My opinion on Wayne Rooney

World class simply means you are best in the world at your class?

Currently there is no goal keeper better than Manuel Neuer in the world

There are no better wingers than Bale, Robben and Ribery.

There is no better forwards in this world than Messi and Ronaldo. Rooney wouldn't even get into the top 10 in class, so in those terms he is nowhere near world class for.
 
Xordium said:
He is playing at a time when he have 2 of the greatest if not the greatest forwards the world has ever seen.
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But there are more than 2 ahead of him.

Ibrahimovic
Suarez
Lewandowski
Reus
Muller
Van Persie!!
Costa arguably as well
 
rossk26 said:
But there are more than 2 ahead of him.

Ibrahimovic
Suarez
Lewandowski
Reus
Muller
Van Persie!!
Costa arguably as well
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Problem is, are you saying they're better in your opinion or based on some sort of facts? In terms of goals scored and assists created Rooney is right there with most of them, if not better. Plus he's not a centre forward in the traditional sense of the word, he's a number 10 that sits in the hole behind the front striker and creates as many as he scores. Muller is probably the most similar of the players you listed above and he averages about 12 goals and 12 assists a season in the Bundesliga, very similar to the stats you said meant Rooney isn't world class.

I think you're contradicting yourself a bit to be honest. Ok you might not like Rooney as a player, but in terms of direct impact on games he's up there with all the best players in his position.
 
rossk26 said:
But there are more than 2 ahead of him.
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I agree - just seems to be daft arguing that he is world class when the top two forwards in the world are streets ahead. He clearly isn't - taking for example Ronaldo - he is quicker, he is better in the air, he is as strong on and off the ball, he can shoot better with both feet, his positioning is better, he set pieces are better, his selfcontrol is better, he focus is better, his determination to win is better, is general fitness is better - the only thing Rooney can do better is track people back but then he just ends up being where he shouldn't when his team gets the ball.

Don't get me wrong Rooney is a good player but he isn't world class at all. The only decent team in the world cup who he could have improved was Brazil.
 
"World class". To me, this term has no definite meaning. Like a lot of things in football, it's down to one's opinion. For me, the term can generally be used to describe a person that can compete highly at an international level and would be recognized world wide as a high caliber player. But you also hear comentators talking about things players do in a game as "world class". i.e.

That strike was world class.

Was it? What does that mean? Someone hit a ball really true and it flew in from 30 yards. Well...anyone can do that sometimes. But can they do it consistantly and/or repeatedly on demand?

World class players I guess are the top players in the world at a certain period of time. Is Rooney a world class player...I think so, at times. Would he feature in a world wide dream team if you picked the top 11 in the world? No, I wouldn't. But then, would any English player right now?
 
I watch Rooney week in week out at OT and he is world class- even when he plays badly, he's still better than anyone else in the team. His work rate is immense, his passion clear, and his ability unquestionable.

I don't understand the bad rep. I never will.
 
Not even close to world class. He was world class for a while but he hasn't been the player he used to be for a long time.

He doesn't drive at defences any more and has lost his explosiveness. 1 thing comes to mind when I think of Rooney and thats power. He no longer has that and is only a shadow of his former self.

Drogba was always a better player he could use his power and strength to bully defenders Rooney has not done that for a long time.
 
It's obvious who the Man U fans are in this thread and who aren't.

Rooney has failed to score more than 14 goals in six of his ten seasons at Man U. A world class player at a team like Man U would not get stats like that IMO.

You can argue all you want that he isn't played as a front striker, but why not? If he was world class, you wouldn't be playing him out of position would you?
 
Newbie007 said:
Del Piero also played in Serie A during a period where they knew how to defend. Rooney has played in the PL, where no one knows how to defend.
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Lol, what? Got anything to actually back that up or is that complete conjecture? Ok there have been some crazy matches in the past few years, but the defending was fantastic for plenty of years that Rooney played in the PL, it's probably only the last two years where that might not be true (though Chelsea look very solid this year).

In Rooney's time at United there have been three new PL consecutive clean sheet records, set by United itself in 2008-2009, by Chelsea in 2004-2005, and by Liverpool the following season. In fact, in the last ten years the most consecutive clean sheets a Serie A team has managed is 8, set by Juventus last season and the season before, since Del Piero left.

You sir are talking ********.

edit: as for whether Rooney is world class or not (I hate that term anyway), it's completely down to opinion. I wouldn't put him in a 'best XI players in the world' team, but I don't think that stops him from being considered one of England and United's all time greats. I'm sure that once he's finished playing he'll be considered a United great by most fans, seeing as there's every chance he could be all-time top scorer for both England and United. Ok the contract disputes and public fallings out with Fergie will probably tarnish his image a bit in the long term, but he's still going to be there in the record books, and that's hard to ignore.
 
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Newbie007 said:
Del Piero also played in Serie A during a period where they knew how to defend. Rooney has played in the PL, where no one knows how to defend.
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The bottom Serie A sides are better than the bottom PL sides at defending? Real talk?

Literally no one gives a **** about Serie A. No one. Apart from Robbo. And that Malteser guy who has obviously played an FM game as Roma and is therefore our self-assigned Serie A expert.
 
Rooney is a very good player. Certainly not in THAT bracket occupied by Ronaldo and Messi but neither a hell of a lot of players who are considered World Class.

Not sure the comparison some have made of Ibrahimovic and Lewandoski are fair as they are closer to a traditional number 9.

In my opinion there are a handful of players who are demonstrably better in terms of technique and decision making. There is a whole host of bang average players who are supposed to be world class either as equals or worse than Rooney
 
lucarocks92 said:
Not even close to world class. He was world class for a while but he hasn't been the player he used to be for a long time.

He doesn't drive at defences any more and has lost his explosiveness. 1 thing comes to mind when I think of Rooney and thats power. He no longer has that and is only a shadow of his former self.

Drogba was always a better player he could use his power and strength to bully defenders Rooney has not done that for a long time.
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agree with this.

Drogba was/is played as an out and out striker.

Wish Rooney had the same treatment tbh
 
rossk26 said:
World class simply means you are best in the world at your class?

Currently there is no goal keeper better than Manuel Neuer in the world

There are no better wingers than Bale, Robben and Ribery.

There is no better forwards in this world than Messi and Ronaldo. Rooney wouldn't even get into the top 10 in class, so in those terms he is nowhere near world class for.
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Well if it means that you are the best in the world in your class, why have you listed three wingers when you're only ever going to have two on the pitch at once? The reason you're listing players like Pique as better than Aguero or Rooney is that your definition is wrong.

Edit: And frankly, the whole question of who is "world class" and who isn't is moronic. Everyone will draw the line somewhere different. Surely it makes more sense to list which strikers people think are better than Rooney and compare how highly people rate him compared to other players in that way?

For me, the better strikers than him are: Ronaldo and Messi if classed as strikers, Aguero, Suarez, and arguably (despite my dislike for him) Benzema on current form.
 
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