New formation

[dww]

Is or was? Think about it and ignore received wisdom.

I think he has been better overall than previous years this season actually and United's record is considerably better with him in the team this year. As such statistically the term is well earned.

I think his match winning performances are recent enough to mean even if you discount this season they are not dismissable.

[Craig_H]

So you are either a match winner forever because you have a season or you are not a match winner. This season Rooney has not been a match winner, he only has 8 goals, is that the hallmark of a match winner.

This season, Kuyt has not been a professional footballer...

QED

[fred_plasticine]

rooney and ronaldo are both big game bottlers of the highest order.
joking apart, i reckon rooney seems to suffer from the kuyt syndrome, focusing too much on his wok rate and effort, that is. is he a match winner? now and then but i genuinely think he's a wee bit overrated.

[The_weatherman]

As has been pointed out, ManU. have only lost this season when Rooney is missing or rested. So he has 8 goals in the league but he also has 9 assists, that's almost on par with Gerrard in the league who has 10 and 10 and probably has played more games.

Rooney also offers the qualities that Kuyt does on top of scoring and creating goals - I think he is a match winner or a future match winner.


Oh. on a side note, Ronaldo the "winger" has 3 assists in the league, thought he would have more.

[marcus50bucks]

****. All is asked is is a player with 8 goals a match winner?

:bird:
Irrespective as to whether Rooney has scored 8 goals or not, he can still be classified as a matchwinner. As DJS stated if Torres only has 8 goals to his name at this stage next season would you disregard him as a matchwinner?

[marcus50bucks]

Sorry, but in my opinion, anyone who denies that Rooney & Tevez are matchwinners IS clueless. If that insults you, then we'll have to cope with it, but it's my opinion and i'm entitled to express it.

Your point relies on the notion that the extent of Rooney's contributions in football reach a conclusion at scoring 8 goals. That is clearly completely selective and you deliberately ignore anything else he is capable of doing, or has done previously.

I'm not sure of your opinion of Kuyt, but to use your selective methods, one could argue that a player who scores 1 goal from open play (and even then, one which deflects off his shin without him realising) is not the mark of a player who can play at a level higher than League One...

That would be silly though, because whilst not being great, Kuyt proved last season that when he's on song, he can compete at PL level.

8 goals indeed...

Funny thing is what if Rooney goes on to score another 10 goals between now and the end of the season, would SpeedyG change his opinion? I think using Speedy's method is definitely selective imo. Best thing to do then is to wait till the end of the season to decide whether a player is a matchwinner or not.

[ronniedrew]

:bird:
Irrespective as to whether Rooney has scored 8 goals or not, he can still be classified as a matchwinner. As DJS stated if Torres only has 8 goals to his name at this stage next season would you disregard him as a matchwinner?

by this method, anyone on the pitch is a potential match winner as they can all contribute something to winning a game, from defender to striker. what the history books will show is that xxxxx was a striker and scored xxxxxx goals a year,

everyone talks about a striker who scores 20-30 goals a season, rooney isnt that . consistency is also an issue, wheter it be his record in europe /big games/ for england. crouchys statistics are far more impressive for england. he is a good player but i want goals from my stikers.

[Shaggy]

by this method, anyone on the pitch is a potential match winner as they can all contribute something to winning a game, from defender to striker. what the history books will show is that xxxxx was a striker and scored xxxxxx goals a year,

everyone talks about a striker who scores 20-30 goals a season, rooney isnt that . consistency is also an issue, wheter it be his record in europe /big games/ for england. crouchys statistics are far more impressive for england. he is a good player but i want goals from my stikers.

I think it's easy to sum up by saying Rooney is a very good player who is wildly overrated by the masses and the media mainly because he is English. On his day he is undoubtedly a match-winner, but for me he is inconsistent, misses far, far too many chances and simply doesn't score enough goals.

Imagine if Torres were English?!?!?!?

[1 True Red]

I think it's easy to sum up by saying Rooney is a very good player who is wildly overrated by the masses and the media mainly because he is English. On his day he is undoubtedly a match-winner, but for me he is inconsistent, misses far, far too many chances and simply doesn't score enough goals.

Imagine if Torres were English?!?!?!?

Shaggy mate

[Mattshark]

I think it's easy to sum up by saying Rooney is a very good player who is wildly overrated by the masses and the media mainly because he is English. On his day he is undoubtedly a match-winner, but for me he is inconsistent, misses far, far too many chances and simply doesn't score enough goals.

Imagine if Torres were English?!?!?!?

I am with you on that, even if you do still have a Christmas hat on!

[Guest]

You seem to be basing your judgement of the formation on today's game. Which is strange.

We're battering teams with it, it's well balanced, solid and allows us to overpower teams. I'm stunned that people are complaining about it.

What's with all this love.

[carlton]

:bird:
Irrespective as to whether Rooney has scored 8 goals or not, he can still be classified as a matchwinner. As DJS stated if Torres only has 8 goals to his name at this stage next season would you disregard him as a matchwinner?

The focus tends to be on goal scorers but a matchwinner imo is someone who has the ability and special skills to turn a game on a consistent basis whether it be thru scoring goals, shutting down a midfield, defending goal, or creating goals. Pepe's efforts in the CL semi-final and the FA cup for example ought to put him in that category surely?

[marcus50bucks]

by this method, anyone on the pitch is a potential match winner as they can all contribute something to winning a game, from defender to striker. what the history books will show is that xxxxx was a striker and scored xxxxxx goals a year,

everyone talks about a striker who scores 20-30 goals a season, rooney isnt that . consistency is also an issue, wheter it be his record in europe /big games/ for england. crouchys statistics are far more impressive for england. he is a good player but i want goals from my stikers.

I see your point, however the point I am trying to make is you cannot just base a matchwinner soley on the number of goals he has scored. For me a matchwinner is someone who can can turn a game in an instance on a regular basis whether by scoring, creating chances.etc. Rooney has the ability to do both and has done this in the past. I wouldn't just class Gerrard as a matchwinner based soley on the number of goals he's scored, as again he offers more than just that.

[Skillz]

Haven't read the thread but I have been thinking about who would be Torres best partner and Rooney would be in the top five, for sure.

[marcus50bucks]

Haven't read the thread but I have been thinking about who would be Torres best partner and Rooney would be in the top five, for sure.