Can Wazza and RVP really work apart?
Wayne Rooney is a striker. Seems obvious doesn’t it? His first touch can be erratic, his tactical discipline is not always the best and his passing can desert him at times. He scores goals when he’s playing up front. Often lots of goals. Shinji Kagawa is brilliant at playing just off the striker.
Danny Welbeck can play either just off Van Persie or even in front of him, ditto Chicharito. With two tough games coming up, that could define just how ‘great’ this already pretty amazing season has become the big question is ‘can United afford to take a gamble against Sunderland or Chelsea?’ Well the answer is, there’s no need to. The pervading thought about the Reds is that our ‘strongest’ side features BOTH RVP and Rooney, while technically that may be true, there’s no reason why two sides featuring only one of the aforementioned players can’t both be extremely strong and capable of beating any opponent.
Let’s say for Sunderland the forward four is Nani, Kagawa, Rooney, Young. Is that a strong attacking line up? Yes. Capable of beating the Mackems? Of course. Okay now let’s say for Chelsea the forward four is Valencia, Van Persie, Chicharito, Giggs. Is that a line up capable of getting goals at Stamford Bridge? Hell yeah. I understand Van Persie and Rooney have played well together but ask yourself an honest question ‘how often is ONE of them playing really well and the other one not quite as much?’ Yes they’ve both been on the scoresheet in games, but not often in the SAME game. Wayne Rooney has seven goals for United in his last ten outings, RVP has one, that in itself tells you a story, they’re two great players who don’t necessarily need to play together.
I’m not advocating a permanent split but with two important games coming up, plus the chance to still field two very strong attacking line-ups, would United really suffer if the two star strikers don’t feature together?
Personally I think there’s every reason to be confident in either ONE of them being the main striker but then again, I think the likes of Welbeck ,Kagawa and Chicharito can give any side a real headache.
Have I lost it again? Do we need to keep R & R together? Could two sides with one of each actually be a decent idea?
Feel free to comment suggest and abuse below:
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Makes sense for me.
Yeah, you have lost it.
Look up the statistics. When Wayne and Rvp start together, Manchester United have NEVER lost a game.
They have to start. End of story.
Been thinking this for ages. While the thought of having two ‘world-class’ strikers in the starting XI at has been a massive boost to our confidence etc., there’s no need for it all the time. Both have a tendency to drop off into the middle. It always serves us well when there’s one striker who sticks to the shoulder of the last defender, but RVP isn’t always looking to stay there, and Rooney just isn’t that type of player.
u are a true
I disagree with Valencia playing against Chelsea. If he has to feature at all it should be against Sunderland. We need Nani creative play against Chelsea. He has a way of keeping Ashley Cole quiet and in his corner like was the case in the last match.
This has been clear for a while. The denial of it by some shows what happens when opinions start getting based on video-games. Yes, I’m well-aware Rooney is rated 89…on FIFA. Now, coming back to reality…the fact is as you say – Roo and RVP haven’t brought the best out of each other. Comparisons to Cole and Yorke are just embarassing.
Truthfully, I think RVP has long worked best as a lone frontman, and Rooney’s ideal strike partner is either Kagawa or Welbeck.
Some still think that if Rooney had started over Welbeck against Madrid, we would’ve won. Sums it up for some of our fans, doesn’t it? I’m glad to know we have a manager who’s willing to respect the other great players we have at the club and field the team he thinks best suited to the job – rather than fulfilling some childish lust for a star-studded frontline, that has been lukewarm at best.
chicha or welbeck running off the shoulder creates so much space for the other striker to drop off. that can be incredibly valuable for roo or rvp. together they can let the defenders step up to take away the time and space in the hole but if chicha is on the defenders shoulder he has to decide whether to stay with the run or close down the player on the ball.
I completely agree with this one actually. I think the same is true of Vidic and Ferdinand for the next two games. I don’t agree with this ‘gamble’ talk for the Sunderland match.
Team for Sunderland:
…………..David de Gea
Rafael, Evans, Vidic, Buttner
.Cleverley, Giggs, Anderson
…Young, Rooney, Welbeck
Team for Chelsea;
………………David de Gea
Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra
Valencia, Carrick, Jones, Kagawa
…….…Van Persie, Hernandez