Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:31 pm
Rooney is another England player who has failed to reach his potential. At one time he was electric. Now he appears off the pace technically and in term of game awareness. His sharpness of mind isn't up to the standard required at the highest level. If he had lived up to his legend they would never have signed RVP and now Falcao, players who clearly have that footballing intelligence. That's not to say he can't improve it but being shunted out to the wing being a supporting role for better players i.e. fake Ronaldo, RVP, has damaged his game. He should have been/should be an English Maradona yet he's more like Tevez (on the field). Now he's supposed to be a No.10 yet England have a kid, in Sterling, who is creating the same kind of buzz with the same kind of energy and fearlessness that Rooney had and it shows. Sterling is playing better in that role but the decision to give Rooney the captaincy means he'll have to play in a key role. I'm not blaming him for England's poor performances because that's down to the coach. However, it serves to highlight that he is neither the player we thought he would turn out to be nor the player his reputation suggests.
Van Gaal may work wonders with him we don't know. Whatever happens he will have to improve because he's no longer in that tier below Messi and fake Ronaldo.
