Great or Good? The Wayne Rooney Debate

Wayne Rooney the greatest British player of his generation or simply a good player in teams that lack real sparkle. It is perhaps one of the biggest conundrums in English football but how good is the man dubbed the ‘white Pele’ by fans and manager alike?

A decade on from his emergence as a fresh faced 16-year-old in a man’s body it appears that we are still no closer to a definitive answer.

Thirty-two goals in seventy-eight international appearances and one hundred and ninety-nine goals at club level are hardly statistics to be sniffed at. He’s a multiple Premier League winner (4 times), a Champions League Winner and has picked up over a dozen individual accolades ranging from Football Writers and PFA Player of the Year awards (2009-10) to BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year (2002).

Nor can anyone forget moments of magic like the 25-yard volley against Newcastle (2005), his hat-trick at West Ham (2011) or his stupendous overhead kick that won the Manchester Derby in February of the same year and was subsequently named the Premier League Goal of the 20 Seasons'.

Yet many Manchester United and England fans still harbour doubts over the man who learnt his trade on the back streets of Croxteth in Liverpool.

Some even wonder what has happened to the free spirited 18-year-old that terrorised defenders at Euro 2004. Just ask William Gallas and Lillian Thuram about that! Back in those days his talents were being honed at Everton’s antiquated former training base at Bellefield but a big money move (a British record for a teenager) to United catapulted him on to the biggest stage.

A hat-trick on his opening bow against Fenerbahce was more than an encouraging start and he has been utilised in several positions by Sir Alex Ferguson during two transitional periods to become the Reds top dog. When Cristiano Ronaldo waved his goodbyes to head to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009, it was Rooney that picked up the baton scoring 26 league goals to fire United to what was then a record equalling 18th League title.

However critics would argue that his brilliance is too often tempered by frequent injuries, inconsistent performances and off field issues and while it’s true that his career has hit many heights he has never quite been able to eclipse world stars like Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez or Andres Iniesta.

When he retires his career will not be defined by the goals scored against teams like Wigan, Hull, West Ham or Stoke. It will be judged on his performances against the European and World’s elite.

Some will point to his goal at Wembley in the Champions League final against Barcelona as evidence that he is more than capable when pitted against the best but it should not be forgotten that he was a member of a United team comprehensibly outplayed from start to finish in that encounter. Rooney’s other contribution in that game apart from his solitary strike - to ignore instructions to sit on Barca’s midfield anchor-man leaving his team-mates painfully exposed in the centre of the park.

For England, competitions have come and gone since 2004 and as each one ends the question oft repeated centres around how to get the best out of Rooney. So is his star on the wane?

At club level, it was the return from retirement of 37-year-old Paul Scholes and not Rooney’s influence that invigorated a title tilt last term while this year’s start to the season has been mixed.

A lacklustre display at Goodison on the opening day where he clearly looked sluggish and overweight saw him removed from the starting XI to make way for Dutch striker Robin van Persie.

On his return to the United line-up he has operated in a midfield role. It makes use of his good but not electric pace, an ability to ping the ball all over the park, energy to help out defensively and his exceptional positional play. He can of course still be profligate in possession but it at least affords him the opportunity to get the team moving from a deeper position.

Re-employed in a central striking berth yesterday, Rooney opened his account for the season with an own-goal before going on to show the sort of potency that will be required at the other end if United are to overhaul their noisy neighbours and European Champions Chelsea come May. However once again goals masked a performance that was hardly vintage. His passing particularly in a muted first half an hour was remarkably off key and it would be difficult to imagine any of the world's finest players struggling in such a way against hard-working but limited opponents.

Now approaching his peak years, a working class background, stocky build and undoubted talent often make him the subject of comparisons to Paul Gascoigne. When on song, the Geordie was often his team's inspiration but perhaps more significantly and worryingly, Rooney seems to also have inherited identical dietary problems to those previously faced by Gascoigne.

When fit and on song he can undoubtedly provide moments of genius but given his propensity to gain weight and United's injury record reservations must exist surrounding the sort of recovery he'd be capable of should a long-term injury be sustained.

With speed now a prerequisite of the modern day forward Rooney could find himself in a situation faced by many of his senior peers at club and international level who have had to alter style or position to prolong their careers at the highest level.

Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes would appear to be the finest exponents of this philosophy in recent times, however all this hypothesising could be immaterial should Sir Alex Ferguson decide that Rooney's metamorphosis into a midfielder needs to be accelerated to reinforce a team shorn of a box-to-box player in the mould of Bryan Robson or Roy Keane. It is a role for which he has long seemed unsuited but it may define the second half of his career.

The return of pass master Scholes

Firstly let me qualify what I’m about to write by saying that I rate Paul Scholes as simply the finest midfield player to grace The Premier League.

Over the years it has amazed me to hear some fans and even journalists question his ability. From the flame haired second striker who burst on to the scene at Port Vale in 1994 to the goal-scoring midfielder of late nineties and early noughties and to more latterly the deep lying playmaker one aspect of Scholes’ play has remained constant.

A complete mastery of a football allied to a phenomenal ability to execute any type of pass in the book.

In essence he makes the game look easy taking one or two touches where others take three or four. Prompting and probing until the right pass is available instead of choosing to hit a Hollywood pass that looks good but all too often fails to reach its intended recipient.

His peripheral vision and awareness is the best of any player I have ever seen. Too often especially in recent years it’s been a chore to watch United labour in midfield when he hasn’t been playing. When he’s been on the pitch it’s resembled a canvas on which he ,the master artist paints goes about his business painting pretty patterns of possession. I can honestly say I’ve never tired of watching him ping those 45 yard missiles from one side of the pitch to another. Nor have I failed to have been impressed when he plays one touch balls round the corner to a team-mate to evade an oncoming tackler.

However this ability to open up the play seemed to have been lost at the end of last season when the player who has been fittingly dubbed ‘SatNav’ by his team-mates, announced his retirement.

Typical of the man he made the announcement via the club’s website while he holidayed with his family. The minimum of fuss for a no nonsense guy - a decision apparently based on ageing legs and self-doubt over his ability to influence the big games.

That opinion was not one I concurred with. While my own football career may never have really started I have spent enough time playing with and against some very good players to realise exactly how special someone like Paul Scholes is (‘a once in a lifetime player’ according to Sir Alex Ferguson).  As far as I was concerned he still had plenty to give – so it was with a touch of both admiration and regret that I like 76,000 others bade him farewell at his Old Trafford testimonial in August.

During the course of his 74 minutes on the pitch in that game I became more convinced that his decision to retire was premature. Yes the quality of opposition (New York Cosmos) was questionable but here was a guy who after missing pre-season training still had rockets in his boots to score a goal out of the top drawer. One or two of his passes went awry but that’s not to be unexpected from a player who hadn’t done a day’s training since May. Critically though he still showed football intelligence and the awareness to execute passes that frankly no other United player is capable of!

For a player who felt he needed to make a contribution to justify a shirt maybe his decision to retire was clouded by the more and more frequent omission of his name from United’s first XI. Age has caused him to modify his game over the years as it has to other great players before him. Injuries prove harder to get over but if anything that was all that happened last year. Up until he suffered a groin injury at Rangers in the Champions League last November, Scholes had started 14 of the club’s first 21 fixtures and was arguably the stand-out performer.

That injury lay-off was a killer. He struggled to get a run of games after that point which I feel contributed to his decision to retire. However it’s also true to say that the man from Middleton has been under-used at times through no fault of his own. The 2009 & 2011 Champions League Finals have been lost to Barcelona yet their line-up isn’t hugely different from the side that United beat over two legs in 2008.

Yes the Reds have lost Ronaldo, Tevez and Hargreaves since those game but in the last two encounters the side was also hindered by its best passer being confined to the bench.

The arguments that you need to hustle and pressure Barca may well apply but as the last two finals have taught everyone – there is no substitute for quality. What’s the point in harrying and jostling for possession if when you win it back you are profligate with it? Could Scholes have played in the Barcelona midfield in either of those games and looked good? Undoubtedly!

However that ship has sailed and I genuinely don’t know what we can expect now that he’s returned albeit until May?

There are positives of course. The psychological impact of having him in the dressing room should help the squad’s younger members in what will be a tough title run-in. His experience and know how could also prove invaluable in helping the reds close down games when required.

The impact carries across to supporters as well. Many were genuinely enthused (for the first time this season) last Sunday en-route to the Etihad simply because he was back in the fold so in one sense it’s been a masterstroke by Sir Alex to re-install Scholes.

That said presumably this reintroduction also counts as an act of appeasement with fans desperate to see some fresh blood brought in to our midfield (either home-grown or via the transfer market).

I can see the logic in bringing a player (ironically United's first midfield signing since 2007) who knows the dressing room, has quality and won’t command a king’s ransom in wages but I like many hope there isn’t an over reliance placed upon him.

He is a fantastic player and but the worry for many is that his return could negatively  impact on his legacy as a true midfield great. When my other favourite player of all-time, Bryan Robson, was phased out of the United side in the 1990s proven performers like Paul Ince, Roy Keane and Brian McClair were already in place. And with Nicky Butt, David Beckham and Scholes waiting in the wings - the midfield was well catered for.

At the moment that clearly isn’t the case. Rafael’s deployment there during the Boxing Day defeat to Blackburn only confirmed how weak this current crop is. Tom Cleverley and Anderson may have excelled in the opening weeks of the season but little has been seen of Cleverley since he fell foul (literally) of a Kevin Davies challenge at Bolton. Anderson blighted by injury has failed to live up to expectations – again! Carrick is another who has had a stop start season. More stop than start! Ryan Giggs, Ji-Sung Park, Phil Jones and even Wayne Rooney have been called on to bolster the spluttering engine room.

Scholes seven month absence from the cut and thrust of the Premier League is a major concern. Physically he will get better with every training session. Every game he plays should be a step forward but therein lies the problem. How can a player who readily admits he struggled physically after a 2 month break last term hope to compete physically after such a long lay-off which saw him miss the crucial pre-season period? I might well be wrong – the lay-off may have had the opposite effect revitalising mind and body but the fact is that every mistake he makes will be scrutinised by those hoping he can’t turn back the hands of time!

I don’t subscribe to the idea that re-signing him is a gamble, far from it. United have nothing to lose and his pssing is still as good if not better than the current incumbents of the midfield positions. What dissapoints most of the Old Trafford faithful is the failure to recruit appropriately in the last 18 months.

It’s fair to say that the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Schweinsteiger don’t grow on trees but are the finances in place to purchase that  calibre of player and what, if any planning has actually occurred to replace the likes of Scholes and Giggs. Nasri and Sneijder were both targeted at different stages of the summer - neither started the season at Old Trafford. The Nasri deal was hijacked by the City while Sneijder’s wages appeared to put the brakes on that deal.

For all that’s been said and written about Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison , if they were ready for first-team action surely they'd be included on a regualr basis?

So where does that leave United? Relying on a 37 year-old genius being able to dust himself off one last time for a final hurrah!