Comments on: The real effect of Rooney’s midfield move on Man Utd

By: Mark Redford

Mark Redford — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:43:05 +0000

Thanks for your comment Timbo. Man Utd were undefeated going in to the City match, having scored 25 times and only conceded 5 goals, maybe not Barcelona but still pretty good. What they had given up were plenty of shots at goal, I know you don’t like stats, but almost 20 a game, which meant that sooner or later a quality opposition would cash in. Moving Rooney in to a midfield five was supposed to reduce this, and it has to an extent, but it has also hindered Man Utd, making them display what you refer to as the tedious level of play in recent seasons.

I do think that last season’s title winning team was one of Fergie’s weakest in his time in charge, but they still won the crown over Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool so they were doing something right.

I agree with you that placing Rooney in midfield offers no help as i believe that you should play your best players in their most natural positions and give the opposition more problems to worry about. Man Utd should have pursued the Sneijder move harder, or brought in the likes of a Schweinsteiger to bolster their midfield, as right now central midfield is the weakest area of the team. January will be an interesting month.

By: Abolaji m m

Abolaji m m — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:01:32 +0000

rooney best position is up front, because He was born to strick, to score goal. Thus, he can play in the midfied up front as attacking midfieder not defencive midfielder.

By: timbo

timbo — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:45:36 +0000

For all the stats trundled out to try and make some kind of coherent argument, one can really ignore the whole pile based on an opening which stated that United had been in scintillating form prior to the humbling by City. Crap. United did start off the season with an uncharacteristic bang, but really started tapering off into the droll football of recent seasons once the Chelsea game was out of the way – that means a number of games in which United clearly showed that the wheels had fallen off their ‘Barcelona-style’ start to the season, which was clearly a false dawn that fooled many pundits into waxing rhapsodic about United’s level of play and the supposed fact that Fergie had pulled off another master stroke under every one’s gaze by putting together a youthful team to rival the heady days of the Fledglings. The reality check was always just round the corner, and I fully expected the loss to City – though not to the extent the final scoreline showed. Since then United have continued to display the tedious level of play so reminiscent of recent seasons, and the same issues are as ever present – that the team needs creativity and drive through the engine room. Placing Rooney there offers no help – a good midfielder needs touch, skill, football smarts, situational awareness and vision, and an innate ability to find space and time on the ball at need. Rooney possesses NONE of these qualities and further, is a liability in the area due to his flawed temperament.