[sweet fa]

the more that i see of rooney it is becoming clear that he likes dropping deep sometimes he is 80 yards from goal . against LDV he was looking very sharp but in the second half he was pulling the strings from his own half then wandered forward and scored and i believe he is far more dangerous playing this way.
utd simply need to get 2 strikers playing in front of him that stay upfield to reap the benifits. when rooney is the striker and he drops deep with tevez or berbatov there isn't a striker upfield to finish the moves off , rooney has all the ingredients to make a high scoring midfield player and the more he drops back the more convinced i become ! the trouble is utd are struggling for goals because he is supposed to be playing upfield.

 

[Keano!]

He;s a front man who plays his best just off a leading front man, never a midfielder IMO...

 

[Jazz 16]

I could see him playing the Scholes role when he reaches the end of his career and his legs go a bit.
Bu for now he is a striker who gets around the entire pitch, but thats why we love him.

 

[red dave]

the more that i see of rooney it is becoming clear that he likes dropping deep sometimes he is 80 yards from goal . against LDV he was looking very sharp but in the second half he was pulling the strings from his own half then wandered forward and scored and i believe he is far more dangerous playing this way.
utd simply need to get 2 strikers playing in front of him that stay upfield to reap the benifits. when rooney is the striker and he drops deep with tevez or berbatov there isn't a striker upfield to finish the moves off , rooney has all the ingredients to make a high scoring midfield player and the more he drops back the more convinced i become ! the trouble is utd are struggling for goals because he is supposed to be playing upfield.

I think this is the main problem we have when he plays along side Berbatov . I noticed at spurs Berbatov liked to drop deap but it seems he struggles to catch up with out quick counter attacking play . Im sure with time he will come up to pace with us though . Back on the subject of Rooney yes he would be perfect with an out and out striker but we dont have one so we will have to make do with what we have got .

 

[martinutd]

When a forward can play at more positions that others can't that can mean only one and that's quality and we should be happy that we have versatile players that can play great in different positions apart from their natural one.

 

[Stephen]

Champions of England.
Champions of Europe.
Champions of the World.

Yet, United fans still find something to moan about

 

[Guest]

**Opens thread**

**Shakes head**

**Leaves thread in disbelief**

 

[Dazza]

Silly thread really. Wayne's our leading scorer this year, why would we put him in midfield?

 

[RedForceRising]

this thread is 6 years too early....

 

[versa]

Champions of England.
Champions of Europe.
Champions of the World.

Yet, United fans still find something to moan about

Does that mean we are now playing the best football in our entire history? Unfortunately we should know the answer. There is thus surely room for improvement...

Coming back to the topic, however, I don't think Rooney is more of a midfielder than a striker, although it does seem an attractive notion at times because of his versatility and willingness to sacrifice for the team (like in the world-conquering match just concluded, it was obvious why Ronaldo was pushed upfront instead of Rooney when we were down to 10 men - don't count on Ronaldo to track back always).

Trouble is, I suspect he can't be an outright solo striker in a 4-5-1 formation because he does need somebody to link up with around the box to be most potent. I thought having Berbatov linking up with him around the box would be the best combination for us.

I will be happy for him to continue to be our very first line of defence, linking up play just outside the box, interplaying with others in various positions but ultimately venturing into the box to cause the maximum damage like what we witness in this world club competition.

 

[sweet fa]

Silly thread really. Wayne's our leading scorer this year, why would we put him in midfield?

firstly whenever rooney gets the ball utd look more dangerous.
secondly rooney is most dangerous about 15/20 yards from goal.
thirdly what good is a striker playing 60 yards from goal and rooney spends more time out there than around the penalty area .
conclusion- play rooney in midfield he gets loads of the ball , utd got strikers for him to get the ball to and more importantly rooney has got the ability and intelligence to go for the goal himself. he would be utds version of gerrard.

 

[sweet fa]

this thread is 6 years too early....

a bit of foresight ! second only to foreplay.

 

[Sownak27]

He's a bit like Del Piero I think playing offf the front men
Like an attacking mid-cum-striker

 

[United_OG]

Not a midfielder ever imo.

He is a second striker but a striker nonetheless. He is a similar player to david villa of valencia. He will reach his peak later in his career but he is not a midfielder. He scores 20+goals in a season and yes sometimes he is very deep but overall he is best as a striker. Just needs to work on his mentality, he looses it sometimes and misses easy chances but he is still a second striker imo.

Pz

 

[trikam patel]

the more that i see of rooney it is becoming clear that he likes dropping deep sometimes he is 80 yards from goal . against LDV he was looking very sharp but in the second half he was pulling the strings from his own half then wandered forward and scored and i believe he is far more dangerous playing this way.
utd simply need to get 2 strikers playing in front of him that stay upfield to reap the benifits. when rooney is the striker and he drops deep with tevez or berbatov there isn't a striker upfield to finish the moves off , rooney has all the ingredients to make a high scoring midfield player and the more he drops back the more convinced i become ! the trouble is utd are struggling for goals because he is supposed to be playing upfield.

A midfield player is someone that controls the possesion between the attack and back line. Rooney is a player wen he gets the ball its always explosive and always looking to go forward, this is good also but a midfield player is someone that has to have patience in linking the defence and attack together and that is why scholes, keane and carrick do so well. Anderson is like roonry explosive always looking to get the ball forward, but anderson needs to learn that the forward ball is not always the right pass. You have to scheme a way towards goal patiently adn scholes is the master at that, zidane was also.

You look at gerard, qualtiy, but no in the same league as scholes, gerrard is a player whose explosive and always trys to work the ball down the middle.

The best example is Fabregas, player that gest the ball and links the arsenal play, you see a lot of play down the flanks.

That is why united have been lacking in getting the ball wide, sometimes the midfield have to play the ball arround the middle to allow space for the flanks

 

[Keano!]

Does that mean we are now playing the best football in our entire history? Unfortunately we should know the answer. There is thus surely room for improvement...

Coming back to the topic, however, I don't think Rooney is more of a midfielder than a striker, although it does seem an attractive notion at times because of his versatility and willingness to sacrifice for the team (like in the world-conquering match just concluded, it was obvious why Ronaldo was pushed upfront instead of Rooney when we were down to 10 men - don't count on Ronaldo to track back always).

Trouble is, I suspect he can't be an outright solo striker in a 4-5-1 formation because he does need somebody to link up with around the box to be most potent. I thought having Berbatov linking up with him around the box would be the best combination for us.

I will be happy for him to continue to be our very first line of defence, linking up play just outside the box, interplaying with others in various positions but ultimately venturing into the box to cause the maximum damage like what we witness in this world club competition.

Theres ALWAYS room for improvement...no matter what!!

Unless we go a season winning;

Premier League
Champions League
FA Cup
League Cup
Community Shield
European Super Cup
World Club Championship

...do so by winning EVERY game
scoring at least 5 in every one
not conceding one
not conceding one foul or offside
always ending up with 90+% possession,
have every registered first team player score at least 10


and even at that...still room for improvement!! lol...Got a bit carried away there!!

 

[sweet fa]

A midfield player is someone that controls the possesion between the attack and back line. Rooney is a player wen he gets the ball its always explosive and always looking to go forward, this is good also but a midfield player is someone that has to have patience in linking the defence and attack together and that is why scholes, keane and carrick do so well. Anderson is like roonry explosive always looking to get the ball forward, but anderson needs to learn that the forward ball is not always the right pass. You have to scheme a way towards goal patiently adn scholes is the master at that, zidane was also.

and rooney is a STRIKER that lose's his patince because the ball does not get to him , he runs back to his own penalty area to collect the ball and distributes it in a meaningful way , rooney links the play brilliantly and when he floats around the edge of the box is very dangerous.
isn't it wiser for rooney to play has a midfielder who comes forward rather than a forward who runs back , its only my opinion and i believe that rooney will always score around 20 a season wherever he plays and none of utds midfielders can run ,pass or shoot like rooney

 

[Jay007]

I just don't see it myself.

Rooney is a second-striker playing just off the front-man. However, I think he does need to play with someone who is a natural striker, preferably someone with pace, like an Eto'o.

Although I don't think we'll be signing one.

 

[Justice]

A midfielder who can't tackle without getting a yellow, can't contest a header to save his life and couldn't mark anyone with a dry-wipe pen?

A midfielder who can be one of the best finishers in Europe? A midfielder with the perfect attributes for a forward? A midfielder who needs to always be in the attack or he is wasted?

Shut up please.

 

[Sulli01]

I just can't see the team scoring enough goals this year to even chance not having Rooney up front. If the combination of Berba and Tevez ever progressed to where it was scoring goals at a consistent basis, it could be worth a try in order to get them all on the field. But not in your best 11.