Date: 19th July 2011 at 1:03am
Written by:
Scholes and Rooney

The master and the apprentice?

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that Wayne Rooney could be more of a midfield option next season, although not in the same vein as Paul Scholes.

Many Reds believe that Rooney’s displays behind Chicharito towards the latter part of last season make him an ideal candidate for an attacking midfielder role next season, or maybe even as a conventional CM.

Speaking to the Mail Sir Alex commented that while he thinks Rooney could have a role in the centre of the park, it won’t be as some form of Scholes replacement.

The Mail reports: Q: Scholes has said Wayne Rooney could fill his role. Do you agree?

Sir Alex: “Scholesy is being very generous there. He’s under-estimating himself and the value he had to us. Wayne could play centre midfield but not the way that Scholesy played it. They are too different.

“The way that Wayne would play as opposed to Scholesy is that he would be more dynamic and all over the place, using his energy to run everywhere, challenge and hit those crossfield passes that he’s terrific at. But Scholes was more calculated and he always had that control about him, controlling the speed and pace of a game, which is pretty difficult to do. He was an absolute one-off. You will never replace Scholes. ”

With no end in sight, just yet, to the Wesley Sneijder transfer saga, it’s becoming increasingly likely that it may well be one of United’s current squad that’s tasked with the job of filling the void left by Scholes. One things for sure, if Rooney is moved to central midfield expect we can expect a different type of player to the Ginger Prince.

Check out Fergie’s full interview with the Mail: HERE

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8 responses to ““Wayne Could Play Centre Midfield But Not The Way That Scholesy Played it.””

  1. timbo says:

    Sure, other than the fact Rooney has no vision, positional sense, situational awareness, accurate passing, basic skills, nor that indefinable ability good midfielders have to be able to find space and time at will, he’d be a marvellous attacking midfielder! That’s not to mention the fact he couldn’t hit the side of Old Trafford from ten yards out on most occasions, so the idea he could mount a Scholes-like attack on goal from distance is hilarious.

    When is Fergie going to wake up – industry does not denote class. The people he seems to value the most are the work horses (Rooney, Park, Fletcher, etc) who run around all day in the name of the cause – never mind that they are largely unskilled and talentless drones who are meat for the grinder against class opposition – just look at the number Barcelona’s less industrious artists performed on United a few months ago, helped along by a tactically naive manager who didn’t heed the lessons of three years ago and who continues to paper over Rooney’s weaknesses by compromising the side against quality opposition. Fergie was a complete fool to play Rooney in his favoured position, deep behind a second striker, at the expense of a workmanlike midfield that was always going to struggle enormously against the Catalan side’s midfield maestros. The extra body was desperately needed in the engine room, not as a second banana up front to give little Wayne the foil he needed to shine in his preferred role. Sure he got a goal – good one! Pity the three others United let in while pandering to Rooney’s needs. Letting the opposition thoroughly dominate possession through the midfield and dictate the tone and pacing of the game will do that to you.

  2. williamt says:

    Play Rooney as the attacking center midfielder abd Jones as the defensive midfielder in front of the back four!
    Save the proposed 35 million plus wages and invest in younger players.
    Up ManU!

  3. Norchy j says:

    Midfield task requires more than just passing and switching the ball around the pitch which rooney has got in him…Sometimes u need someone to dictate or change the pace of game as well as the tempo.That is where scholes will be missed

  4. laurence says:

    @timbo are you serious, rooney is just a workhorse!!!???
    has no vision, accurate passing or basic skills, your clueless!
    yes barca outclassed us but, rooney was the only player in our team that looked close to there level & yes he scored!
    I agree rooney is overated & the media expected him 2 win us the world cup….look what happened there!
    but on his day is one of the best players in the prem. Fact
    Calling fergie a fool & tactically naive, (barca are a cut above the rest) pfffft
    YOU ARE A COMPLETE MUG

  5. sadiq says:

    ronnney is a semi demi god.he can fit in anywhere….

  6. Gary says:

    Lest we forget, Paul Scholes original position for Manchester United was as a Striker.

    It was only when he started playing a few games for England as a Central Midfielder that Fergie actually realised the potential he had in that position and started to pick him on a regular basis.

    So it would not be the first time. There are some comparisons to be made with the way that Fabio Capello has been utilising him of late.

    Rooney tends to drop into central midfield anyway while he’s supposed to be playing as a striker, so Man Utd would do well just to get another striker up there like Berba or Ashley Young and use him to set them up.

    I think as Wayne gets older and nature takes its course, removing his pace for strength, it’s a role he’ll fill more and more often. Perhaps even in the coming season.

  7. Gary says:

    Hey, look what’s happened the last two games. Rooney in centre midfield…

    who could have predicted that? (har har)