If he can and still has it in him, you think he wouldnt have started that 2 years ago?
How does LVG solve the Rooney problem?
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If he can and still has it in him, you think he wouldnt have started that 2 years ago?
I know, I know
I dont think anyone seriously expects anyone else in Europe to pick up the tab for Rooney's wages. So the only realistic exit strategy as far as I can see is offloading him to an MLS team. They have money and Rooney has commercial appeal. Obviously some of the other third tier leagues in China or the Middle East might also be interested, it just depends on what Rooney himself would want. I can imagine America would suit him better from a lifestyle perspective but I guess only he really knows.
He's not as untouchable as I imagined him to be a few weeks ago. He's lost his place as a #9 to a teenager who is miles better. He's lost his #1 pen taker slot to Mata.
At the start of the season Louis was saying, quite tellingly, that Wayne thinks he can score 25 goals as a striker. He didn't say that he expected him to score 25 goals.
He has however tried to big him up with all kinds of stunts like the "best captain" thing etc.
We've got 3 very tough games coming up in the league. We'll know more about how the team is coming together and whether the quality of the squad is too thin. Rooney will no doubt get chances in those games, but if we fail to navigate those games properly with Wayne performing the way he has been, surely van Gaal will make changes.
I think we'll do OK, Rooney will be relatively poor, maybe getting a tap in or two and keep playing. Like someone said, if he can prove the lot of us wrong we'll all be delighted. I'm not holding my breath though.
At the start of the season Louis was saying, quite tellingly, that Wayne thinks he can score 25 goals as a striker. He didn't say that he expected him to score 25 goals.
He has however tried to big him up with all kinds of stunts like the "best captain" thing etc.
We've got 3 very tough games coming up in the league. We'll know more about how the team is coming together and whether the quality of the squad is too thin. Rooney will no doubt get chances in those games, but if we fail to navigate those games properly with Wayne performing the way he has been, surely van Gaal will make changes.
I think we'll do OK, Rooney will be relatively poor, maybe getting a tap in or two and keep playing. Like someone said, if he can prove the lot of us wrong we'll all be delighted. I'm not holding my breath though.
Do we have that long, though? We can't give him the rest of the season to hold the team back and expect to build on last season. feck the media and other mandarins that are offering excuses when they don't contribute a dime to his wages and are the first to point to imaginary "warning lights starting to flash" when we lose one match. We can't base our decisions on what those feckwits would say because at the end of the day they flourish when we are in crisis.
Jesus! To think that he is only 29
No, we don't have a long timeframe. We are on a 3 year plan to win a major trophy, and either position he currently occupies is absolutely critical. He has to produce or be replaced.
It's very easy to say drop him, drop him. I know that ideally, no one should be shown preferential treatment, but in the real world, this is NEVER the case, even at your place of work. There's no such thing as treating everyone equally, whether right or wrong, that's how the world operates. Whether because he's Rooney, or because he's captain, or perhaps he works hard in training, or because he likes him personally, LVG will persist with Rooney.
He is the captain and remains a key figure in the dressing room, drop him and you could lose a very strong ally, secondly, Rooney is still a very good player and most managers will give such players longer time to see if they can rediscover their mojo. LVG did it with RVP last season, got lots of criticism, but where is RVP today? Rooney has been poor, but he's still a top player & he still has that presence that can help the team, he should be given a very good shot at rediscovering his form, that's what LVG is trying to do.
He is the captain and remains a key figure in the dressing room, drop him and you could lose a very strong ally, secondly, Rooney is still a very good player and most managers will give such players longer time to see if they can rediscover their mojo. LVG did it with RVP last season, got lots of criticism, but where is RVP today? Rooney has been poor, but he's still a top player & he still has that presence that can help the team, he should be given a very good shot at rediscovering his form, that's what LVG is trying to do.
The crux of the problem is he's not just good enough. He's so bad we're like playing with 10 men.
If he still does the job then no problemo
I understand where you are coming from, as I am Tiger Woods fan in golf and I thought he too would turn things around ..but they comes that moment when you start thinking "what if he doesnt"..Happened with me..I just cant see him return to a level worth keeping as a team, especially compared to where I think we should be as a football club
I admitted as much that he's been very poor, i just gave mitigation, as to why a manager would persist with a player of Rooney's standing, we've seen it many times in the past, there's a reason for it, that's all I'm trying to say.
Jesus! To think that he is only 29
This is what worries me. We could be stuck with him for a few years yet.
That happened last season, When RVP took over from him during the WBA game, he missed and Mata got the job...the slow media are only picking up on that now.
Jose is currently doing the same with Ivanovic, but its an intricate balancing act, especially when other players are getting dropped for poor form.
How much is too much is the question?
That's the big question, at one point, the manager will make a decision, LVG did it with RVP last season, come summer, he was sold. I think he'll persist with Rooney, as long as he's not costing us points, if things don't change then he might be off next summer.
What if complacency is at the root of Rooney's problems not just form? Or what if he is really done at thid level, when does the penny drop and LvG starts to put Manchester United interests ahead of Rooney's? We have a player rotting on the bench that can create more, defend better, press more effectively and arguably score more (on current form). I'm all for giving him an extended grace period but we really ought to decide what we really want because the truth is that Rooney is never hitting the modest heights of Rooney 2012 and our ambitions demand that we have a player capable of much more leading our attack. Frankly speaking we need to move on from Rooney if we want to get back on top.
Thats why they get paid the big bucks..but LVG should be careful that keeping Rooney happy doesnt negatively affect his own standing within the club ...Its a result business after all..I sweat thinking about what would have happened to us without Martial with Rooney being the main striker...
Yes and no. It happened last season when we were desperately trying to assemble a midfield. This season however we began with Rooney as our number 9 and all the talk was of him leading the line and getting back to his favorite position.
I'm not exactly sure when the pen duties were swapped, but Mata hasn't always been in the starting line-up and Rooney has had a few. It was Rooney's to take against Brugge (which he offered to Hernandez).
No it wasn't.
Van Gaal mentioned how generous or something Rooney was to give the pen to Hernandez after the game...
No, it happened last season.
Remember, Rooney missed against Pool, and was removed .
RVP got the penalty duties. He missed against WBA.
Mata got penalty duties against Crystal Palace and scored. He has been no. 1 since.
Rooney hasnt been no. 1 since then, and this is the second time he has been removed from penalty duties( The first time he willingly stepped down, or so we were told)...He is terrible at them, just like Messi.
Get some pace and width around him.
The only non pacy player we have in the front four (other than Rooney) is Mata. He drifts inside often as well. Are you suggesting we drop Mata?
I'm just answering the OP's question. It clear Rooney's not in great form at the moment, but he normally performs better with pace and width around him, therefore, I guess it would have to mean we'd have to drop Mata.
Actually, I think since Valencia has gone to right back, against Sunderland and Wolfsburg in the first half, I felt Rooney has looked better.
P.S. Rooney's probably the quickest in our front four. He's rapid!
It's a given that he will start against Arsenal, but LvG should ban him from playing the ball backwards. Let him lose the ball, but he must either carry the ball forward or look for another player ahead of him. He is becoming a master at passing back and breaking down the attack. He has become Antonio Valencia mark II.
I'm actually starting to think he'll get dropped/seriously considered to move on if this awful rut continues.
You have to be ruthless at this level and the only solution I see is to drop him. We can rotate him in at the 9 spot for Martial against the smaller sides and hopefully give him 20-30 minutes as a sub here and there. At this point his touch is too heavy for the #10 role and his giveaways are killing our transitions.
Great thread, congratulations.
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You're joking right? Surely Memphis and Martial would beat him in a 30 yard sprint?
One of the greatest frustrations of this situation is the lack of value we are getting from a player rumoured to earn £300k per week.
If we are going to pay such a wage to any player, I expect him to deliver 2 world class performances in every 3 games. I expect a player who will light up the park, who will make stadium fans purr with appreciation, a player who will visibly be the boss on the field.
That was Rooney in 2007-11. He was our heartbeat.
But those days seem so long ago. And its physically impossible for him to ever reach those heights again. Its obvious its a downward spiral from here. And yet we pay him close to what the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and Robben earn. Its nuts.
If we are going to pay such a wage to any player, I expect him to deliver 2 world class performances in every 3 games. I expect a player who will light up the park, who will make stadium fans purr with appreciation, a player who will visibly be the boss on the field.
That was Rooney in 2007-11. He was our heartbeat.
But those days seem so long ago. And its physically impossible for him to ever reach those heights again. Its obvious its a downward spiral from here. And yet we pay him close to what the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and Robben earn. Its nuts.
Are you blind or not watching our games?
Not to the ice cream van
Neither, but I knew once I mentioned this people would jump on my fecking back, when I've already explained for sake of the OP's question, that one possible way could be to use more pace and width around him. That's not me wanting to take Mata out of the team, though.
Rooney's pretty damn fast when he gets going. Haven't got stats for this year, but Rooney racked up the quickest speed in our team last season, which consisted of Di Maria, who you would probably assume is quicker than Rooney. Not sure of the yardage, but statistically, he was the quickest.
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We've played with more pace around him since Martial signed, Rooney's performance has still been easily the worst in the entire team regardless of who we've played. Can't believe people still give the other players and the system flack for Rooney not performing, he's been this way for nearly 3 years now.
Pace and WIDTH....
Despite the fact that we don't have top class wingers? If the solution to help Rooney improve his performance is to weaken the team, surely the better solution would be to drop him...
Have you read the OP or not? And apparently i'm blind.....Wow
Thanks for sharing. Am surprised. I stand corrected
Rooney's pretty damn fast when he gets going. Haven't got stats for this year, but Rooney racked up the quickest speed in our team last season, which consisted of Di Maria, who you would probably assume is quicker than Rooney. Not sure of the yardage, but statistically, he was the quickest.
Thanks for sharing. Am surprised. I stand corrected