After Manchester United succumbed to a 3-1 thrashing at the hands of Watford at the Vicarage Road, Twitter trolls descended on the former's fans like the very rain they are famous for. From Paul Pogba having changed more haircuts than goals or assists to a quote made by Jose Mourinho about Walter Mazarri about half a decade ago – jokes were made about every little thing.
One person, however, still managed to avoid the spotlight yet again, as the famous United chant goes, “He goes by the name of Wayne Rooney”. At this point of time, the huge United fan base is split right down the middle about the England captain.
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He has already surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton as England's all-time goal scorer and is just 4 goals away from breaking his United record of 249 goals. The fans who adore the former Everton man will tell you that he was one of the main reasons United returned to the pinnacle of the Premier League after going on a 3-year drought.
Let's get something straight. They are absolutely right. His partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo was wonderful to watch as Manchester United became an all-conquering force, not just in England, but Europe, reaching back to back Champions League finals in ‘08 and ‘09.
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Double Contract Bonanza for an under-performing Rooney
My dislike for Rooney arises from what happened after the 2010 World Cup. On the 19th of October 2010, Sir Alex Ferguson announced that the then 24-year-old had put in a transfer request to leave the club. United had just lost Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) a year ago and it was Rooney who had almost, single-handedly, secured a 4th consecutive title for the Red Devils, scoring an impressive 34 goals in 44 games.
Sir Alex, at that time realised, United could not lose another superstar with Chelsea and Manchester City becoming forces to be reckoned with. So, Rooney was handed a huge contract making him the highest paid player the England. He did repay his manager’s trust by again finishing the season with 34 goals in 43 matches as United finished runners-up behind City on goal difference.
With the arrival of Robin van Persie, United looked to have one of the best-attacking line-ups in Europe. But while Van Persie secured a Premier League trophy in Ferguson's last season, rumours began to surface that the Liverpool-born striker had handed in yet another transfer request.
Following the arrival of David Moyes, Rooney was handed another massive contract along with the captain's armband. His performances since then, however, have been underwhelming. The 30-year-old has scored just 65 goals in 161 appearances in the last four seasons. He does show a bit of the old Rooney from time to time but the consistency is long gone.
“Midfielder” Rooney
It is not for the want of trying though as the club captain has been played in a number of different positions hoping to prolong his career at Old Trafford, but again he has not dazzled as he did as a 16-year-old against Arsenal.
After Paul Scholes' first retirement, Ryan Giggs took up his position at the heart of United's midfield alongside Michael Carrick, leading the club to another Champions league final. Following Giggs' departure from the first team, all eyes fell on Rooney, who up to that point had shown promise playing in that position.
His performances, however, have been inconsistent, to put it mildly. His last few games as a central midfielder towards the end of last season raised the hopes of fans – although they came against ‘lesser’ sides in Bournemouth and Crystal Palace – but that optimism soon faded away at the Euros where he was subbed off while England trailed Iceland in the round of 16.
He has lost a yard of pace and seems to be living off his reputation that he built early on in his career. He struggles to impose himself on a game and more importantly, as a striker, the goals have dried up.
The two managers who succeeded Fergie have made the same mistake, trying to build a team around Wayne Rooney. Both of them lacked the guts to bench him when the lacklustre performances began. Mourinho has never shied away from taking a stand as was evident during his reign at the Bernabeu.
United have a lot of options in midfield with Juan Mata, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and even Paul Pogba (who in his very first interview stated that that was his favourite position) should Rooney vacate the position. His performances this season have been dire, bar the goal he set up for Marcus Rashford against Hull.
Rooney's stats against Watford paint a grim picture as the "midfielder" had just six forward passes in the entire game not creating a single chance from open play. He lost two out of the three ariel duels he contested. The most shocking stat, however, is that he did not make a single tackle for 90 minutes. If that is not the definition of a poor game, I don’t know what is.
I would love nothing more than been proven wrong by a player who is still adored at the Theater of Dreams, but as of right now Mourinho needs to bench his captain and give other players a chance who are younger and hungrier and certainly more effective.
