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The Rooney question, Chelsea wins
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How will Rooney end up playing into United's year?
Chelsea was able to secure three more points at Wigan thanks to Deco’s free kick as the Blues exited with a 1-0 victory. A typical Chelsea game – scoring in the fourth minute and finishing out the game with defense. One can only hope that the Blues ditch the Robinho idea and add pace, imagination and some flair with Kaka. But the boys from Stamford Bridge know how to win, and you must give them that – even if their style gives the Dutch and other supporters of beautiful football a bit of a heart attack.
But this type of game represents more of what you should see until Chelsea makes their big signing. Without Drogba and with Shevchenko finally gone, surely Cole, Lampard, Anelka and Co. will not be the answer up front for a Premiership title. For now they will have to dig for the goals and rely on shared responsibility and production from Deco and others.
I read these two Manchester United articles – one from the Guardian and one from ESPN Soccernet – and they intrigued me a little bit. This one talks about how Sir Alex is looking for Wayne Rooney to not roam so much and waste his energy chasing the ball back up the field – instead remaining forward and providing his goal-scoring threat. And this one says Rooney doesn’t think he needs to change his style and quotes him as saying something along the lines that he won’t ever lose his competitive determination. He also indicates that he’s not worried about the number of goals he gets, pointing to last season’s team success with the double.
Rooney should be applauded for his team spirit, but his take on this subject is interesting. Frankly, he does need to score more goals, and while he points to Cristiano Ronaldo’s 42-goal season last year, those types of numbers probably won’t be there again this season for the Portuguese midfielder.
United is going to need other players to step up around the goal, and Rooney doesn’t appear to be that guy right now. The last few United games I’ve watched, Rooney has stood out more for his passes and crosses than his tenacity around the goal, which is strange because that scoring drive is what I used to associate him with.
And if his quote about the “natural competitive steak” is indeed in reference to Sir Alex’s critique that he is wasting his energy by chasing the ball too far upfield, he had better get his head together and listen. The facts are that he’s a forward, he’s not providing the threat a forward should, and his manager looks to have another top-notch striker set to come in any day now in Dimitar Berbatov.
Mr. Rooney, you sir, have been told to jump. The correct answer is “how high?”
Carlos Tevez is set in the United lineup, and if Rooney wants his time on the field as well, perhaps he could use a little more selfishness.
What do you think? What’s Rooney’s main problem right now, and does Sir Alex have a point? Will Rooney become a constant threat before the season is over? Will he heed Ferguson’s advice?
OK. I realized that I somehow haven’t put up a poll yet on how people expect the Premier League to finish this year. So vote to your heart’s content below.
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