http://www.skysports.com/watch/vide...10351856/mcclaren-rooney-should-play-up-front So everyone accepts Rooney is now a midfielder and can be quite effective there. Everyone except Schteve Why did we wait so long to sack this clown.
I havent seen the video. But i said throughout the Euro's that Rooney should be upfront. If there is player you want in the box 6-10 yards out, whether it be in the air or on the floor, Rooney is your man. With the strikers we played and the formation we used, Rooney could not be effective as a midfielder. there was no movement, teams got back and defended very well. with a lack of movement from kane, sterling, ali, sturridge it clearly wasnt going to work. We should have taken a winger or two and tried a 442, stretched opponents, got crosses into the box. Rooney up front with either kane, vardy or sturridge with two actual wingers would have been better that the dross woy put together.
Personally I just don't rate Rooney at all in that front area. I thought he was effective in the Euros. Sadly Woy surrounded him with square pegs in round holes, and ripped all momentum with his selection for the Slovakia match. You do that when you've nailed the first two. The bloke is an idiot. I have to admit I was slow to see just how stupid he was. All Woy had to do as I said straight after the Wales match, is pick Rashford, Sturridge and Vardy. We need an injection of energy. To be honest nobody seemed to want to pick Rashford, and I couldn't get my head round it. His pace was the difference. To go back to Kane and Sterling for Iceland was simply moronic. Taking them I can see the reasoning, however lucky and overrated Sterling is. However once it is clear they are just not going to do it or paggered, don't just stubbornly continue. Taking Henderson, Wilshere AND Milner. You only need one of those 3. Townsend would have been an option or Antonio. I just don't get what was going through the old fools head. Rooney isn't a striker anymore. He is not even a number 10. To me he is best sat in the midfield playmaking. His game was always going to go that way because of his passing.
Agree with ToonManSam - Should have played upfront instead of Kane for me. Top goal scorer in history for the country and you stick him in the holding midfield position? Also I don't get this idea that Rooney isn't a striker anymore either! Why not? He sacrifices himself for Man U because they have an average (by their standards) midfield but a few strikers have come in for big money (and flopped) there while Rooney has been shifted to the wings, number 10 and deeper in CM all "for the good of the team" to accommodate said strikers and to me its similar to Kane taking corners for England. Manager tell's you "you have a role, its not your best but you can still do it better than the others" - you'll go along with it because all you want to do is play football and be successful. If Man U had gone out and bought World Class CM's in recent years in stead of bringing in dross like Fellani, Snederlin etc (might be a bit harsh but are they world class? not a chance) OR kept Pogba - Rooney would still play up front for them. http://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=1724&teamTabs=transfers Have a look at their transfers and you'll see there is a reason Rooney has been moved backwards. Since 2010 not one CM of real quality through the doors. Schwienstiger? - Class but can he play more than half a season? Herrera - might be taking time to settle but not the best! Daley Blind - Probably bought to plug that holding role but plays CB for them most of the time. Carrick - getting on a bit now. Rooney is shifted from Pillar to Post because he is their best natural footballer and can play any role better than most. Ask him what he sees himself as though I bet my bottom dollar he'd say striker. Fully agree with the fact Hodgson is a moronic old duffer who couldn't get laid in a brothel though.
Roy got a lot of things right in his time as manager. He wasn't afraid to pick youth and he adopted an attacking system. That won't be remembered, though, because when it counted he relied upon reputations rather than the evidence of his eyes. And he was a bit (though only a bit) unlucky.
Rooney himself sees himself as a midfielder so I'll have your money please "I think sometimes you have to make choices in your career and at the minute it is probably better for me to play deeper," he said. "Now obviously that's a bit different now with England because I could still be the striker, but certainly after that, I am sure for next season, that is probably where I see myself playing. "I think of course you're involved in the game," he added. "I feel like I can dictate games more from there and try and control the tempo in games, which I felt I did quite well tonight." He is a midfielder and to me looks really well suited to it. Rooney was never going to remain a striker. Part of his effectiveness was being very mobile and very quick with the ball. His driving runs were the traits of his game. He lost that and he has had to adapt. Its not like Teddy Sheringham where he's never had pace so has built his game a certain way. He is just not able to be effective. He is deeper. To be fair all those you'd expect to know whats best see it the same as Rooney himself. Xavi called it in October 2015 http://www.skysports.com/football/n...rop-into-midfield-to-prolong-career-says-xavi Scholes called it in Sept 2014 although he conceded he was still equally as good up front at the time http://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...ould-play-in-midfield-instead-of-as-a-striker Man U may not have bought too well, but if you sat a world class holding midfielder alongside Rooney, I think we'd see a world class playmaker alongside. His passing is terrific, both range and accuracy.
I agree I think he did some great things in his time as manager. At the critical time, like many of the players, he lost is way and couldn't deliver. His main problem is he developed a stubbornness where he thought the press were out to get him. His loyalty to certain players got in the way. Like you say it was all there in front of his eyes but he just couldn't see it.
Over rated but nonetheless good. He is a useful member of the team but England should definitely move on from being defined in relation to him.
Just for the record, Mourinho also see's rooney as a striker, confirmed in his 1st press conference. I'm glad Mourinho agrees with me
And record goal scorer. He hasn"t done anything at a major tournament but neither has anyone else for 20 years
Yeah I saw this and was considering if it was worth posting . To be fair in the same interview he says Rooney can play a variety of positions and really at the end of the day it is down to personal preference. Still stand by what I said of Rooney's own opinion of his best position and the quote above only seem to be him saying I'll play there because I'm asked... "at the minute it is probably better for me to play deeper" doesn't scream to me that he thinks its his best position more thats probably where he see's himself getting the most game time.
To be fair I think there are other interviews where he confirms his desire to move back. As always though he says he'll play wherever he's told. I still think he can do a job up front, its simply about making best use of his attributes which to me are blatantly best suited to midfield. All players adapt, some more successfully than others. Shearer simply adapted from being an on the shoulder striker to more of an all round target man when he lost his pace. His build dictated what he would become. Carragher very quickly was converted by Benitez into a centre half when he took over, never looked back. His was not through any decline in an attribute, just using him better. Bale converted from a left back to an inside forward. Fairly successfully... I think Mourinho has made his first mistake and will find out very quickly it will not help his team to function. To be fair it is difficult to see where Rooney fits into a typical Mourinho set up. I can only assume Mourinho has decided to ditch his favoured set up. Or he is going to play Rooney in the Drogba/Costa role - which would be a massive error. If you look at how he plays it is always the same. Take his two spells at Chelsea, his midfield attack consisted of (with slight differences): Holding role: Makelele/Matic Box to Box/Playmaker: Essien/Fabregas Goalscoring Midfielder: Lampard/Willian AM: Robben/Cole/Hazard/Oscar ST: Drogba/Costa I see no role for a Rooney in that front three. Perhaps he will try something new, and try him as a 10 or a false 9. I normally back Mourinho to be a success. I think he'll probably fail (i.e. not win the title), given his thought process on Rooney. To be honest I thought Mourinho was a terrible appointment for Rooney straight away. Rooney will grow frustrated under him in my opinion, as he tries to fit a round peg in a square hole and Rooney bears the brunt of it. Add that Rooney wants to play in midfield and you have a recipe for trouble. Not to mention Mourinho is going to have to nail his team selection etc because you can bet Pep will, and the penny has finally dropped with Wenger. That said if Mourinho can be flexible for the first time in his career and change his system to suit, then maybe it can work out. He played the same way at Real and Inter too. I suppose you could class Lampard/Willian as a 10 to some extent. I think Rooney is more of an 8 but probably not in the dogmatic way Mourinho employs an 8. I think he needs to be in your midfield three and to try and use him as a target man or wide man it will end in tears.
I disagree because some have actually done things like play one good game. When I say done nothing I'm serious I can't recall him having a single good game. I'm not being funny but if you played a good striker every game from 16 against the crappest countries you can find they would destroy that record. He's crap, always been crap and will continue to get a place
England need to mirror Mourinho's approach (he'll be England coach one day). A way of playing and the best eleven players to play it. Then a second eleven mirroring the first eleven as close as possible, so if the right winger is out of form, the next in line steps in. With an entire country to choose from it makes no sense to do it any other way. We looked like idiots at the Euro's. We also made no real effort to understand the roles of the players we have at our disposal. For me, England will always have an ingrained 4-4-2 system mindset. It's not outdated - it just won the Premier League ffs. That's all we should do - we play 4-4-2, deal with it. 1st XI: Forster, Walker, Smalling, Cahill, Shaw, Oxlade-C, Dier, Alli, Young, Vardy, Kane. 2nd XI: Butland, Clyne, Stones, Jones, Rose, Lennon, Drinkwater, Rooney, Lallana, Sturridge, Welbeck Can't be bothered to work out who's best fit, or whatever, but that's the principal for me.
Which is why so many other of our other players have scored more than him. And have better goals to game ratios. And he was excellent against Russia. (ps: before you tell me how far he is below the standard of really good players, please re-read my post above. He is over rated. We should all stop talking about him)
He's our record goalscorer but when you actually look at who most of his goals have been scored against it is laughable. Rooney is ****e and hasn't had a good game for England since the 2004 Euro's. Another example of a player who has been over hyped by the press and fans in this country. He's also a gutless bottling bastard to boot judging by his displays in this Euro tournament [in which he isn't alone.] He should have been dropped after his little outburst in South Africa when he slated the fans. Comical that someone which such limited ability is held in such high regard. Even more comical that he commands such a ridiculous salary.
