Does having Rooney in the team inhibit dynamic football?

[IslandExile]

Bump

[Jourdan]

I think we need to move away from Rooney as the lynchpin of the team.

It was a fun experiment but we need to look forward.

We need to build a young, dynamic team with midfielders who have the physical tools to handle Championship football at the business end of the table.

I hope we move to more of a 4-1-2-3 and replace Rooney with another midfielder who can contribute in the final third.

[England Ram]

It did show yesterday more than recently that when the 'center' of your team is not playing well and you don't seem to have a plan B then you really are going to struggle.

I see so many players deferring to him when they have a perfectly good pass on themselves it is worrying.

You can't argue with the stats that we have been a better team since he came in, but we do need a different way of playing when he is off it, or other teams have sussed us out.

[Steve Buckley’s Dog]

Shane Nicholson made the point last night that it is almost like the players have to give the ball to Rooney in all circumstances.
 

This is something I have noticed of late, especially with Bird, who Seems happy to pass the ball 5 yards backwards to Rooney despite having space to drive the ball forwards, on many occasions. It invites trouble and makes us very predictable and, as the thread suggests, slows down our play. 
 

we need to mix things up a bit and get the ball fowards quicker and at pace, otherwise teams just sit there and we aren’t good enough to break them down. 
 

Rooney  has undoubtedly made a difference but he has gifted possession Away on numerous occasions in the past few weeks, but got away with it. Last night he didn’t.Undoubtedly he is struggling with the frequency of games. 

[Alph]

I vote no.

I don't think Rooney is a problem. He's still brilliant. But rather the problem is that we include him in absolutely everything. 

It's like the training game of 2 touches. You stop thinking about the aim of the game and are thinking about how you can just not take more touches or dribble. That's how it looks with us sometime.

It's ok lads, you can bypass him. You're allowed to do something without his blessing 

[Philmycock]

I find it frustrating that every player seems to be instructed to pass it to Rooney at all costs, especially when they should be looking to find Sibley instead

[cheron85]

1 minute ago, philmycocu said:

I find it frustrating that every player seems to be instructed to pass it to Rooney at all costs, especially when they should be looking to find Sibley instead

I'm not sure that's true

When we started back after the enforced break everyone seemed to firing on their own cylinders and playing around Rooney and he got involved when he needed to - I think when we're struggling to break down a defence (like the Forest game and yesterday) the players seem to have this "well Rooney's a bit magic let's give him the ball" attitude

I don't think the manager is instructing them to do it 

[woody01530]

He didn't look like he gave a cows c**t after he was disposed.

[Alph]

6 minutes ago, woody01530 said:

He didn't look like he gave a cows c**t after he was disposed.

exhausted. He looked clumsy and lazy numerous times but he's always been a demanding, hard working player. 

Even when accused of not turning up for England by some fans, the actual problem was that he was the only player we looked to lift the team. 

He didn't even put his feet up in America. The games I saw he was still fiery and aggressive albeit lacking the legs to motor about. 

As soon as he lost that ball there wasn't a chance of him catching up to it. Any player not known for pace would struggle to recover nevermind the likes of Huddlestone and Rooney etc who are have about 2 seconds to close down the ball or the chance will be gone. 

Deffo had a bad game. 

But more frustrating was again this need to let every player have a touch before attacking and the obsession with getting the ball blessed by Rooney before moving it forward. There was no need for some of the faffing last night. Passes and players the ball could have skipped out. Not only does it limit our opportunity to attack but apparently it gives the opposition free shots on goal!

[DRBee]

1 hour ago, Alpha said:

I vote no.

I don't think Rooney is a problem. He's still brilliant. 

He's still brilliant.... sadly this is only true sometimes. He can still produce a good free kick ( sometimes) or corner ( sometimes) and his passing is perceptive and match-winning ( sometimes) . But he is too slow now . If we base the team round him next season we will fail.

[Anag Ram]

I think Rooney is trying to compensate for his lack of pace and general fitness by playing the 'General' role. 

He is teaching the youngsters the importance of keeping possession and being patient until the right forward pass is available. 

If you watch him he is also excellent at dropping into space to receive a pass and plays little short passes into areas other players can run to collect. 

In short, he is coaching from the pitch in readiness for his obvious future as a full-time coach. 

Unfortunately this has created a lack of responsibility amongst the players to grab possession and act decisively. We could all play the ball back to the person who passed to us. It's what happens next which counts. 

I think the young players will learn more from him playing with him and that in this crazy season the experiment has been worthwhile. 

I don't see him playing as many games next season but very much hope he is able to work with Cocu and the boys to produce the next generation of stars. 

His body language is that of an older player beginning to realise the end is nigh. He must be frustrated and last night's howler will have hurt him. 

I would love to hear him come out and say how much he has enjoyed his time here. I think that would lift the fans. 

 

 

[RoyMac5]

3 hours ago, Steve Buckley’s Dog said:

Shane Nicholson made the point last night that it is almost like the players have to give the ball to Rooney in all circumstances.

This of course could be that he is ALWAYS available for the pass?! They could play the ball to another available player? But perhaps there isn’t one showing and wanting the ball, or perhaps the passer hasn’t the bravery - because Rooney is an easy out? The fault doesn’t lie with Rooney, except for when he gets caught in possession or mis-passes, these are things he has always done through his career, but maybe was saved more by his teammates.

[SSD]

Thought Rooney was meant to be Shrek and not Donkey? ?

[cheron85]

1 hour ago, Alpha said:

exhausted. He looked clumsy and lazy numerous times but he's always been a demanding, hard working player. 

This

I think he needs resting

[Gone]

2 hours ago, philmycocu said:

I find it frustrating that every player seems to be instructed to pass it to Rooney at all costs, especially when they should be looking to find Sibley instead

I thought they were instructed to pass it back or square to who ever is nearest at all costs ? 

[Anag Ram]

19 minutes ago, SouthStandDan said:

Thought Rooney was meant to be Shrek and not Donkey? ?

A pussy in boots? 

[cannable]

I’ve said it about Thorne before and it’s even proving to be the case with Rooney. 

You can’t be an effective controlling midfielder in a 4-2-3-1. 

Assuming the opposition has anything resembling a decent shape, all of your  passes are going to be either square or forced. This is because the only player you can actually play through the lines to is going to be your #10.

Our variant of a 4-2-3-1 doesn’t even give him wingers to spread the play to becuase they’re all inside. He just gets it straight back. 

[TheresOnlyWanChope]

I would have liked to see Rooney up front or just behind a striker. His goalscoring record speaks for himself and given a few chances, he would find the net. He is naturally a forward so it would be interesting to see him in a more advanced role.

[RamNut]

Unfortunately he’s too old. His legs have gone. 
become a coach. 
help the players in training.

Hang up the boots

[Day]

We don’t deserve nice things ?