Rooney the #10

Did we make a blunder by offering rooney a new contract and that too such a long contract?

When the news came out, we rejoiced true. But now I am realising its becoming a pain.

If we look our performances closely its when he plays in the hole the team looks more and more devoid of idea and flair. He only looks to hoof it to valencia or whoever is there on the right side. He becomes far too predictable when we are building up attacks when he adorns the role of a no 10.
His tracking back and winning tackles is commendable. But then again if that is what his prime role is. then he should be playing in the central midfield right. ????

last couple of games or yea form the time rvp got injured, the team is looking good and playing well. That IMO ( as pointed out by many others as well ) is not because of the absence of rvp as mistaken by many. instead Its because of absence of rooney from the hole.

The difference is for all of us to see. Whenever a kags or a juan walks into that hole, the team operates with much much more fluidity and flair. the contrast is quite staggering.


So that brings me to my original question, was that a huge mistake, offering  a large and long contract to the guy.
Because what that has done is.
1. Whenever we have to chose between him and rvp, cause of this ridiculous 5 year contract, we will be forced to pick him, which I believe is going to be a detrimental factor after a year or so when the decision will be finally made to offload the dutch.
2. Has given him the complete control and supreme status in the club and made all the others including our joker coach his arse wipers.

His 5 year contract extension happened after we acquired mata isnt it.
I am not saying we should  not have resigned him. But 5 years is helluva a long for a 30 year old player.   

we have so much quality and creativity in kagawa and mata and they are the ones who are born to play as the play makers and not rooney.

So at first even tough I thought it was one of those rare master strokes from moysie, now sad to say it is nothing but yet another enormous err.

A few things on Rooney playing #10:
- Him and the RvP partnership is bad, it wasn't this bad last year, but it wasn't setting the world alight either
-If we play Rooney #10 that means Mata is playing out of position, RvP up top which leaves one more spot which usually goes to Valencia or Young to provide the balance with their width and they're defensive capabilities. That means Kagawa is dropped and Januzaj will not feature in the big games. Januzaj faced Liverpool but we had to win that game, next season Moyes will revert to defensive tactics.
Also, would like to add, as much as Kagawa needs Mata, Mata needs Kagawa. Kagawa helps the flow and tempo of the game and lets face it we don't have Paul Scholes anymore, so we need Kagawa to be on the pitch
-Rooney at #10 per say is not bad, he plays well with Welbeck/ Hernandez but they're not starters. Also, I think it's better for us to play someone more creative there.
-Rooney might run more than other strikers, but in the league Lallana and Oscar do more dirty work than he does as #10. It's not like he does extraordinary work that it always gets mentioned. Rooney does it in occasional games like Chelsea and Arsenal at home. Those guys do it for the majority of the season.
He also just does the odd clearance out of the box usually, Kagawa, Mata etc. I've seen do that too. So, I'd like to see stats on Rooney's distance covered to actually see how he compares to everyone else (on the team), seems a bit of a myth to me.

On who should play no.9:

-Well RvP, at least to me, is quite obviously the better the no.9
-Rooney might complain off the pitch, but at least he's not doing it on the pitch RvP is hindering our play
-Rooney is younger than RvP
-Rooney is less injury prone that RvP
-Rooney seems to have good chemistry with Mata and Kagawa

On Rooney's contract, no he isn't 300k that's for the elite of the elite your Messi's and Cristiano's. Rooney is also most definitely not a 100k p/w more than Suarez. But, he's signed it now. And we know Moysie loves him. The club also doesn't pay him 300K p/w directly we still pay him 250K p/w he just works with the club to help him maximize an extra 50k from his own sponsors.

For me, it is RvP that has to go, he is less reliable with his fitness.  Now we're not in the greatest of times. We need players that can play well when the team is doing well, but when we're not it's more important for individual players to be trying even harder and RvP is not that guy.

RVP will most likely leave, and to be quite honest, it's prolly for the best. He looks uninterested in Moyes' regime and his partnership with Rooney is non existant. Rooney is obviously going nowhere, so that is the only plausible option if we are going to get the best out of Mata and play in a system that gets the best out of our attacking talent.

Rooney is a quality number 9, he had his best season at the club in 09/10 playing there. Obviously that season we relied heavily on valencia's good form and wing play, but I'm sure getting in a good winger in the summer, plus Mata showing glimpses of what he can do yetserday will get us a tonne of goals.

Have an attacking front four of:

Januzaj----Mata----Kagawa
----------Rooney------------

Won't be long before we change the club's name to Waynechester Roonited. I'm sure his lapdog Moyes would put in a good word for him.

Gotta hand it to him. He has achieved the unimaginable feat of becoming bigger than the club. No thanks to the timid sorry excuse of a manager who's allowed him to trample all over him while giving him a piggy back ride at the same time.

His last 2 performances, albeit hampered by injury, have been woeful. No excuses whatsoever that he was allowed to start, never mind play the whole 90 mins.

Imagine what Welbeck and Chicha are thinking seeing such blatant favouritism.

His whole 2014 form has been pretty bad. It's not like he's Ronaldo/Messi that he's this untouchable he's not even a top 10 player in the world. It's truly baffling.

pretty much saw this coming.

I think this pretty much sums up Rooney

Coming to England and Manchester United's number 10,Wayne Rooney has a long history of not tracking the opposition's deep playmaker. From Sergio Busquets in the 2011 Champions League final to Pirlo in the Euro 2012,Sir Alex finally realised this fact and dropped him for the second leg against Real Madrid in Champions League quarter finals 2013. With Xabi Alonso controlling the tempo for Real,it was vital that United had someone to disrupt him and Danny Welbeck did this job perfectly until he was shifted out wide after Nani was sent off.

For all his qualities,Rooney lacks the discipline to play the role to perfection. He often gets impatient without the ball and starts dropping deeper and deeper. This might seem like "He is helping his team out" or "He is a team player" but adhering to tactical instructions is key and Rooney doesn't have the required discipline to do that. His close control and his first touch aren't good enough and the inherent ability to drop between lines which is a must for any Number 10 doesn't come natural for Rooney as he always looks to move towards the ball rather than wait for it.

He doesn't have the nimble feet nor the ability to turn in tight places,he can still bulldoze through defences and of course has a very good finish in him. Wayne Rooney had his best season during 2009-10 when he playing as a lone striker up front,he scored a career best 34 goals that season. His vision and his long diagonal balls are still exceptional and maybe a couple of years down the line with more experience he can prolong his career by playing deeper. The main problem for Rooney is that he is the jack of all trades rather than the master of one,he can pass,he can shoot,he can tackle,he can run and has boundless energy. Which means he can put a decent shift wherever he plays on the park. This coupled with his energy and his selflessness on the pitch means he is rarely present in the area from where he can inflict the most damage. Louis van Gaal has to find a solution for this problem as Manchester United have two very good number 10s in Kagawa and Mata and a lethal striker in Robin Van Persie. Whether Rooney is ok with reverting back to playing on the left which he did during the days of Ronaldo and Tevez is doubtful. And for Roy Hodgson,the question is whether he'll opt to play both Sturridge and Rooney or only Rooney upfont

http://www.thefalse9.com/2014/05/why-wayne-rooney-is-bad-number-10.html

Busby Babe wrote:I think this pretty much sums up Rooney

Coming to England and Manchester United's number 10,Wayne Rooney has a long history of not tracking the opposition's deep playmaker. From Sergio Busquets in the 2011 Champions League final to Pirlo in the Euro 2012,Sir Alex finally realised this fact and dropped him for the second leg against Real Madrid in Champions League quarter finals 2013. With Xabi Alonso controlling the tempo for Real,it was vital that United had someone to disrupt him and Danny Welbeck did this job perfectly until he was shifted out wide after Nani was sent off.

For all his qualities,Rooney lacks the discipline to play the role to perfection. He often gets impatient without the ball and starts dropping deeper and deeper. This might seem like "He is helping his team out" or "He is a team player" but adhering to tactical instructions is key and Rooney doesn't have the required discipline to do that. His close control and his first touch aren't good enough and the inherent ability to drop between lines which is a must for any Number 10 doesn't come natural for Rooney as he always looks to move towards the ball rather than wait for it.

He doesn't have the nimble feet nor the ability to turn in tight places,he can still bulldoze through defences and of course has a very good finish in him. Wayne Rooney had his best season during 2009-10 when he playing as a lone striker up front,he scored a career best 34 goals that season. His vision and his long diagonal balls are still exceptional and maybe a couple of years down the line with more experience he can prolong his career by playing deeper. The main problem for Rooney is that he is the jack of all trades rather than the master of one,he can pass,he can shoot,he can tackle,he can run and has boundless energy. Which means he can put a decent shift wherever he plays on the park. This coupled with his energy and his selflessness on the pitch means he is rarely present in the area from where he can inflict the most damage. Louis van Gaal has to find a solution for this problem as Manchester United have two very good number 10s in Kagawa and Mata and a lethal striker in Robin Van Persie. Whether Rooney is ok with reverting back to playing on the left which he did during the days of Ronaldo and Tevez is doubtful. And for Roy Hodgson,the question is whether he'll opt to play both Sturridge and Rooney or only Rooney upfont

http://www.thefalse9.com/2014/05/why-wayne-rooney-is-bad-number-10.html

We are stuck with this problem child. Thanks Moyes you *bleep* arse hole. At least the United job shortened that clowns life span.

Exactly Rooney has already peaked, we should have sold him last summer

Scholes suggests Rooney may have peaked and aims blast at Woodward
• Former Manchester United midfielder set to leave as coach
• Scholes also questions if Hodgson has ‘balls’ to drop Rooney

Paul Scholes has suggested Wayne Rooney may have peaked too early and questioned whether the England manager Roy Hodgson would have the “balls” to drop the striker if he failed to sparkle at the World Cup.

Scholes suggested that his former team-mate Rooney must prove he is world class at next month’s World Cup and questioned if Hodgson would be brave enough to drop him if required. He said: “I’m not saying Wayne needs to be dropped but if form doesn’t get up to scratch in the warm-ups, or in the first game of the World Cup, it’ll be interesting to see if the England management team has the balls to make that decision. We have quality forwards in the squad this time. That should give Wayne the competition he needs to spur him on a little more.”

Scholes believes the striker must row back on his all-action game. “Wayne wants all the responsibility to score,” he said. “He’ll try to play left-back, right-back. Sometimes he does that too much instead of saving himself and his energy for what his teams need – the ball in the net. He needs to use his energy more effectively now as he’s a player who likes to be up front on his own and I don’t think he’s great with partnerships. To get the very best from Wayne in Rio, the manager [Roy Hodgson] needs to tell him: ‘Don’t bother running back. Stay up top. Stay centre-forward. Score goals. That’s your job in my team.’”

Scholes went on: “There’s a chance he’s worn out. Wayne’s peak may have been a lot younger than what we’d expect of footballers traditionally. Age 28 or 29 has been the normal ‘peak’. With Wayne, it could have been when he scored 27 league goals in 2011-12 when he was 26.”

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/22/paul-scholes-criticises-manchester-united-wayne-rooney

Scholes

SAF opened the door for Moyes to get rid of Rooney last summer, but that c**t decided to cower and massage Rooney's ego at every given opportunity, and then did all he can to persuade him to stay. and he eventually renewed his contract.

I know there was a period early kast season when he was bailing us out with goals and assists, but when thinking long term, we should have got rid. We would have gotten 30 mill for a player past his prime and on a steady decline.

Now we are a stuck with a player who is more of a hinderance to our team.

I have been telling this all the time even when he was playing well last season. We have been deceived big time to think that he is indispensable to this club thanks to some above average performances in a season where everybody else was playing on low morale where as he was at the peak of his confidence thanks to the bleep Scott's hard-on for him. I mean just imagine the scenario when the manager ostracises and corners everyone else but support unconditionally one. It was nothing special I mean his performances. He got the 'environment' to play without any sort of pressure and he turned up well.

I dread that day when that 5 year extension was signed. its THE biggest crime and damage the clown has inflicted upon the club without doubt. 300k is not as much of a problem as the 5 years is. We are stuck. We are simply stuck with a player who thinks he is the beacon of light of the club.

One of the main reasons why many people are still deceived in case of r300ney is exactly as the article point out is cos they wrongly believe he is the one who works the hardest on the pitch. Its funny to hear comments floating around in the caf and all where scores of fans defend with those same old lines. He makes people believe he is the best trier by running around and unfortunately our fans fall for it. when Its common sense to stop a while and think what his original role is on the pitch which is to play in the position where he is asked to play.

We should have sold the guy to chelsea and then we would have been able to buy mata for 10 m or so.
Now we have no other option but to feed him for 5 more long years. :

£10m plus either Mata or Luiz for the forward

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/jul/17/manchester-united-wayne-rooney-bid

Now Luiz and Mata have both been sold by Chelsea, this story looks awfully true despite Chelsea denying it at the time.

Luiz has been sold to PSG for about £40 mil (50 mil Euros) and Mata to us for about £37 mil.

That means Chelsea valued the deal at £47mil-£50 mil for Rooney. Moyes has to be the stupidest man in all of football  

SAF also did succumb to Rooney's player power moves. This is a manager who said he will never let a player grow bigger than the club and paid whatever Rooney asked when he publicly humiliated manu saying they have no ambition.... What did you expect Moyes to do? A new manager struggling in his first big challenge..

Moyes had RvP and Kagawa, Fergie didn't and apparently Moyes had Mata offered too. It's not like we needed to keep Rooney at all costs. Don't get me wrong it's not like Fergie didn't make mistakes, but Moyes had all the power last summer.

The rooney thing is a hard one, as he is still a good player, but the 300k a week does annoy me because it now means we have no chance of selling him if things turn sour.(like what has happened with torres at chelsea).I do think that players in general are not worth what they are paid, even the prima donnas. Also this bull about Personal brand, PR ..etc is beyond me. Players like Rooney and Co only have a brand because of the United name, if he was still at Everton, he would still be the player he is, but have far less appeal. So why we give them money is beyond me. If it was more performance based I also think that I would accept it more.

Maybe Chelsea didn't value him so highly after all, second bid perhaps, anyway...

It was, as Rooney now recounts, a frank conversation full of home truths, and one of them cut to the bone. “Do you think you’re a top player?” Moyes asked. Rooney replied that he did. Then Moyes hit him with the killer line. “Then why have Chelsea offered only £25m for you?”

Damn Moysie actually had some balls after all

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/aug/05/wayne-rooney-manchester-united-squad

good assist last night, but after that, cut a figure of frustration. Didn't help that he was played out of position.

Same sh*t as last season when it comes to these cowardly managers. You either play Rooney in his preferred position, or you drop him. He is in bad form, so in actuality, I would prefer we drop him altogether.

That corner kick he took Indicative of his performances for England at a major torunament post Euro 2004.

Deserves another

Baines wasn't great yesterday, but the amount of protection he got from Rooney was shocking

I agree, not going to bash him for yesterday same reason I didn't to Kagawa, they're not left wingers. Roy needs to make a call Rooney or Sturridge. Rooney's cross was nice though.

Becoming annoyed at the sight of him lately. Realised it when I was watching him play for England the other day, it culminated from my annoyance of his lacklustre performances for United, and the fact that he is now captain for England and United- rendering him undroppable from selection, despite being past his best, in poor form and being a hinderance to both club and country (you see how threatening England and how fluid their overall offence were once he was subbed off?)

I wish we sold him for big money to Chelsea when we had the chance, I really wish we did. Hindsight and all that but I swear our team would have been better for it.....and SAF knew it.

He was really bad vs Norway, one of his worst performances ever. Outperformed by Sterling, Wilshere, Sturridge, hell, even Welbeck when he came on.

For now, I will give him the benefit of the doubt because there is not creativity at Man Utd, Young and Valencia are shit and Mata has caught what ever they have. However, once the team clicks, and if he continues to under perform, then you can't keep star players like RvP or Mata or Falcao or whoever it is on the bench.

The biggest thing you can say about Rooney now, is if we sold him, we wouldn't miss him. Not like the first time when we caved in and gave him a new contract. I don't even know where he ranks as one of our best players, arguably behind Falcao, ADM, RvP, DDG, so maybe he's our 5th best player? Could see himself 6th if Mata finds Chelsea form. Needs to step up his game like he did at the first part of 13/14.

Rooney will surely regain his best form. But firstly he has to regain his confidence and this is also valid for the rest of the squad.

With time, we will improve our game, great partnerships will be established in all compartments with Louis van Gaal's philosophy. Slowly, we will find our rhythm and score a lot of goals, I'm pretty sure about this.

Not a #10 today, but he's all round play was much better today. Nice link-up play and was involved in the first goal, simple pass, but the amount of counter attacks England messed up by not doing the simple pass was a lot. So that was nice.

Should have done better and taken the Wilshere pass first time and better with the Baines cross, but I thought that was more to do with confidence. The goals will come but the all round play is more important, he won't score every game that's Falcao and RvP, so he has to contribute in other ways when he doesn't score and today he did that.

Can do even better but a step in the right direction.

turned 29 today

Happy Birthday Wazza!

haha gwan wayne