Having a discussion where we discussed the point of Rooney for us these days and the thing I heard the most was that ex players and team mates see him as a leader Now on the pitch I dont see no evidence for this, bar running up to and swearing at the ref he seems non existent these days, just wanted views from you folk on whetehr you see him as captain material or whether we should have taken and ran with chelseas money when SAF wanted him gone?
I see him as an experienced, senior player (and by experienced I don't mean years of service, I mean experience of trophy winning campaigns at every level). But there's a difference between that and being a leader. Which he isnt I'm afraid.
People said the same about Keane. And John Terry and Gerrard and any number of other team captains, usually based on watching highlights. Rooney has actually been very effective as captain for us - it's been widely reported he has given insight and support to the younger players, and rallied the players at half time in big games like against Liverpool in the league this season. He was also outstanding in the cup semi against Everton, had a word with Lingard to calm him down after he shanked that gilt edged opportunity, and was the first player back to clear off the line from Lukaku. I know it's very trendy to criticise Rooney for every failure we have at the moment, but what extra do you think we would get from Smalling, Blind or any other player in the squad?
I doubt Henderson will be our captain next season, even Milner does a better job I wouldn't bookmark that though as I could be miles off!
This has been a problem for a while, apart from Rooney I see no other leaders in the whole squad. Yes we have talented players but we don't seem to have enough with the mentality to drag/push the team through a hard time. That being said, we have shown a bit more resilience in the past few weeks but I think that has come more through confidence than force of will.
swarbs admittedly i dont get to OT a lot these days (family and commitments) and i know TV doesnt do justice to what goes on on the pitch but I saw keano having words. Gerrard i didnt and never thought he was a good captain, he would go solo Rooney isnt the player he was now and I see him being aggressive, but usually like when he got his recent yellow. He seems to not go in hard when in teh opposition box TBH I do agree that we lack leaders fullstop currently
Aye, I won't disagree that he's not the player he was, and he is not (and never has been tbh) a patch on Keane as a player, captain or leader in general. But then as was pointed out in another thread, there are pretty much no players who are a patch on Keane in all three areas. So yes, not the ideal captain and definitely a downgrade on Robson and Keane, but I personally think he does a decent job, and we could definitely do worse. Particularly now he is playing a bit deeper and making more of the play, rather than just thundering into the opposition box looking to boost his own goals tally. In fact, when you look at the other captains at rival clubs I think we could definitely do a lot worse (Henderson, Lucas, Arteta, Terry, Ivanovic, shudder shudder). Also, as you say, we lack leaders in the team right now, and I think we are in danger of doing that very British thing of focusing on the captain as the only leader, rather than having a balanced team where leadership should come from all over the field.
I like Rooney, he seems to have been a part on some important history in Man Utd. But I can't see him as a leader right now. Maybe he should pass his golden knowledge to a little bit younger player.
