Manchester United were winning 2-0 with 72 minutes played, before Wayne Rooney was subbed on to the pitch. The game exploded in to life, with a fruther five goals being scored in the remaining 18 minutes, Rooney scoring two of them.
Rio Ferdinand, who will spend most of this season as our captain with Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs losing their place in the starting XI, has today claimed that Rooney has the potential to be the best in the World one day, if he just allows himself to become more selfish.
“Maybe it has had to be drilled into him, but Wayne is playing more like an orthodox centre-forward for us and – given time – he could easily be the best in the world,” said Ferdinand. “He has the capability, without a doubt. He has more tools in his box than any other number nine in the world. I have every confidence in him. It is just a matter of him being given the time, and I am sure he will put it into practice.”
Rooney has scored 23 goals in a season for United before now, but Rio reckons our young forward has the capabilities to do even better.
“Sometimes he needs to be more selfish,” Rio added. “I feel he is capable of getting 25 or 30 goals a season. I know how difficult Wayne can be to play against, and if he continues to keep working in the right areas he can be top scorer in the Premier League. But in order to achieve it, you must have a certain amount of selfishness – and he probably needs it a little bit more.”
rio is right, but i feel that rooney is more of second striker..he can play the orthodox number 9 role like eto’o and torres..rooney likes to drop deep and initiate attacks..on form,rooney is easily the best striker and he is a quality finisher..even if rooney is not at his best he offers something to the team-maybe that killer element..some say wayne rooney is the most overrated player in europe, i think he is the most underrated..he has 9 or so goals so far(if im not wrong)..but im tipping him to score 20+ this season
his quality shld not be judged by goals alone.he is the most valuable plyr in man united at any given time …..forget ronaldo.
Rooney, after Scholes, is what drives this team going forward. There is a certain spirit that can be seen about these lads when they play. Rio and Vida do the same at the back. It’s just a question of time. Rooney, mind you, is already at par with the best attacking midfielders in the world. He just needs to turn into an out and out striker. And with his versatility, I don’t have any doubts…
Agree with Rio’s assessment BUT the key has to be discipline – Wayne Rooney has to have a strong directive to play centre forward for the team and NOT wander around the midfield. It’s one of those cases where you have to give up his versatility and control his energy in order for the team to derive maximum benefit from his talents. He simply has to curtail this wandering and stick to his brief as the spearhead of the attack – easier said than done, I think.
I agree with what K9 said.
Denton Davey: re:discipline and drifting back i could not agree more.
Would love to see him in this number 9 role as he is certainly capable. An absolute talent! Frightening to think he is only just 23!
I am not “frightened” that TheBoyWonder is only 23 – I’m absolutely thrilled that we are getting an extended run from him. For him to improve, he needs discipline and a strong hand keeping him (and his emotions) in line.
To me, it’s very interesting that three of the four forwards – Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez – have such a strong appetite for competition that they make evident in their own, individual ways. In contrast, it’s hard to get a handle on Berbatov since he seems emotionally bloodless.