no tightness to United's system. they paint in broad tactical brushstrokes, nothing really defined, and as a result Rooney often finds himself caught between just winging it on pure quality and trying to play a defined role in a system.
there are plenty of quality players at United (Rooney's combos with Welbeck and Valencia in particular can be spectacular) Fergie just fucks around with rotation too much to really get a defined system locked down, and when others aren't as sharp as Rooney (or when he isn't sharp himself) things look really fucked up.
there's also the fact that playing Scholes and Carrick in midfield hurts him in the sense that, apart from the odd occasion like yesterday, it generally leaves him with no one advancing beyond him into attack so things are more static.
the reason he hit such vicious form in last season's run-in was because of the 4411 with Giggs in CM. Giggs kept running beyond him and that movement & interplay created real problems for their opponents. but that system relies on Giggs being in great form (which at his age is intermittent) and more importantly on Park playing LW and using his defensive energy & solid interplay to come infield and essentially cover Giggs' forward runs. this was replicated at the start of this season with Cleverley replicating the Giggs role, but he got injured and they didn't have Park either, so it all fell apart.
B
barcelonista
Guest
He's not playing as an out-and-out striker. He plays where players like Özil, Sneijder, Fabregas or David Silva play: behind the striker. That's why I'm mentioning his passing and vision. Although it's true that he's more of a second striker like Kaka used to be and not a creator.
Getting into the Barcelona first XI? Sure. The alternatives are Tello, Cuenca and an out of form Pedro this season. He'd walk into the front 3 like pretty much every striker worth more than € 20 million would right now. Although I believe he'd suck on the wings and receive even more stick than Villa did on this forum. When Rooney had to play second fiddle to Ronaldo and play on the wings, he had one of his worst seasons goalscoring wise, no?
I guess Dr. Raed is right though and I'm just being harsh on him. It's just that I've followed quite a lot of Manchester United games this season and he never struck me as anything special. Even if his stats suggest otherwise. Guess I've watched too much Messi over the years.
AnfieldEd
I am Leg End
I'd trust your instincts...
Puyol the wall
sent-up-the-bomb
Stats are not everything there is more to his game like his work rate and his bad attitude even though he has controlled it well for a few years he still has that moment most of all he is very inconsistent whereas when he is on form he is the best player in the premier league but when he is not in form anything bar average,Our players too have their moment when they are out of form but the problem is he stays like that for too long.But we still cannot make any conclusion on Rooney cause for me he is playing for a team that is not that great i guess he might be a different player with great players who are team players too alongside him.
DucdeOrléans
New member
I think Rooney is a brilliant player who has matured a lot. One of the very few English players I find entertaining to watch. And as crazy as it might sound for some, I actually believe that he would do a good job playing for us. Every team can use his strenghts and when he is on form he is brilliant overall player. He just suffers at Man Utd because he has very little support around him.
Raed
Dr. Raed St. Claire
See, no one will be able to give you such awesome interplay like Villa does. Henry was wicked but the whole team was firing on all cylinders, none made a mistake. Villa and Messi reached a level of understand that was perfect until Villa hit the post or missed a one on one. Not to mention, Iniesta had a wounderous (is that even a word?) touch. Like disheartening for others.
Rooney is talented, he sure as hell looks like a lesser player by Spanish standards because he has to accustom his game to the English premier league, see what happened to Tevez. He cannot be an over technical player in the EPL given his position as a forward, he has a lot of work to do on the pitch for him to practice his fine touches. He'd require a full two years to reach new heights in the Spanish league but he will have to endure a ton of abuse until then, however I do think he has it in him to be world class by the freak's standards.
And Meta is right, every time I have seen United play, they look like they are chasing a ball in a blender, there is absolutely NO form to what they play. A few indivisual brilliance displays from Tony V, Nani every now and then while Giggs is running on fumes and Paul Scholes is relying on shear experience.
Rooney is talented, he sure as hell looks like a lesser player by Spanish standards because he has to accustom his game to the English premier league, see what happened to Tevez. He cannot be an over technical player in the EPL given his position as a forward, he has a lot of work to do on the pitch for him to practice his fine touches. He'd require a full two years to reach new heights in the Spanish league but he will have to endure a ton of abuse until then, however I do think he has it in him to be world class by the freak's standards.
And Meta is right, every time I have seen United play, they look like they are chasing a ball in a blender, there is absolutely NO form to what they play. A few indivisual brilliance displays from Tony V, Nani every now and then while Giggs is running on fumes and Paul Scholes is relying on shear experience.
Puyol the wall
sent-up-the-bomb
Its time for him to leave United cause i don't see them improving and i think he can do great things in La Liga,looking at united they'll go for another 18 year old this summer and sign 37 Scholes and 38 Giggs to contracts those guys are great players and still do a good job occasionally but to depend on them for a rich Man utd is crazy.I would love to see him fair for Real or even Man city,for us he might take a while to adjust but it might work after all.
B
barcelonista
Guest
Why not? He already questioned the ambitions of his club once. Seeing how United can't attract any top talents anymore (Benzema, Özil, Sanchez, Hazard, Sneijder + Ronaldo leaving) and rather extend the contract of Scholes until he hits his 40s, it surely can't take long until Rooney hands in another transfer request. Can't blame him. After all even your own youth players don't want to stay with you (Morrison, Pogba).
RedMadridista
The Troll Hunter
Why not? He already questioned the ambitions of his club once. Seeing how United can't attract any top talents anymore (Benzema, Özil, Sanchez, Hazard, Sneijder + Ronaldo leaving) and rather extend the contract of Scholes until he hits his 40s, it surely can't take long until Rooney hands in another transfer request. Can't blame him. After all even your own youth players don't want to stay with you (Morrison, Pogba).
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