Wayne Rooney

[instinct]

Why do we need a CF at all? It's not a very wise move to spend 20-30m on a forward when we just got Neymar for goalscoring and still need to look at defense as a priority. Especially considering all of this is for some sort of "backup" plan as if that's actually a smart move. No one spends that much for a backup plan, and Rooney would ultimately be played a lot to justify his fee and screw up a lot of team chemistry in the process. Why change the system entirely to fit an out-of-sorts player who is off form and unfit anyway? Another goalscoring winger would be of much more value than Rooney, because it's a much better fit and easier transition, not having to change formation or make things difficult unnecessarily for a pointless player.

If you still insist on a versatile player who could contribute to some sort of backup plan then a technically skilled yet goalscoring AM/RW player is more suited. Much more agile and quickfooted technically and can actually interchange well with the other players and link up rather than sticking out like a sore thumb. Guys like Jovetic, Lamela, Reus?, etc.

Rooney is just a knee-jerk reaction to add some strength to the squad on paper but would not fit in reality.

The lack between Messi and Fabregas is way to big. Messi scores nearly all of our goals. You are right when you say that Neymar will also score a lot of goals but you never know how defenders will work against Messi and Neymar. I recognized that a CF was a great tactical improvisation against Milan and we played very very well in this match.
Further, I remember Eto'o who scored so many goals for us. We had Henry on the left wing who was also a player who scored goals but with Eto'o as a CF, I felt a much better dangerousness in our offense. I know that we were successfull in 2011 too but Pedro lost his form, so our right wing is nearly useless, especially because there is no player in the middle who has good heading abilities. Rooney would add a bit of those to our team though he is not the best in heading.

I accept your view, but I never thought of Rooney being a backup for us. The season showed me, that we have to improve our system because as I said before, football changed but tiki-taka didn't. I prefer playing with a CF who works in the defense and who can be used on different positions. I repect any other opinions.

 

[Mr Hulot]

[YOUTUBE]yVb38qqQ7Uo[/YOUTUBE]

watch that goal and you'll know what Rooney is all about. That pure genius that Rooney has be it short or long passes. Alexis Sanchez is not anywhere near the level of technicality that Rooney has. You can't judge Rooney on his last season. Last season he was injured and when he came back he changed that team as a 10 in a way that even Kagawa couldn't. But Rooney wants to play as striker now and he was played very deep the last season. He got sacrificed for the Real Madrid tie and after then he simply didn't care anymore. He played well but he lacked the hunger. Believe me I hate Rooney right now and I want him gone but there aren't many players on his overall level and not a player that is as versatile as him. Him and Neymar next season and watch how you'll conquer Europe again.

You probably don't watch Barca at all and you are here to support one of your team's best players, which I understand, but in Barcelona even the Premier League's finest Cesc Fabregas looks very awkward with the ball, especially his first touch and the fact that he doesn't have all the time in the world with the ball like he had in Arsenal. So imagine a player like Rooney, who is vastly inferior, in my opinion, from Cesc in terms of technique, try to be a part of the club.

 

[DonAndres]

The lack between Messi and Fabregas is way to big. Messi scores nearly all of our goals. You are right when you say that Neymar will also score a lot of goals but you never know how defenders will work against Messi and Neymar. I recognized that a CF was a great tactical improvisation against Milan and we played very very well in this match.
Further, I remember Eto'o who scored so many goals for us. We had Henry on the left wing who was also a player who scored goals but with Eto'o as a CF, I felt a much better dangerousness in our offense. I know that we were successfull in 2011 too but Pedro lost his form, so our right wing is nearly useless, especially because there is no player in the middle who has good heading abilities. Rooney would add a bit of those to our team though he is not the best in heading.

I accept your view, but I never thought of Rooney being a backup for us. The season showed me, that we have to improve our system because as I said before, football changed but tiki-taka didn't. I prefer playing with a CF who works in the defense and who can be used on different positions. I repect any other opinions.

Henry and Eto'o are fast footed and pacy forwards who excel in ground play. Rooney is very different from that. He is more of a SS, AM kind of player and honestly would just get in the way. If you want a goalscoring forward/winger who could offer the same kind of play/output as Eto'o and Henry then I'd say Reus or Lamela are best bet. Hell we have some players like that in the B team such as Deulofeu, Dongou, or Sandro.

 

[spark]

This is becoming the old Neymar thread. Neymar cant do tiki taka. Deulo and Tello better suited at it etc. Rooney has always been a great link up player. Which is why he could combine with different types of strikers over the years.

 

[DonAndres]

This is becoming the old Neymar thread. Neymar cant do tiki taka. Deulo and Tello better suited at it etc. Rooney has always been a great link up player. Which is why he could combine with different types of strikers over the years.

I doubted Neymar's ability to do specifically tiki taka but even then he still had lots of technical ability.

Rooney has been able to link up on a counterattacking team like United and still isn't notably technical or quickfooted. Barcelona is a whole different team, almost opposite in style.

 

[Mr Hulot]

Also, Rooney's work rate is a huge myth in my opinion. He possibly had high work rate, when he was younger, but he is now a defensive liability for Manchester United in the big games. Hence, he was benched against Real Madrid this year and couldn't track down Busquets in the 2011 final, even though Ferguson had instructed him to do so, which gave us a huge advantage in that game.

 

[instinct]

I agree with Reus and Lamela. I think that they would be really good signings. I didn't say that I want Rooney and only Rooney. I just try to defend him and unlike most of you, I would not mind signing him. IMO he would not be a bad transfer. I think, he'd be great but I have to admit that I agree with you in some points. But, IF we sign him, then I'm sure that Tito and the coaching stuff will have the right plans to use Rooney correctly because otherwise they would not sign him. And there are so many media reporting our interest. I think we are interested and consequentely I think that Tito would have good plans with Rooney but to finally sign him is the other case.

I think, we run in circles with this discussion because our imagionation of Rooney fitting in Barca is different but it was nice to discuss with you. I'm out.

 

[beautifulgame]

Also, Rooney's work rate is a huge myth in my opinion. He possibly had high work rate, when he was younger, but he is now a defensive liability for Manchester United in the big games. Hence, he was benched against Real Madrid this year and couldn't track down Busquets in the 2011 final, even though Ferguson had instructed him to do so, which gave us a huge advantage in that game.

this

lazy guy

 

[ComeOnThiagojoinUtd]

You probably don't watch Barca at all and you are here to support one of your team's best players, which I understand, but in Barcelona even the Premier League's finest Cesc Fabregas looks very awkward with the ball, especially his first touch and the fact that he doesn't have all the time in the world with the ball like he had in Arsenal. So imagine a player like Rooney, who is vastly inferior, in my opinion, from Cesc in terms of technique, try to be a part of the club.

I watch quite alot of Barca tbh, because in my country we can watch La Liga for free on a website. Cesc Fabregas is a whole different player than Rooney and why he isn't fitting well with Barca is quite clear for me. His game is simply to English, with that I mean to direkt. Also Fabregas was thought to be Xavi's heir when infact his best seasons for Arsenal were as a AM not a CM. Fabregas is a good CM but not a great one and not anywhere near the level of a Xavi/Pirlo/Scholes. I don't want to defend him. I hate him right now and I want him to be gone as soon as possible but I'm also a objective football fan because I used to work in sports journalism. But you simply can't judge Rooney on the last year and as an out and out striker there isn't a better option for you guys. You know the best Barca I ever saw was probably the one in 2009. When you had Eto'o as a pure out and out striker and Messi behind the striker or on the wings. He was so involved in everything, could score but if needed Eto'o was such a fantastic goal scorer. That's what Rooney can give you. A pure genius out and out striker. Only big question for me could Tito and this new challenge keep him happy for long. If he is really motivated he is a great great player. Talent wise he could've been an all time great. He simply lacked the work ethic that a Ronaldo had.

Rooneys work rate is so much depending on his mood. If he is motivated you'll find him everywhere, helping out, scoring goals etc ... I believe that Rooney would fit so good because I saw Rooney and Kagawa play on a few occasions and they showed such a great understanding the both of them and Kagawas game is very much tiki taka. Lewandowski is overrated btw. Very good player but also a very direct player that wouldn't fit a tiki taka side at all.

 

[taduong]

He is great, but i think he is not the right complement for our squad. We need a real 9 for at least a back up solution, i prefer Leandro Damiao

 

[ceefoo]

Not every Barca player has to have Xavi-Iniesta-Messi technique to play for us. However, although I believe Rooney could do a job for us (from the bench), I would not want to see him in the blaugrana.

Rooney goes though patches where at times his touch looks great, and at others he couldn't trap a bag of cement. His link up play can be impressive at times but he tends to lose possession cheaply as well. His professionalism also bothers me. He often returns to pre-season training overweight and he is partial to the odd cigarette. He digs out his team-mates for not being good enough, and when his manager strengthens the squad and leaves him out, he threatens to leave (allegedly!).

For me, he is not earning his £250k a-week (I know how ridiculous that sounds btw), and he never will. That doesn't make him a bad player. But why would we pay someone over £100k a-week to play back-up? Makes no financial sense. Plus he wouldn't want to sit on the bench anyway.

I also believe he only has 2-3 seasons left at elite level as a first-choice starter. A younger, adaptable, more professional player is a much wiser investment, than an overpriced, fading force with discipline issues.

 

[USWAY]

A healthy, motivated, Rooney would absolutely fit up top as #9 for Barcelona. You'd have to change tactics and put him infront of Messi though, which I doubt we would do.

Also, he sure as hell isn't a midfielder, but a striker who was pushed back. No shame in getting beat out by RVP.

Work rate, technical ability, passing, definitely above average for a striker. But the key would be motivation, and a move to a club like this could be exactly what he needs because he's hasn't been playing up to the level he's capable of, whether that because because of dissatisfaction on where he's being used or whatever.

 

[footyfan]

For example Lewandowski is a better fit for Barca in terms of technical ability, but I'd still rate Rooney as the better technical player overall. It's about the key attributes that fit in the system, not just about simply "does he have the ability to pass the ball as a forward"

Could you elaborate on this? I'm a huge Lewa fanboy and I really would love it he was at Barca but I don't at all see how he would be a better fit. Rooney is very very good at 1-touch passing. I agree with Ursegor that if we do buy a striker, Rooney is just the most suited in world football. He's also a player who is much admired by Xavi, Iniesta and Messi.

If I'm being honest, I do think Barcelona need a striker - goal-scoring wingers won't cut it against the best teams. When teams compress our space, the wingers will be shunted out wide to stretch defences. I'm not already jumping on Neymar to be our saviour - I don't care how he played against Spain, it didn't show me anything that I didn't already know. At Barca, he would be on the other side of that 3-0 drubbing and I'm not yet sure if he can handle the winger position at Barca.

 

[DonAndres]

Could you elaborate on this? I'm a huge Lewa fanboy and I really would love it he was at Barca but I don't at all see how he would be a better fit. Rooney is very very good at 1-touch passing. I agree with Ursegor that if we do buy a striker, Rooney is just the most suited in world football. He's also a player who is much admired by Xavi, Iniesta and Messi.

If I'm being honest, I do think Barcelona need a striker - goal-scoring wingers won't cut it against the best teams. When teams compress our space, the wingers will be shunted out wide to stretch defences. I'm not already jumping on Neymar to be our saviour - I don't care how he played against Spain, it didn't show me anything that I didn't already know. At Barca, he would be on the other side of that 3-0 drubbing and I'm not yet sure if he can handle the winger position at Barca.

Lewa's more of a "finesse" player so to speak. He has a much better first touch and can handle playing in crowded situations as a #9 which would add something we currently lack. Rooney however likes to drive forward more and spends a lot of time on the ball and in space, and in addition to that he's much more direct. I don't think he has the positional awareness to handle our passing sequences and tiki taka play. Even at United he doesn't play as a #9 but at Barca it would be even harder because he is playing in crowded areas.

Neymar's not a solitary savior but definitely a better grounded option for the wing since Villa/Alexis/Pedro can be so unreliable. There are times where instead of a 3 man attack it just looked like a 1 man attack, with Neymar I'm hoping he can change that. While being out wide at Barca can be fatal at times against top teams, Neymar will likely not be glued to the touchline like Alexis and Pedro, instead drifting inwards to get more involved and link up until we find a way through. Goalscoring wingers are better for interchanging positions and linking up quickly, which I doubt Rooney specifically can do because of his slower style of play.

 

[Meitux]

Lewa's more of a "finesse" player so to speak. He has a much better first touch and can handle playing in crowded situations as a #9 which would add something we currently lack. Rooney however likes to drive forward more and spends a lot of time on the ball and in space, and in addition to that he's much more direct. I don't think he has the positional awareness to handle our passing sequences and tiki taka play. Even at United he doesn't play as a #9 but at Barca it would be even harder because he is playing in crowded areas.

Neymar's not a solitary savior but definitely a better grounded option for the wing since Villa/Alexis/Pedro can be so unreliable. There are times where instead of a 3 man attack it just looked like a 1 man attack, with Neymar I'm hoping he can change that. While being out wide at Barca can be fatal at times against top teams, Neymar will likely not be glued to the touchline like Alexis and Pedro, instead drifting inwards to get more involved and link up until we find a way through. Goalscoring wingers are better for interchanging positions and linking up quickly, which I doubt Rooney specifically can do because of his slower style of play.

I wouldnt rely on Neymar tottaly to solve goal problems and surely goalscoring wingers are hard to find,the only one that could possible come is Lamela but i see they didnt have interest in him yet,Reus is hard to come i wouldnt think for now.I think we need a striker like Lewandowski to have a target man upfront and he can bring some power also as we cant physically challenge strong defenders