Chelsea coach, Ray Wilkins, has today claimed that Manchester United are better off losing Cristiano Ronaldo than they would be if we sold on Wayne Rooney.
Wilkins rates Rooney’s ability to contribute to the team and hails his ‘wonderful’ ability.
“If you were to ask who would you rather have, Rooney or Ronaldo, as an ex-footballer I’d rather have Wayne Rooney because he’s more of a team player,” said Wilkins. “Rooney has amazing ability but he’s a team player and he’s there week in, week out. He’s a wonderful footballer.”
Man Utd News 24/7
couldn’t agree more
Absolutely hilarious. That’ll be the next thing- the english media trying to convince us that Rooney is better than Ronaldo. Please.
BULL’S EYE
Gerry Gooner …
Another pethatic comment from one of ARSEne children !!
The Golden Boy is far better than ronaldo …
He is good finisher, team player and has the ability to attack and defend all the 90 minutes !!
Lionel messi put him in his favourite formation last year !!
look what Marcello Lippi talk about him :
‘What counts more than the formation is the philosophy, the desire of great players to put themselves at the service of the team when the opposition have the ball. Like Rooney does at Manchester,’
A lot will be riding on Wazza’s shoulders next season. I hope that for once he has an injury free season.
Gerry Gooner:
There is a difference between being a good player individually, which Ronaldo is, and being a good team player, in which department, Rooney is probably a light year ahead of CR7.
With the form he was in, Rooney should have reached 100 goals for United by the end of the campaign.Instead he played on the wing(like he has played there for 10 years mind you) and got stuck on 97.He is a better team player.
dont even compare them!Rooney never scores important goals for us..name one this season?!!if we had a striker whom scores 25 goals a season we wouldnt need ronaldo..ronney scores 9 in the league..that´s nothing!!!so dont even compare them
We Need Villa and Ribery!no other can replace him!!
suddenly Ronaldo is not the best player in the world and it was inspired of Fergie to sell him. My God but the hypocrisy of it……..
in 04/05 and 05/06 wazza was head and shoulders above cristiano . we need him to rediscover that form . simple .
gerry gooner – you’re just jealous you have no one as good as rooney in your squad . fact is – when henry left , you didnt have a readymade replacement like we do in wazza .
Rooneys as good as ronaldo, but he has to be played in a more advanced position. Lets just wish ronaldo luck in his new adventure six years is along time.he has paid his dues
@ Anant
mate, my gooner pals are still willing to take a 33 year old Henry back. they believe he will get them back! talk of being deluded.
Anon – i’ve met them too .crazy! actually , speaking of old heads , i wouldn’t mind taking a punt on ruud next season . if he is willing to be back up . ridiculously cheap too
Rooney is a better teamplayer, – period. I agree with those who say he should be more sentral in our gameplay.
Ronaldo was annoying with his lack of commitment last season, – sulking as soon as he got knocked off the ball, and didnt work hard enough to win the ball. He was still our top scorer though, and has skills with the ball which no player in the world can top. Would like him to stay, but he definitely has a lot of work to do maintain the “world’s greatest player” tag.
Come on – off the top of my head:
- Winning and only goal on derby day
- Goal against Chelsea
- Winning and only goal against Wigan
- Equalising goal against Spurs
You know, I agree with whichever guy said that Iniesta is the current greatest player in the world, even though with Barca winning the European Cup, Messi will get the accolades and awards.
The interview’s somewhere on the official site.
But, what this Ray Wilkins guy has said is completely true. There’s a difference between being an amazing player (which, let’s admit it – Ronaldo is), and being a team player who is ready to put his heart and soul into the team. With Ronaldo gone, we won’t have to build the team around him, and we certainly don’t have to sacrifice anyone else’s development.
New winger, new striker, new central defensive midfielder.
Silva, Aguero, Yaya Toure.
And with those three, we’ll actually win the way that United has always won – as a team.
Aguero and Toure will be tough mate. Aguero- too steep a price, plus we are competing with chelskea if we are going to bid.
Toure- wants to play for Arsenal if Barca don’t extend his contract. Liverpool will have to let Mascherano leave for Toure to be available to either Arsenal or Us.
Lets hope coming weeks sort our problems out…
Aguero is Maradona’s son-in-law and if you thought Diego created problems with Carlitos’ head then you ain’t seen nothing !
Besides, what UTD don’t need is another water-bug when what’s needed is a bull-dozer to create time/space for Rooney and Berbatov. Benzema is the best available in terms of age (21)/skill/experience and size/strength. If not him, then even someone like Emile Heskey would create time/space for Rooney/Berbatov as Capello discovered. Who might that be ? I dunno, that’s SAF’s job.
About Rooney/Ronaldo – apples and oranges. Rooney is a team player, a force, and a power-player whose drive and determination are incredible; Ronaldo is a fantastically gifted luxury player who scores goals. They aren’t interchangeable. They were complementary but that’s yesterday’s news. Now the issue for TheLads is to find someone new to complement Rooney and bring out the best in him.
I’m also suspicious of bringing in an out-and-out winger like Ribery or Valencia because that doesn’t seem to be the way the game is going. 4-4-2 seems to be yesterday’s scheme; much more seems to be played through the middle. Besides, UTD already have two great wing prospects in Rafael and Fabio although they are being played at fullback for the time being. I think that they are going to be crucial for defining the way in which the team’s structure evolves.
Rediscover his form of 04 to 06? Rooney’s a far better player now.
Rooeny sacrificed his season for the spotty permatanned ponce. Berbatov was also misused to a degree and Tevez was compromised — all for the Winker’s benefit. Watch Rooney — and Berbatov! – next season. It’ll be like two new signings.
I wanna See Berba play up front on his own. I think he IS the bull dozer we are looking elsewhere for.
In total agreement with Butch Wilkins.
confoundedbridge – i see where you’re coming from . he is a more effective player now . agreed . his positioning and off the ball movement have improved . but for some reason his flair and ingenuity seem to have vanished . if he rediscovers those attributes he might well stake a claim for world player of the year.
Come on – Fuck off and support Madrid then.
denton – as you know I agree with a lot of your posts but Heskey? Come on mate. You said Owen the other week. We are not getting the dippers sloppy thirds!
Ray Wilkins = Smart guy
What the fuck is he doing in Chelsea?
King Eric — Well said X 2
Scott the red-
If Rooney is better why was he not the alone striker on top in the final!?!
He was a winger and he sucked!
just like he always does on big games!
last years final he was bad aswell and got substituted!
Rooney is good… but dont compare them!
I am thinking about the best for United!
and rooney is good but he can not carry us like ronaldo!
Ronaldo scores a goal out of nothing!
Rooney 10 goals a season come on!
and that is our best striker?!
So be honest!
Come on – I think my friend you are missing the whole point of what our great club Manchester United are about.
By the way where the fuck is Gotta hate tiny tears/Tevez?
Come on – He was a winger because Ronaldo or Nani simply cannot be trusted to track back.
‘Come on’ you are clearly a 12 year old that watches United play on teletext.
Do me a favour, keep a copy of your post and read it back in a couple of years. You’ll feel like a fool. Stupid comment.
Come on – since you brought up the final against chelsea – get a tape of the game , fast forward to 33:55 and 41:55 and tell me if you have seen to better passes …ever
also ..name one season when rooney scored only 10 goals
Whether people like it or not,Rooney is all we have left.I am not complaining.Not after the season he has had.All he needs is to work on his fitness so that he avoids those 3-4 week lay offs that happen to him from time to time.
I didn’t mention it,until King Eric brought it up. GHTT where are you?
Most of the time, Ronaldo needs good players around him to give him the ball and to give him goalscoring opportunities. That’s why I think he’ll get frustrated at Real Madrid. The gap between the level of expectation and what he can realistically deliver in that team will be enormous. I expect Rooney to profit from Ronaldo’s parting. Rooney sacrificed his own goal threat to accomodate Ronaldo while making the team tick. Put Rooney behind a tall powerful striker (Benzema will do nicely) and get delivery in from the wings (Ribery will do nicely). Nothing to worry about. Is 80 million a bargain for Man Utd … it sure is!
GUYS!
Rooney is a Forward ,Striker, whatever!
He is suppossed to score goals and many!
It is not so difficult to score when u play in the best team in the world!
And he still dosent score a lot come one guys!be honest
ROONEY IS GOOD..he can play everywhere he can pass and everything!
But now Ronaldo is gone..we need a real goalscorer
by the way Rooney was better 3years ago than he is today!
Your all angry becasue u all love Rooney!
but i am honest… i love united and i am saying we need a real striker like DAVID VILLA!
Anant- stop talking about things you don’t understand.
For the last two years, Ronaldo has essentially been a strikers, whereas Rooney has really been a winger: strikers tend to score more, whereas wingers provide/track back more. The number of tackles Ronaldo made this season are in the single digits, vs. Rooney whose number was huge. Rooney is the better all around player, and Ronaldo is the more skillful.
And important goals? hmm lets see, maybe the goal against Porto this year?? We were down one, Rooney kept his cool, found a spot and scored. I thought it was pretty important. Also, Rooney could have easily scored that breakaway goal against Arsenal in the second leg of the champions league; but what did he do? passed it to Ronaldo. You think Ronaldo would have done the same thing?
Sometimes its not all about the goalscorer, but what the others players do that allow the goalscorer to be in a position to score. Maybe you should watch more soccer.
@Come on
You are looking at it very simplistically.Rooney is a striker but he isn’t a centre forward, like Ruud was. He is not on the receiving end of the build up, he is the one making it. So no, he is not an efective goalscorer but that’s not what his game is about. There is a reason why Rooney is still at the club while Ruud isn’t. No one can make United click in attack like Rooney can.Proof of that is that United are a worst side when he is not playing. Don’t worry about Ronaldo the goalscorer leaving.When Ruud left,everyone was wondering who wa going to score for us.And we got 123 goals in the next campaign.
ROOONEEEYY…
@ come one—> rooney is the spirit of the team..whenever he plays well the whole team plays well..and think how many goals he set up ronaldo..
ronnie been great but ungreatfull..UNITED>ronaldo
Like I said to all the muppets who say Cantona was better than Henry- the stats don’t lie. Play Ronaldo on either wing or up front on his own and he influences forward play more than Rooney does. Yes Rooney tracks back but he’s supposed to be a forward for fuck sake. Of course Rooney has a better work rate but fact is two seasons ago Ronaldo stats were phenomenal. Season gone he couldn’t match it but still wiped every other player you have. Ronaldo is a better player than Rooney. If you want to argue that Rooney defends better then why don’t we get them both to go in goal for a season. If Rooney has more clean sheets then he is obviously the better player!!! They are both forwards- judge them on goals and assists please.
I think it was the right time to sell- you lot will buy well to supplement an already fantastic squad and Rooney is still a great player but to suggest that he’s better than Ronaldo is just ridiculous.
PS You lot always talk about Rooney sacrificing his game and allowing Ronaldo to play etc- notwithstanding the fact that he is a better defensive player/ works harder- that speaks volumes. Ronaldo was your star and everyone else played for him – including Rooney. This is not sour grapes. Henry was head and shoulders above anyone in our team and the team played for him full stop. When he went it liberated the team but despite a flash in the pan season from Adebayor we still miss him (the him at 25-29 years of age). By the way Gooners begging to get Henry back??? Yeah I met 20 Manure fans who want Van Diver back too. Please.
Agreed that Ronaldo is a “better player than Ronaldo”,but maybe it was the players around him that allowed him to show us his very best. Lets have this conversation in 12 months time because it may be a very different story, i see a huge clash of ego’s at Madrid.
Need look no further than country competition. If Ronaldo were so great and not just another individual in a perfect club situation – why the fuck won’t Portugal be in South Africa in 2010? Pele, Maradonna, Zidane – they would never have stood for their team failing to qualify. He is a pompous, self-centered ass. Good riddance, CR7.
Hey Gooner, man you sure are smart when it comes to footy. Why does Rooney track back so much? Der, uh, maybe because that shat winger behind him refuses to play D. That is why people that watch and know what they watch can spot someone playing for the team (even when it means playing out of place and not going for all the glory). Sure, CR7 is a supreme offensive talent – I don’t know how much respect a stepover gets, but he’s got that on lockdown every time til he gets his legs taken out. Good riddance, Real will still get steamrolled by Barca. Maybe now people will stop claiming Chelski is ruining the game and remember that there have been teams doing this for more money and far longer than the old CFC.
Jessie mate – u got me confused with the guy called COME ON…we are both trying to make the same point . even i think wazza is more valuable than ronaldo
In some aspects of his game Rooney is better. Ronaldo is a more skilfull and more lethal footballer, but Wayne is a more selfless player that can make things happen with the ball at his feet. He is a creator. Ronaldo stopped being a real creator in 2007.
@jessie
Your post was so good that I was shocked when you suggested to your victim at the end that they should watch more “soccer”
I am saying Rooney should play!
and i am sure he will and he does make the team better when he plays!
BUT
Ronaldo is better than him dont even compare them
and he is not a striker we need a real goalscorer that´s what i am saying!
That scores 30 goals a season now when Ronaldo is gone.
A couple of seasons ago Rooney was better.
Anant- sorry! my bad!
DB9- I know it’s really football, but I’ve been raised in Toronto, Canada and everyone here calls it soccer! Even my dad has started calling it soccer in the last couple of years, and he lived in England for most of his life!
I really want to move to England permanently once I’m finished university. All of those FA cup commercials with Harry Redknapp talking about all things English make me soo jealous.
Why’s Gerry the gooner even here, stalking around a United forum to see how United fans are reacting to the Ronaldo news? Does the article concern Arsenal in anyway? I’m really not sure, we need a rival fans’ opinion on any of our players, kindly crawl back to whatever Arsenal forum you came from.