It makes for really sad viewing when players of Rooney's stature start fading physically and mentally, and are reduced to a shell of their former selves. Happens to the best of them - Vieri, Raul, Shevchenko, Puyol, Gerrard and Xavi last season, Terry in Chelsea's current campaign. With Rooney it's even more pronounced because he's always been a really dynamic player who influenced the game on multiple levels. As a supporter you hope for him to pull it together, and atleast do an impression of the player he once was, but to be fair, he has been on a progressive downward slope for a couple of years now. That signals some form of terminal decline, normal loss of form doesn't last that long.
That said, IMO there's no reasonable hope of him being dropped this season, that much is pretty evident right now, and has been for a while. Van Gaal doesn't yield the power at United that Fergie did. He has benched captains in the past, but the likes of Van Bommel at Bayern aren't good examples, he was always an outsider. Rooney's stature at United would match someone like a Lahm at Bayern. Van Gaal isn't going to take him head on, he seems publicly enamored with him, and given Rooney's political influence in the dressing room, benching or even rotating him in and out of the starting XI might backfire, especially when we don't have a great alternative for the role he plays (Ander is a midfielder and Louis prefers hybrid strikers as the point forward).
Let him ride this season out, then transfer list him in the summer. Always better to pull the bandage in one quick stroke, than delaying the inevitable. As long as he stays at the club, there'll always be a fanfare to start him given his influence, or public outcry whenever his replacement's level of play dips, to go with the commercial pressure. That #10 position which he occupies is arguably the most fundamental of Van Gaal's teams. And Rooney is in no way doing that position due justice, he's even teetering on the edge of becoming a major liability. Cut the cord at the end of the season, sell him, let him join the MLS or another European club for his final hurrah, then buy a top notch replacement who can contribute from the get go.
That said, IMO there's no reasonable hope of him being dropped this season, that much is pretty evident right now, and has been for a while. Van Gaal doesn't yield the power at United that Fergie did. He has benched captains in the past, but the likes of Van Bommel at Bayern aren't good examples, he was always an outsider. Rooney's stature at United would match someone like a Lahm at Bayern. Van Gaal isn't going to take him head on, he seems publicly enamored with him, and given Rooney's political influence in the dressing room, benching or even rotating him in and out of the starting XI might backfire, especially when we don't have a great alternative for the role he plays (Ander is a midfielder and Louis prefers hybrid strikers as the point forward).
Let him ride this season out, then transfer list him in the summer. Always better to pull the bandage in one quick stroke, than delaying the inevitable. As long as he stays at the club, there'll always be a fanfare to start him given his influence, or public outcry whenever his replacement's level of play dips, to go with the commercial pressure. That #10 position which he occupies is arguably the most fundamental of Van Gaal's teams. And Rooney is in no way doing that position due justice, he's even teetering on the edge of becoming a major liability. Cut the cord at the end of the season, sell him, let him join the MLS or another European club for his final hurrah, then buy a top notch replacement who can contribute from the get go.
