Off the bat, it might seem a ridiculous notion that Wayne Rooney is in any kind of trouble on the pitch. He’s England’s best player, was Manchester United’s leading light up until this past summer, and carries most of the load when the national team head off into the great unknowns of international competition.
Rooney’s injury—one that could have been much more severe—has allowed Alex Ferguson to circumvent those obvious selection headaches when all his strikers are fit. The problem is, are they all firing?
Wayne Rooney was once spoken about in the same breath as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with many proclaiming that England’s finest was better than what the rest of the world were able to put forward. Rooney had power and aggression in his game, qualities that were equally comparable to those two stand-out figures in Spain. But those comparisons aren’t fair now and they weren’t fair then. What is obvious, though, is that Rooney is head and shoulders above the players who have been around the England setup for the past few years.
Wayne Rooney seems to flutter in and out of each season, with moments of brilliance punctuated by sloppy or wasteful play and, of course, that self-destruct button. His goal scoring exploits are not always as spectacular as we know it can be, with the goal against Barcelona in the Champions League final with the backdrop of Wembley being the true showcase one of England’s most gifted players. But that’s the problem, we haven’t seen it enough, while Messi and Ronaldo continue to reach milestones and defy belief.
The season opener against Everton saw the disappointing side of Rooney, as Manchester United failed to overcome a team who should be a level or two below the 19-time league champions. It’s games like that where we see the greats of the game shine through, even when the rest of their team is performing poorly. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen United’s number 10 light up patches of darkness for his team on a regular basis.
With the arrival of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa this summer, it looks as though Rooney finally has the surrounding cast to support him: a late address of the issues raised by the player in that 2010 statement. But are they a supporting cast to Rooney, or has Rooney been pushed down a level onto the second tier?
In van Persie, United have one of the most technically gifted players in Europe. His scoring record does most of the talking, but it’s his brilliance—consistent brilliance—that should separate him from Rooney. A number of years ago, most would have laughed off the idea that van Persie is a better footballer than Rooney. Fair enough, but were those dismissals based on the Dutchman’s lack of trophies, the fact Arsenal hadn’t made a successful charge on the league title for a number of years, his injuries, or was it something a little closer to home? Perhaps players like van Persie represented a real threat to Rooney’s position as the jewel in England’s crown; the foremost player for the country representing one of the most successful teams in the league.
But now those fears are right on the doorstep for Rooney. Alex Ferguson would surely be mad to bench van Persie upon Rooney’s return from injury. The Dutchman’s form almost guarantees goals, without any need for adjusting to his new team. Does Rooney really guarantee anything positive? And I’m talking about guarantees you get from players like Messi or Xavi or now van Persie? If not, that’s the problem. When does he get out of this “slump” as a very good player and become the great player that he was projected to be as a teenager? What has England really seen from him on the international stage, what has United seen from him when things start to get a little blurry in European competition? Is it any coincidence that those stories of a move away from United surfaced over the last few weeks (how accurate they are is a whole other story).
Maybe all will be well. Maybe Rooney will rise to the challenge of a new king at Old Trafford and become the player who reaches a consistent level of excellence. He can score the goals, certainly, but has he really been the driving force for United since that outstanding season in 2009/10? That is the Rooney we want to see more of, and perhaps his versatility will shine through, too; there is a spot that needs addressing in the midfield. For Rooney, he needs to turn those hopes and promises into guarantees.
