Wayne Rooney is a Manchester United great - so why is he not more loved?

psychdelicblues

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The Old Trafford striker - who turns 30 on Saturday - can blame his flirting with Manchester City five years ago for United fans refusing to call him one of their own.



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Wayne Rooney's record at Manchester United does not tally with his perception by Manchester United fans Photo: REX



By Mark Ogden

8:59AM BST 23 Oct 2015

It is a strange quirk of Wayne Rooney’s relationship with Manchester United’s supporters that, if you were to conduct a straw poll on the Stretford End to gauge whether he or Cristiano Ronaldo was held in greater esteem, the current United captain would come a distant second to the guy who upped sticks and left for Real Madrid.

There is a pantheon of greats at Old Trafford and Rooney, because of his achievements, his goals and his longevity, deservedly claimed his place in it long before celebrating his 30th birthday this weekend.

But if there was to be a top 10 of players in the hearts of United supporters, Rooney is unlikely to be in it and he can probably thank a dalliance with Manchester City, five years ago this week, for his absence from that exclusive group.


Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, George Best, Bryan Robson, Denis Law, Bobby Charlton, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, along with Ronaldo, would probably all beat Rooney to a place among the United elite, but it is the Ronaldo fixation which would perhaps most warrant Rooney to raise an eyebrow.

Rooney, after all, stayed at United when he could have pushed through two aborted attempts to leave, to City in 2010 and Chelsea 2013, but Ronaldo left, at the end of a two-year battle to leave Old Trafford for Real, in 2009.

Ronaldo has since played the PR game almost as well as he has performed on the pitch for Real, however, with regular comments about his debt to Sir Alex Ferguson and United, not to mention his teasing refusal to rule out a return to the club – shortly before signing a lucrative new five-year contract at the Bernabeu two years ago.

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Cristiano Ronaldo has made great play of his admiration for Sir Alex Ferguson

Rooney has never quite played to win hearts and minds, though, and it may explain why he is not loved by the United fans.

A boyhood Evertonian, a Scouser, who has never made a secret of his devotion to the blue half of Merseyside, Rooney has conspicuously stopped short of saying what supporters always like to hear.

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Wayne Rooney makes his allegiances clear in 2002

For Rooney, his career at United has been purely business. He has benefited hugely from that relationship, but so has the club, who have won titles and trophies on the back of his goals. Both have been good for each other, so it has been a perfectly successful piece of business.

But Everton has always been the team closest to his heart, so when he came close to leaving United for City in five years ago, what was viewed as an act of treachery by many Old Trafford supporters was merely another example of Rooney putting football as a business first.

United were not making the signings and showing the ambition he deemed necessary, but City were and they were also ready to pay a king’s ransom to take him across town to the Etihad Stadium.

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For Rooney, his United career has been business first

The fact that Rooney quickly performed a U-turn by signing a new deal with United has never been able to repair the damage caused by his week-long stand-off with the club, but in the end, well, business is business.

As a leading performer in his field, Rooney knew his worth and made sure he got what he wanted from United, but the accusations of disloyalty have never gone away.

It was different for Ronaldo, with the Portuguese leaving for a foreign club rather than a direct rival, but he still left, and Rooney stayed.

Disloyalty? Imagine if Gary Neville, as a teenager at United, left for another club because his boyhood team could not match his ambitions.

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Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville are dyed-in-the-wool United

No matter where Neville ended up, supporters of his new team would know all about his ties to United and affection for the club, but they would expect him to pledge similar love for his new employers.

But deep down, Neville would always be a red, just as Rooney has always been a blue and the absence of emotional ties to the second club would inevitably rear its head when contracts or interest from elsewhere emerged.

Despite his current battle for form, Rooney has undoubtedly delivered during his time at United.

He could end up surpassing Charlton as the club’s greatest-ever goalscorer and surpass all but Charlton, Giggs, Neville and Scholes in terms of time served at Old Trafford, but neither achievement is likely to earn him the love and affection of the supporters.

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Wayne Rooney has broken Sir Bobby Charlton's England scoring record - and his United tally is in his sights, too

Perhaps that is all down to his readiness to consider a move to City and the realisation in the stands that United’s best player was prepared to swap red for blue.

But despite it all, he stayed and Ronaldo is not the only player to have left Old Trafford who leaves Rooney in the shade when it comes to the adoration of United’s supporters.
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He is loved, and would be more loved if he realised its time to make way for Martial
 
He can blame his flirting with City five years ago for us refusing to call him one of our own.
 
Rooney was much more loved than Ronaldo at one time. Eventually his personality and his way of conducting business turned people against him. He only has himself to blame.
 
Rubish. He will be one of the United great when he retire. If anyone don't think so he should have a word with himself.

And many top players were flirting with a move away when they were at United, even Giggs flirted with a move to Inter, Ronaldo who many call a United legend said he is like a slave at United. Rooney flirted once and questioned our transfer policy which turn out to be not good enough in hindsight. And as he revealed in his last documentary he never asked to leave the in the season when SAF retired.

He will be absolutely legend when he retires, the only thing i feel sad about is his decline in this season and i fear people will remember Rooney like a player who pulled back United instead of the player who helped United to win a lot of trophies.
 
Cassidy said:
He is loved, and would be more loved if he realised its time to make way for Martial
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I don't love him, and Ogden hits the nail on the head in the article add to the fact that fans fall in love with players that excite them and when Rooney turned from the young kid who would run at anyone into the clinical Rooney he became harder to love, even if his stats improved.
 
Yeah, I think the 2010 saga soured things a lot - before then the view seemed to be that he would be the one that would remain loyal as Ronaldo fecked-off, and that Rooney actually appreciated United despite being an Evertonian. He had made comments about wanting to stay at United as long as Giggs and Scholes were doing, so when that all kicked-off then I think that altered the view of a lot of supporters, myself included.

That said I'd have him far higher on the list of United legends than Ronaldo, but I don't think I'm in the majority there.
 
I don't think he loves the club and that's what makes great players legends in the fans eyes.
 
He is loved for what he done for us in the past, what fans of the club don't like is that he's been a complete liability for the club for a couple of years now. He's actually become an obstacle for the club's progression now.
 
Jackson and Ogden with the same reductive nonsense I see. Just acknowledge the truth and call for the end of this junk along with everyone else.
 
Ogden is spot on in my opinion. I had always loved Rooney more than Ronaldo, even when Ronaldo was winning the Ballon d'Or as with Ronaldo I never felt like he was one of us. And Rooney I felt was one of our own, and that remained the case till 2010. Since then, I appreciate his contributions to the club but don't have an iota of affection for him.
 
ivaldo said:
He is loved for what he done for us in the past, what fans of the club don't like is that he's been a complete liability for the club for a couple of years now. He's actually become an obstacle for the club's progression now.
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This for me. I don't love him now, but I did once
 
he can stay for the coldest winter months.
 
You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

Woooooow
 
Didn't go on to be the player we wanted him to be, then got ideas above his station, held the club to ransom after fecking about and then did the same again, now he's one of the highest paid players in the world playing at pub league standard yet is undroppable

And he's a scouse bastard.
 
acnumber9 said:
Rooney was much more loved than Ronaldo at one time. Eventually his personality and his way of conducting business turned people against him. He only has himself to blame.
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He only has himself to blame for staying at United. Had Ronaldo stayed, no doubt he'd have been involved in a lot of unseemly squabbling about contracts too. Just like he has been at Real Madrid. Because he fecked off as soon as the big money came calling, United fans are able to only remember an idealised version of him.

The way so many fans view him and Rooney so differently reminds me of the way people put their first love on a pedestal, while constantly belittling the wife who has stuck with them through thick and thin.

EDIT: Obviously Ronaldo is a much better player, which would have smoothed over a lot of the issues but it seems churlish to hate on Rooney primarily for not being as good a player as we hoped he'd be, despite the fact he'll likely end up our highest goal-scorer ever.
 
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matherto said:
Didn't go on to be the player we wanted him to be, then got ideas above his station, held the club to ransom after fecking about and then did the same again, now he's one of the highest paid players in the world playing at pub league standard.

And he's a scouse bastard.
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Pretty much this.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Feck the people who dont like hin. Fact is, he's a legend, whether they like it or not.
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Its perfectly possible to appreciate everything he has achieved and love what he has done for the club without liking the bloke. I respect him as a player and Utd legend but still wouldnt choose to share a drink with him.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Really couldnt care less.

Hes a legend. End of!
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Haha love it. Rooney is a legend, whether you like him or not.

Think a lot was made of the contract issue because of social media, it was like a soap opera, and it was literally every where. He questioned the club's directions and the players we were signing. City were signing Aguero & Silva, we were signing Bebe, any professional who aspires to win titles & be crowned champion will question certain decisions.

Back in the 90's & early 00's a lot of people's opinions on players may have been different if social media was back then too.

As for holding the club ransom malarkey - he's the most marketable player in our club, he generates more revenue than any other player and should therefore be paid a figure that's proportionate to that. If you have an issue with how much he gets paid vs his value on the pitch, maybe question why the club haven't signed a player that can take the marketability factor away from him, not him for negotiating his pay. Anyone who doesn't negotiate their pay with their employer will be taken advantage of. Plus we're a multi billion dollar club, we were hardly held for ransom, we signed RVP & Falcao and paid them a similar amount even though Rooney's contributed more than they did for us or their previous clubs.
 
We won't really know quite what Rooney's status amongst our fanbase is until he leaves the club/retires in my opinion.

Despite me being very critical of his performances this season, it's undeniable that many of the moments I've enjoyed watching the club are ones where he's been involved or been the main man. Even if he left the club tomorrow, no one will forget his contribution to our success in the latter part of Ferguson's era at United, where we've overtaken Liverpool on 20 league titles and won the Champions League with two runner up campaigns. However, for a number of our fans the 2010 issue has soured things to a degree and some people on here need to realise that, rather than thinking that anyone who says they consider him a legend is some sort of 'Rooney hater'.
 
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Once I understood the concept that every player will feck off if they feel it benefits them, I lost any personal affection for any player. I do not hold anything against Rooney for attempting to leave in 2010. We sold two of our best players and were shopping in the bargain basenemt. Any top player that didn't have doubts as to whether to stay would have needed his head checked.
However, I do love my club and when I think keeping a player is detrimental to the progress of my club, I will demand that he leaves. And right there is my situation with Rooney. I appreciate all he has done for us but the time has come for him to go in my opinion and that is why I want him out.
That said, he's a Man It'd legend. I don't know how anyone can question that. He doesn't have to be universally loved to be a legend.
 
He's one of our greatest player of all time, but he has revealed himself to be a mercenary and for that alone, he's no longer a fan favourite.

Sure we'll appreciate what he has done, but the moment he's not performing (like now), he can buck up or feck off.
 
Yey, the legend debate again.

I always enjoy people telling others their opinions are more worthwhile.
 
matherto said:
Didn't go on to be the player we wanted him to be, then got ideas above his station, held the club to ransom after fecking about and then did the same again, now he's one of the highest paid players in the world playing at pub league standard yet is undroppable
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Pretty much. The constant over-rating of him from the English media doesn't help his case either.
 
I never really took to Rooney. Not sure why.
 
He used to be my favorite player since the Fener hattrick until 2010, since then I can't say I'm much of a fan. These days he pretty much annoys me every game with his shit form and his undroppable status and mentality. I am disappointed that he is the one to break Sir Bobby's record, but it is what it is, he's a donkey, but he's our donkey.

But to say that Rooney isn't a United legend or that Ronaldo a bigger legend is just stupid. I imagine the vast majority of the people that think Ronaldo is bigger than him for us are fans that started following United mostly because of him.
 
NinjaFletch said:
I don't love him, and Ogden hits the nail on the head in the article add to the fact that fans fall in love with players that excite them and when Rooney turned from the young kid who would run at anyone into the clinical Rooney he became harder to love, even if his stats improved.
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I don't know if his change in style is a factor for others, but for me it's purely about the manner in which he went about his two recent contract improvements. That said, I still appreciate him plenty as our captain and a player who has given a lot to United over the years.
 
I didn't and still don't understand why so many fans were angry at Rooney when he questioned the club's ambition at the time in 2010. Most of us saw that investment in the squad after we sold Ronaldo was really poor and he was spot on with his assessment.
I didn't like the direction that club was heading after 2009 with all the ''no value in the market'' rubbish and buying relatively cheap squad players. It was only the fact that Fergie is the best manager in history that made us win titles with average players.

Do I think Rooney is overpaid? Yes, but so were many other players that have come and left us since then.
Has he been an integral part of our success on and off the field since then? Most definatly (with the exception of the past year).

I think Rooney will go down as a great in the same level as Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke rather than Scholes, Giggs, Charlton, Best etc.
 
matherto said:
Didn't go on to be the player we wanted him to be, then got ideas above his station, held the club to ransom after fecking about and then did the same again, now he's one of the highest paid players in the world playing at pub league standard yet is undroppable

And he's a scouse bastard.
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This is a big part of the issue. Imagine playing for a club where the fans on a regular basis chant derogatory stuff about where you come from, about where your family live & what they are classed as.
 
Flirting with City didn't help but my biggest gripe with probably always was that he never reached the heights I thought he he would given by what he showed in the early stages of his career. Maybe that's an unfair assumption but I always felt that it was his work ethic that stopped him from being one of the greatest footballers of all time and not his talent. These days he is also just a shadow of what he once was.
 
I've forgotten the contract saga but it's his poor form that is spoiling things for me. LVG is more to blame but I feel he's shredding his legacy with every shocking performance and I hope it doesn't leave enduring bitterness to what should be an amazing career.
 
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