WHEN Wayne Rooney signed for Manchester United it was a good deal for everyone concerned. Everton Chairman Bill Kenwright made sure that Everton did quite well financially, many a blue nose at the time thought the star striker owed the People’s Club more time, but he felt he was ready for a bigger stage and Manchester United were gaining one of the hottest young talents in the football world, his signature was a coup. Everyone did very well out of the deal.
Somewhere along the line Wayne Rooney stopped playing like he had the world at his feet and started playing like he had dog muck on his boots. That teenager who lit up every time he touched the ball, who sent every Evertonian skipping around town telling anyone who would listen, “we’ve got this lad, wait until you see this lad, awww mace this lad”, the lad who should have rocked the world, was nowhere in sight.
That first transfer request, when he blamed a lack of ambition and told everyone it was not financially motivated, that hurt a lot of people. Of course when you tell people it’s not about the money money money and then you sign a contract that promises you a big fat wedge of cash, it’s becomes hard to win the argument. Some of our faithful, GTS included, believed that there was a route back into the hearts of the fans, because it was a mistake and he still wore the red of Manchester United and while he did so he deserved our unflinching support. Some had almost a pragmatic response, a player has the right to look around and get his head turned, he has a right to create a situation which is going to get him more money, but when he does take that step he has to realise that the United support have every right to ignore him.
At some point after admitting his major SNAFU and putting pen to paper on a shiny new contract, didn’t he say he would make it up to the fans?
We’re still waiting. It’s been covered here before, delve into the Wayne Rooney category and read what we published around the time of the Real games; Ronaldo started off with less natural talent and built upon it to become one of the best in the world, Rooney seemed to take all the natural talent a boy can possess and took it no further. It may sound harsh but Wayne Rooney has allowed himself to plateau, Sir Alex has questioned his desire, his fitness and his focus, you may say Rooney isn’t exactly answering those questions and hasn’t been for a while.
This season, YES Robin Van Persie has been the star pupil and Rooney has sulked privately and sometimes publically because he isn’t the crucial star man anymore; but Rooney could have been inspired by RVP’s arrival and performances, then he would perhaps go on to perform week in week out, if only in the spirit of one-upmanship at the very least. But no, this season Rooney has shown glimpses of striking brilliance, and played one or two passes from central midfield that were worthy of Carrick or Scholes, this piece is not to bury Wayne Rooney, we acknowledge that he has suffered due to his versatility, but we also know that he is sulking and wants very much to leave our football club.
At some point there will be a breaking point, his transfer request was turned down but one day United reach breaking point, they may add up that his influence on the team and his moments of genius on the pitch are not worth the drama he seems to like to create. The other thing for Wayne to think about is if he thinks he as an issue with Sir Alex, HE KNOWS there are issues with the incoming David Moyes, if the kid that bullied you at school came back into your life and acted like nothing had happened and now works alongside you all day what would you do? Some of you would rush home, update your CV and get out of there asap. It happens. Some part of us, deep down, must realise that there may be residual issues between Moyes and Rooney, it is expected when someone writes something and the other sues. But it isn’t David Moyes that made Wayne Rooney ask to leave, it was done before all this.
If it is Sir Alex specifically that Rooney has issues with, he would have been delighted to hear that he was stepping down and heartbroken the next day when he realised the new guy was David Moyes!
It makes sense if you are Wayne Rooney, Fergie doesn’t start you for the Real match and you being Wayne Rooney believe that you would have gotten United to the final if you had played, therefore, you ask to leave so that you can go and play for one of the teams that made it to the Champions league final. It’s so childish in it’s logic that it wouldn’t surprise me if Wayne Rooney thought exactly that.
Upon hearing of the first transfer request I thought if he goes he goes if he stays he stays, he was going to have his head turned by Man City because they were offering him more money and he used their attention to get a better fatter deal where he was. There’s only so many times you can go to the well, we made every effort to keep him last time and yes we danced to his drum but this time, there’s a changing of the guard and maybe the new people will see positives in him leaving, it’s certain that a lot of United support feels that way.
It’s very simple, at the risk of repeating exactly what was written when Gabriel Heinze wanted off, we are Manchester United, love it or leave it. One transfer request is a lad making a mistake, getting his head turned, TWO transfer requests is abysmal Wayne Rooney is at the best club in England and if he doesn’t believe that anymore then he really does need to go to Germany. We gave that boy the stage to deliver upon and season by season there’s been less of a deliverance.
Pick up your toys, put them back in the pram and perform on the pitch and everybody could move on, but it’s harder this time, almost impossible and many doubt that it’s worth the hassle. In a few months it becomes someone else’s issue, Sir Alex has already had his say.
Well done, Wayne; you wanted to be an unforgettable player for Manchester United and you are – but it should be for moments on the pitch. GTS
Given to Score 