Is Wazza the man who Fergie will be thinking of in the transfer window?
Wayne Rooney’s season was similar to the film Alien, at first it seemed a little slow, there was a truly disgusting bit early on, then it quickly became exceedingly entertaining and totally satisfying.
Rooney went from a lone striker figure bereft of goals, to a deep lying centre forward- or false 10 if you will who seemed to be the cog making most of United’s attacks happen.
There’s nothing better as a United fan than watching as yet another one of our player’s throws the media’s criticism of him back in their faces with one stellar performance after another.
Just as David Beckham did in 98/99 and Cristiano Ronaldo did in 06/07, Rooney was able to transform himself from one of the most disappointing players in South Africa, to a misguided, greedy fool, to the team’s superstar again- sort of.
Rooney seemed to find new freedom in having a prolific Mexican in front of him and wide men who loved nothing more than getting on the end of one of his sumptuous passes and converting it into a goal scoring opportunity.
It’s a testament to how far Rooney has evolved as a player that less than a year on from being almost exclusively a lone striker he can slot into deeper role to be arguably even more effective. He may not get as many goals but Rooney’s definitely at the heart of more and fundamentally the team seems less reliant on just his efforts.
Rooney in the false 10 role has been such a success that the question is “will he be reverted back to a standard striker next season?”
Much may seem to depend on the fitness of Chicharito as if the Little Pea was injured then it may be beneficial to push Rooney further up the pitch and allow Dimitar Berbatov the luxury of dropping deep now and again as he often likes to do.
However when Chicharito is fit there’s no denying that both he and Rooney seem to thrive with the Mexican further up field than his Scouse colleague.
With this in mind, you could cast your eye over the potential attacking midfielders being courted by Manchester United and ask “do we really need them?”
Take Wesley Sneijder for example an attacking midfielder in every sense of the word, a truly world class player who would be an asset to any team in world football.
The question is would United really need him if Rooney’s operating in a similar role?
Hayden Shaw wrote on this site over two months ago: “Now, if Rooney is playing that role, being the player who likes to operate in the gap between midfield and defence, making himself hard to pick up, threading the passes and linking the play, then that really doesn’t leave a lot of room for Sneijder.”
I’m inclined to agree.
A similar argument could be put forward for Alexis Sanchez who although able to operate on either wing, is just as adept and some would argue more at home in the false 10 role. With the signing of Ashley Young, plus Antonio Valencia and Nani available for the wide positions it’s questionable as to whether United really need Sanchez, unless he’s to be utilised in a central role.
The problem with using the Chilean just off the striker is that a certain freshly haired tweeter can do the job arguably better than anyone.
Then there’s Samir Nasri, again a player who when needed can be pushed out wide and can even be played as a bog standard central midfielder if needed but without a doubt an AM if ever there was one.
Again would you need Nasri if you had Rooney occupying the deep striker/ attacking midfielder role? Probably not but I’d still buy him if he was available because unlike Sanchez and Sneijder who’d probably cost the same amount as Andy Caroll- I honestly can’t believe I’ve just written that sentence- Nasri could be bought for the fairly cheap price of £10 million- nor many years ago did I expect to one day be saying that.
Rooney’s excellence in the deep striker role, means that forking out 30-40 million beer tokens for the likes of Sneijder or Sanchez may not be the most savvy of moves by United. I know Sanchez can play as a winger, but again do United need another one of those- especially at such a price? Probably not, nor do we need a player best suited just off the striker, not when we’ve already got one who’s proven he’s more than worthy of the role.
Feel free to comment, suggest or abuse below.
Check out Hayden’s Sneijder At United Thanks But No Thanks article here
i dont agree with any of this man u badly need an attacking midfielder that can hold the ball up and slot a pass and chip in with an odd goal,maun u this year have been very average at best with rooney in this position some of their play has been so boring with little or no attacking flair in some games,rooney is a finisher this was shown in 09/10 season when scholes played cam and linked up with him.imagine the player rooney could be with the help of a player like sneijder.
I said this over twelve month ago after seeing Rooney drop deep in a Champ Lge game and belt a fifty yard pass ito Giggs’ stride on the run…IF Rooney is happy to play the Scholes role then he could do it and would be brilliant at it.
Sir Alex once stated he could also play in goal…he wasn’t saying it to say he’s a goalkeeper, he was saying it because Rooney is a rare breed that can play any position and understand it because he has a footballers brain.
I’d like to see us sign a Sneijder type player, but would not be surprised to Rooney drop deeper and boss the game.
It may also be why we have seven or eight forwards on our books because Rooney is floating. Good article.
rooney cant play as a winger.
Your answer lies on the Barcelona vs Man utd game…
Let’s be honest here: you’re not the first person to talk about this are you? The one place where you’re mistaken is with Nasri; besides his flexibility, his preference has been playing on the left – in fact for Arsenal fans the whole Nasri or Arshavin question has been quite a debate for the left flank. In that sense, Nasri’s purchase would not put into question Rooney’s false 10 role, but rather the need for Ashley Young at all. However, I take your main point. I think Modric is the best fit as he has showed his class in playing behind an AM (vdVaart) this season, and is therefore better suited to United’s setup. I doubt very much that ‘Arry Redknapp and Arsene Wenger will let their players go though (especially letting Nasri go to a rival) so I think we’ll have to look elsewhere or trust in youth such as Cleverly. Don’t forget Giggs is still there so maybe we’re good for a season or two until the youth trio of Pogba, Tunnicliffe and Morrisson step up in 18 months.
Nasri’s true preference is to play down the middle, something he has said in countless interviews. His feelings on this – plus the fact he is being pushed wide to accommodate the partnership between Fabregas and Wilshere is part of the reason he is currently so heavily linked with us. As well as the trophies…
Aside from that i think your bang on, we need to seriously look at the youth because who wants to sell their star players? And buying them for current prices is a whole other issue. But if we’re to stay competitive domestically and in Europe can we afford the luxury of waiting an other season or two without strengthening the midfield, which currently needs a lot of work.
Agree with both on the youth. Real talent waiting to be used. Would love to see Modric or Nasri. Modric though would be a better fit (don’t see that happening though).
Would like to see us signing a ball winner that can distribute in midfield though. Not too sure if SAF gonna use Jones in that role. If not would like a player like Javi Martinez, M’villa or Busquests (seriously doubt he would leave) signed.
Good article,
But the missing ingredient is the unknown…ie injuries,lack of form,lack of confidence.Its ok to remember the United players playing at their peak and optimum,but its football and anything can happen.EG Nani assault by retard carragher,(Nani wasn’t the same after)injury to Valencia,(out for most of the season) and out of form Evra,(probably his worst season so far,by his own admission).A backup plan is needed and the players to work the plan is needed.Competition for places is needed,as most including SAF agree,(as shown in his overhauling of the team) this is one of the worst MU mid fields, in terms of creativity and unlocking defences.
Fergie must go 4 bastos the brazilian left back,we need also to increase pace from the left why should we be all concertrating with the right and mid.bastol and macello are better than evra in terms of increasing pace,defence,attack and they are able to push up and cause a threat.
DID MU NEED TO SIGN AN ATTACKING MID.?I DONT THINK SO.I THINK WITH ANDERSEN WE HAVE GOTTEN MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR THAT POSITION.WHY ALL D FUSS ABOUT MODRIC,SNEIDER ETC WHEN IT SEEMS NONE OF THEM IS AS GOOD AS HIM. I BELIEVE D PAPERS HAVE MADE THEM LOOK BEYOND THEIR ACTUAL VALUES, IF STATISTICS IS ANYTHING TO GO ABOUT, JUST GET D STATS-FOR SNEIDER-5GOALS&4ASSIST IN 23 SERIA A GAMES AND MODRIC-FEWER THAN SNEIDERS’ WITH MORE GAMES PLAYED NOT A WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCE FROM 2 “WORLD CLASS” PERFORMERS .
its cool for you to think highly of Rooney this way, but United needs another midfielder to enable Rooney score more. United are not fantastic at attack and the evidence can be seen in the champions league finals.
We still need a couple of midfielders to win the ball and play it up. If Rooney is playing in the Scholes role with Hernandez up front, we are effectively playing 3 in the middle. We are not gonna win the Champo if the other two are Carrick and Fletcher.
DIS IS A CONTINUATION OF MY PREVIOS WRITE-UP:- ALL I THINK ANDERSEN NEED IS A RUN OF GAMES WHICH WILL BOLSTER HIS CONFIDENCE.STATISTICS APART, I BELIEVE HE HAS IT ALL -A GOOD WORK ETHIC,PASSES D BALL WELL,GOOD DEFENCE ETC .REMEMBER HE WAS BOUGTH FOR THIS-AS A REPLACEMENT OF AN AGEING P.SCHOLES.