I watched the match on Sky last night and thought Rooney's touch was abysmal. Thought it was in the Euros too. I think the guy is lazy and has never developed the proper use of his left foot and as a result he is too predictable and opposition players have sussed him out. His contribution to the game is negligible in the final third and it would not surprise me if SAF got rid of him if a good offer came in for him. I think RVP is a far superior player (even though I detest his petulence) and a better bet to build the attacking option for Manure.
Whatever you say about Rooney's touch or attitude you can't argue with his goal scoring record for Man Utd.
Good player but not a great one. Only the English media keep building him up for European and world cup tournaments but he has failed miserably to deliver in every one he's played in so far. A terrific club player but not international class imo. Bit like John Barnes was and Ian Wright too. He will be okay for Utd for a canny while yet like but I'd start looking elsewhere for the national team striking options.
No Rooney isn't great. Phillips is though, eh, Super Kev, whoa he's great. 13 year head start on Rooney and he's 44 goals in front despite playing half of his career in sub-standard divisions. Rooney will eat that up by Christmas 2013. England collectively fail, whether Rooney plays out of his skin or performs poorly.
I didnt mention SKP? Regardless of how many goals he scored, it doesnt alter my opinion that Rooney isnt 'world-class' in any form of the word. Rooney is better than a host of other players that are also not world-class. In the 4 main tournaments he has been involved in, he has been utter ****e and by far and away the worst player on the pitch, most noteably S Africa 2 years ago and Poland this summer, when he had no injuries or distractions and was supposed to be out talisman. He even managed to abuse the England fans that had paid £1000's to go out and watch him play ****e. Real quality that like. He is a top class Premiership player but a very average international one. He isnt anywhere near the class of a Van Nistelrooy or Eric Cantona imo.
The way I judge a world class player is, if a player can walk straight into any team in the world, he's world class. Rooney would walk into any team, anywhere.
Dip in form? He scored 26 goals last season, and consistently creates chances and plays a major part in their build up play. He has one iffy game and finished?
Never really rated him, he's just a lazy bastard who knows fine well he'll still have his job & his high earnings no matter what he does
Anyone who thinks Rooney is lazy or **** is stupid. Over rated maybe, but he works extremely hard, he creates and scores goals. He's world class, and could get in to any team.
Really? Would he play instead of Barcelonas Argentinian number 10 or Villa? Ronaldo or Karim Benzema at Madrid? Gomez at Bayern? Zlatan Ibrahimović or Kévin Gameiro at PSG? Diego Milito at inter? I dontr think he would even play over Aguero or Tevez at City, never mind European. There are others but you get my drift. All of the above are technically better footballers that would play ahead of Rooney. Rooney isnt a bad player and I have saud he is a top EPL player but he is a light weight in world terms imo, just as Barnes and Wright were.
As perhaps the outstanding English player of his generation the fact that his touch is so poor does not help inspire a generation of young players to master the techniques necessary to succeed at European or World level. Rooney will continue to do well in the domestic game without fulfilling his initial remarkable potential. I'd put money on him scoring against us this season, he usually does.
You don't need to be technically gifted to succeed in the EPL as commitment, good work ethics, total effort and 'getting stuck in' can often overcome a less than world-class touch and skill. Rooney is a brilliant EPL player but he would struggle in the more technically demanding leagues of Spain, Germany and Italy imo. As for International teams, he would maybe get into a few but not that any of the major European squads and absolutely nowhere near the Brazil and Argentinian ones. Its a sad fact but players we rated form the so called golden generation and from our top 4 or 5 club sides are just not that good when you put them up against their counterparts from other parts of the globe.
He wouldn't necessarily replace these players, but he would fit in to the team somewhere, similar to Fabregas, nobody thought he would play as much as he did, but they made room for him and he shone.
