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Be careful what you wish for.
A saying that seems apt for Rooney’s present situation at the club. After all, it was just over 2 years ago when Wayne Rooney shocked United fans after revealing that he felt that the club was not matching his ambitions and it was time for him to leave. He confirmed what Sir Alex had revealed in a press conference about this shocking news, and came out with this statement:
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“I met with David Gill [United chief executive] last week and he did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the future squad,” Rooney confirms.
“I then told him that I would not be signing a new contract.”
“It is absolutely true, as he[Sir Alex] said, that my agent and I have had a number of meetings with the club about a new contract. During those meetings in August I asked for assurances about the continued ability of the club to attract the top players in the world.
What happened next, to simply put it, was Sir Alex’s sheer force of will and authority winning as Rooney extended his contract. Also Rooney’s desire to have a team that matched his ambitions was fulfilled too, as we brought in the likes of Jones, Young, De Gea, Van Persie, Kagawa and Powell over the last 2 seasons; a mixture of youth and experience.
But one thing Rooney never anticipated when he threw his tantrum was that Sir Alex would bring in players who could outperform him and even replace him as the lynchpin of the team. While the media were quick to jump in and claim that Rooney has been marginalized and unhappy, the truth is Rooney is no longer the most important or the best player in the team, and he is struggling to deal with it.
There’s no doubting Rooney’s quality and match winning ability, and he has shown just what he is capable of on several occasions this season. But at the same time, there have been games where Wayne has been below par, and seemed a shadow of himself. Everyone knows that when he’s on song, Rooney is easily up there with the best and is more than capable of inspiring the team to victory.
This season itself, Rooney has scored 12 goals and gotten 9 assists in 24 Premier League games – a good return for a striker playing second fiddle to Van Persie. And when Van Persie was going through his goal drought, Rooney stepped up, scoring the winners in games against Southampton, Fulham and Reading.
But like every top player, Rooney too has had his bad games, like the one against the Hammers where most of what Rooney tried seemed to fail, and he cut a frustrated figure on the pitch. Eventually, Sir Alex had to replace him with Giggs as we went in search of an equalizer.
Replacing Rooney when our backs are against the wall might have been unthinkable before this season. But now with the plethora of attacking options at out disposal, no player is irreplaceable anymore, not even Rooney. With Van Persie, Kagawa, Welbeck and Hernandez present in the squad, Sir Alex is spoilt for choices, enabling him to substitute someone like Rooney without having to worry about losing any attacking edge.
With our wingers failing to perform this season, Sir Alex has had the freedom to play the likes of Rooney, Welbeck and Kagawa on the wings. So instead of competing for 2 spots in the starting XI, our attackers have had 3-4 spots in the team available. But come next season, with the arrival of Zaha, and also few more new players, Rooney will soon be fighting for a place in the starting XI every week.
The arrival of the likes of Van Persie and Kagawa should have ideally galvanized Rooney to perform even better than before instead of blowing hot and cold over the course of the season. For all his strengths, Rooney’s biggest flaw has been his struggle to return to form once he’s entered a rough patch.
In the past, we would keep playing him till he eventually scored and found confidence again, but with the squad teeming with talented forwards, Rooney will not really be able to keep his spot in the team, waiting to score that goal that will see him return to his best.
With Van Persie now the top dog in the team, Rooney has to come to terms with the reality that he is no longer the invaluable asset that he once was. The pressure is now on him to prove that he can be more than just a player who has his phases of brilliance, and isn’t someone who bit off more than he could chew.
