Wayne Rooney

[instinct]

Not the technical skill? You seem to have no idea how good Rooney can be. If you get him as your striker and Messi is playing behind him with the support of Iniesta and Neymar I honestly believe you could become that fearsome machine you were under Pep. He scored 34 goals for us in 2011/2012 playing with the support of Nani, Valencia, Welbeck and Ashley Young. He is on par with Robin van Persie but SAF and Rooneys relationship simply isn't the same since 2010. SAF never saw him in the same way after that. It was the first time the greatest coach of all time had to swallow his pride and had to beg a player to stay at United. It was a trick to get an even better contract but it simply destroyed many bridges. We bought RvP and Kagawa and they will be our future for the next few years. But a motivated Rooney under new circumstances at a new club is one of the best players of the world.

Rooney simply is the most versatile striker in the world. He can play simply everywhere. He can play a 10/out and out striker at world class level and even in midfield or on the wings. His passing range is simply stunning. Best I've seen at United since Scholes. Carrick is good but not THAT good. Even though he isn't big his heading is really good and you can be sure he scores a few screamers every season. Also with his pressing he'd fit so well into your philosophy. I'd take a motivated, loyal Rooney even over RvP and believe me we United fans love RvP at the moment. Rooney is the most fitting striker in the world for Barcelona. I'd don't even want to imagine what a duo of Messi/Rooney would do to the world. If he is happy at a club he doesn't care about playing 2nd fiddle to a better player like at United to Ronaldo from 06-09, so you wouldn't have the Ibrahimovic problem. Only real problem with him is that he can be a bit sloppy with the ball but as a striker losing the ball isn't as bad as losing it as a midfielder.

Thank you.

 

[DonAndres]

I disagree.

Compared to the most strikers, Rooney is technically very very good. He can dribble past 3-4 defenders if he has to and further he is very fast. He is a striker, so you can't expect inhuman skills (except Messi). He is an allrounder in the offense his passing is great, as you see in the video.

Further he is the right man to give an effective impulse to the team. He delivers the ball to the wings, he can make good crosses into the middle. He makes good headers/freekicks and pentalties (I know, Messi will do that). But IMO he is compared to e.g Ibrahimovic a very very good player for Barca. I hope, we will get him.

Just my 2 cents.

He really can't dribble. That video may show a few instances where he did, but often times he simply doesn't have the ball skills to do so. He's a very physical player and relies on space, exact opposite of requirements at Barca. He may be an all rounder, but not for the style we have. His passing is impressive for a forward, but it's insanely direct and relies on attacking space, unlike tiki taka. He's slow mentally and in playing style, likely incapable of performing the quick passing sequences that we use. Even a technical and quick footed player like Alexis finds himself falling down and incapable of being able to keep up many times.

Not all good passers are Barcelona worthy. Style is important and Rooney would look as out of place as Alonso in a tiki taka setting. He has good qualities as a player, but very obviously doesn't fit into our system. He'd stick out like a sore thumb. All of our players are quick footed, quick minded, play one touch, and agile. Rooney is large, slow in play, direct and far from agile, etc. He's a good player but not for Barca.

 

[Faceless]

He really can't dribble. That video may show a few instances where he did, but often times he simply doesn't have the ball skills to do so. He's a very physical player and relies on space, exact opposite of requirements at Barca. He may be an all rounder, but not for the style we have. His passing is impressive for a forward, but it's insanely direct and relies on attacking space, unlike tiki taka. He's slow mentally and in playing style, likely incapable of performing the quick passing sequences that we use. Even a technical and quick footed player like Alexis finds himself falling down and incapable of being able to keep up many times.

Not all good passers are Barcelona worthy. Style is important and Rooney would look as out of place as Alonso in a tiki taka setting. He has good qualities as a player, but very obviously doesn't fit into our system. He'd stick out like a sore thumb. All of our players are quick footed, quick minded, play one touch, and agile. Rooney is large, slow in play, direct and far from agile, etc. He's a good player but not for Barca.

My dad has been a loyal Man Utd fan and he always tell me whenever he sees Rooney plays he thinks he's getting worse. He used to be better now he just bulldozes through without any technical abilities at all. Definitely agree with you, he will spoil the chemistry of the team. Looks good on paper ONLY. Definitely not coming to Barca and I wouldn't want him here either.

 

[Ursegor]

Rooney would be the most fitting CF for Barca. His passing and touch isn't Xaviestassi level obviously but miles better than what you get from other world class strikers like Higuain, Cavani, Gomez, RvP etc. He's also a workhorse and I completely agree that a happy and motivated Rooney would be a completely different animal than the one we've seen in the past year. Put Messi behind Rooney and Neymar and Iniesta on the wings and there is simply no defense in the world that can stop them from scoring 5 goals per game. That's 4 players in the final third that need at least 2 defenders on them to be neutralized. I'd love it if we made the transition to 4-2-3-1 with Rooney up top. His wages are way too high though. If he wants to come he needs to accept a pay cut.

 

[DonAndres]

Rooney would be the most fitting CF for Barca. His passing and touch isn't Xaviestassi level obviously but miles better than what you get from other world class strikers like Higuain, Cavani, Gomez, RvP etc. He's also a workhorse and I completely agree that a happy and motivated Rooney would be a completely different animal than the one we've seen in the past year. Put Messi behind Rooney and Neymar and Iniesta on the wings and there is simply no defense in the world that can stop them from scoring 5 goals per game. That's 4 players in the final third that need at least 2 defenders on them to be neutralized. I'd love it if we made the transition to 4-2-3-1 with Rooney up top. His wages are way too high though. If he wants to come he needs to accept a pay cut.

Not all passers are the same. Rooney often plays direct or long passes to the wingers, needs loads of time on the ball, and doesn't have a very controlled first touch. If people complain about Cesc and Alexis looking completely out of place then I don't understand how on earth Rooney would be any better. Better than most natural CF's technically, I agree. But on the other hand it's a different style of technical play. 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"

 

[instinct]

Okay, then how do you want to play? We need a striker, a proven striker, who can change our system, when tiki-taka does not work. Do you want to buy Higuain? RvP or even Cavani? They would end up like Ibra did. Instead we have the possibility to get Rooney relatively cheap. I agree that we should focus on TS but if we don't get him, then we should sign a striker (and a cheaper CB of course), because Villa is away next season. Do you want to play Cesc as a false 9 against stronger teams? You never know if Messi gets injured, maybe in a period where wins decide titles and what do we have then? Right, nothing. Then we play tiki-taka, less effective than Neymar as a goalkeeper. Rooney is a player, who works so hard during the game. Unlike Xavi or Iniesta, he tries to win balls back and his pressing is also very good. And no one can tell me, that he would not have less than 15 goals in the league. Further, with him we have so many more possibilities to change our system during the game because he can play nearly everywhere. I don't remember who it was, but some of the members here wanted to sign Klose? Jovetic? Mandzukic? Yes, they would fit so much better in our system...

 

[Semi-Neutral]

We need a striker, a proven striker, who can change our system, when tiki-taka does not work.

What makes you think Rooney, or any "proven striker" would want to be a Plan B and get maybe 10 games a season?

 

[instinct]

Why 10 games? IMO, you are stuck in our current system. This season showed that we teams with good coaches know exactly how we play. The games against Bayern or Real were the proof that we can not play in this system against good-defending teams. As I said in my previous post, Rooney would make us more unpredictable because Messi and he could change positions easily during the game etc. IMO we need a striker, if not Rooney, then another striker but IMO Rooney would fit well in our system.

 

[ComeOnThiagojoinUtd]

He really can't dribble. That video may show a few instances where he did, but often times he simply doesn't have the ball skills to do so. He's a very physical player and relies on space, exact opposite of requirements at Barca. He may be an all rounder, but not for the style we have. His passing is impressive for a forward, but it's insanely direct and relies on attacking space, unlike tiki taka. He's slow mentally and in playing style, likely incapable of performing the quick passing sequences that we use. Even a technical and quick footed player like Alexis finds himself falling down and incapable of being able to keep up many times.

Not all good passers are Barcelona worthy. Style is important and Rooney would look as out of place as Alonso in a tiki taka setting. He has good qualities as a player, but very obviously doesn't fit into our system. He'd stick out like a sore thumb. All of our players are quick footed, quick minded, play one touch, and agile. Rooney is large, slow in play, direct and far from agile, etc. He's a good player but not for Barca.

[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.

 

[DonAndres]

Okay, then how do you want to play? We need a striker, a proven striker, who can change our system, when tiki-taka does not work. Do you want to buy Higuain? RvP or even Cavani? They would end up like Ibra did. Instead we have the possibility to get Rooney relatively cheap. I agree that we should focus on TS but if we don't get him, then we should sign a striker (and a cheaper CB of course), because Villa is away next season. Do you want to play Cesc as a false 9 against stronger teams? You never know if Messi gets injured, maybe in a period where wins decide titles and what do we have then? Right, nothing. Then we play tiki-taka, less effective than Neymar as a goalkeeper. Rooney is a player, who works so hard during the game. Unlike Xavi or Iniesta, he tries to win balls back and his pressing is also very good. And no one can tell me, that he would not have less than 15 goals in the league. Further, with him we have so many more possibilities to change our system during the game because he can play nearly everywhere. I don't remember who it was, but some of the members here wanted to sign Klose? Jovetic? Mandzukic? Yes, they would fit so much better in our system...

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.

 

[Semi-Neutral]

The games against Bayern or Real were the proof that we can not play in this system against good-defending teams.

How many teams like that do we play all season?

 

[instinct]

It doesn't matter how many teams we'll play but we want to dominate the world of football again. It's about improving our style of football and not to only play good in important games. What's that?

 

[DonAndres]

[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.

Rooney is no "genius" or even that good technically. To compare him to Alexis in that respect based on one goal is just ridiculous. He's done well for United and is a vital player for them but it just doesn't translate straight over to Barcelona. A few isolated incidences that highlight some display of technical skill from Rooney doesn't change the fact that he's a massively different player than what Barcelona looks for. Most of the time he spends a lot of time on the ball before passing it away, often a long direct pass to wingers. He's best running forward in counterattacks/attacks yet against parked buses he'd fall over more than Alexis. I'm not saying that it's that much harder to play at Barcelona than at United it's just that he is in a totally different style, it wouldn't be fitting at all.

 

[DonAndres]

It doesn't matter how many teams we'll play but we want to dominate the world of football again. It's about improving our style of football and not to only play good in important games. What's that?

A tactical change and using a different approach is necessary in really dominating again, but how the hell is getting Rooney the solution for that? We need a different approach, not bringing in a player who would be more detriment than help. Different system=/= unnecessarily spending on a foreign-styled player for no good reason.

 

[Mr Hulot]

I cannot believe that there are so many posters think Rooney would be a good idea. Even if some of you think that is imperative to buy a striker (personally I don't), Rooney is one of the worst choices out there, merely because of the fact that he is not a real striker himself. It is like buying a 100 times inferior version of Messi to play the second striker/false nine position. Plus you put Messi out of his natural position.