I'd argue that wasn't the case with the departure of Keane or Van Nistelrooy though. IMO we still haven't found an adequate Keane replacement.
UEFA Champions League/Europa League 12/13/14 April *** Spoilers ***
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I'd argue that wasn't the case with the departure of Keane or Van Nistelrooy though. IMO we still haven't found an adequate Keane replacement.
Stunning passes the boy was pulling out, give him 2 more years up front and then drop him in midfield
I said a few month ago that i reckon Rooney could easily drop into 'midfield' and just ping the ball around and he will also score himself.
He no longer needs to be the main outlet of attack because Hernandez is in the box.
The passes he made last night not many 'strikers' are capable of doing.
He no longer needs to be the main outlet of attack because Hernandez is in the box.
The passes he made last night not many 'strikers' are capable of doing.
Much as the same as Scholes, you can't just buy a ready made replacement for either.
That's like saying "go out and get me a George Best, I don't care what he costs"
It doesn't happen.
There's not too many midfielders that can ping a ball like that.
Fabregas and Wilshere are the only 2 that I can think of.
No more than 10 in the world i can think of.
3 are in the prem. Fabregas and Wilshere like you said and IMO David Silva also has the ability to ping balls like that but he prefers the short ones. Yaya Toure also has it in his locker as seen against Villa with that pass for Balotelli but he rarely does it and prefers like Silva to play short ones.
Keane I'd agree but not Van Nistelrooy. Granted a like for like replacement wasn't brought in (although Saha was there) but that was down to a change in style of play.
With Van Nistelrooy in the side you played more of a 4-4-1-1 with Rooney - or Scholes/Veron before that - playing just off him. You then gradually switched to a 4-3-3 built around Ronaldo and Rooney (who were already at Utd).
Exactly. The way around that is to switch the focus of the team/style of play to suit other players; which is something I think Utd clearly done with the departure of Van Nistelrooy.
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I gottaI knew you were going to shoehorn a City player into that
I've never seen Silva ping the ball across the pitch.
That's because it was so good it melted your brain and you forgot it
No, more like it never happens and you're extremely disillusioned with how good your players are.
Oh
Caporegime
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lol at the swooning of Rooney's passing in ONE game, his passing for 5 seasons has been borderline inexcusable. Though its usually his much closer passing thats a problem, wing to wing, and inbehind missing fullbacks are the "easier "passes to make, they have the most leeway for inaccuracy built in. Knock it 60 yards across field to a guy in loads of space moving forwards slowly the pass can be 10 yards out and it is easy for the receiving player to still get it.
I still think WAY to much is made of Gerrards ability, whack it into a corner, get fast players to run into it, its not massively easy but much of the apparant accuracy is created by the player running towards it adjusting where he runs to.
It is no surprise that with Cole/Maxi/some of the other turd wingers lately, that Gerrards "uber 40 yard passing" has gone to crap.
Rooney did look good last night, some of his long passes were very accurate, but the majority were into vast amounts of space.
The thing that makes Scholes, Fabregas, somewhat Wilshire(he's good but no one, no one is even close to Fabregas in this league), Lampard(in form) and several others is the close passing in and around a tight midfield, in behind the defence, out wide, anywhere.
But I've also said for years, Rooney isn't a striker, never has been, never will be, he spent one year sitting in the box and scored a very good number of goals, but the rest of his game was non existant last year and was when his passing was its worst. Thats natural, don't pass much, your passing gets less sharp.
This season he's wanted to drop deeper and run the game, but thats ALWAYS what he's wanted, he's always dropped deep even when England or Utd needed a guy upfront and he was supposed to be that player.
I still say that time on the left wing was his best form because of one simple thing, he stuck to one job, he stuck to it for a large run of games, he was playing to his strengths without constantly peeing around trying to do everything.
What Rooney needs is ONE role, one position and to stick with it for the rest of his career, he's getting back to form as a deep lying striker doing a bit of play making and his goal scoring has suffered, Fergie, Rooney, they need to work out where they want to play him long term, and stick with it.
I still think WAY to much is made of Gerrards ability, whack it into a corner, get fast players to run into it, its not massively easy but much of the apparant accuracy is created by the player running towards it adjusting where he runs to.
It is no surprise that with Cole/Maxi/some of the other turd wingers lately, that Gerrards "uber 40 yard passing" has gone to crap.
Rooney did look good last night, some of his long passes were very accurate, but the majority were into vast amounts of space.
The thing that makes Scholes, Fabregas, somewhat Wilshire(he's good but no one, no one is even close to Fabregas in this league), Lampard(in form) and several others is the close passing in and around a tight midfield, in behind the defence, out wide, anywhere.
But I've also said for years, Rooney isn't a striker, never has been, never will be, he spent one year sitting in the box and scored a very good number of goals, but the rest of his game was non existant last year and was when his passing was its worst. Thats natural, don't pass much, your passing gets less sharp.
This season he's wanted to drop deeper and run the game, but thats ALWAYS what he's wanted, he's always dropped deep even when England or Utd needed a guy upfront and he was supposed to be that player.
I still say that time on the left wing was his best form because of one simple thing, he stuck to one job, he stuck to it for a large run of games, he was playing to his strengths without constantly peeing around trying to do everything.
What Rooney needs is ONE role, one position and to stick with it for the rest of his career, he's getting back to form as a deep lying striker doing a bit of play making and his goal scoring has suffered, Fergie, Rooney, they need to work out where they want to play him long term, and stick with it.
Yet the vast majority of players cant manage it.
Caporegime
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Rooney has done the long passing thing in MANY games in recent weeks. Id suggest you go back and watch the replays DM!!
Ivanovic may be a CB by trade but he looks a liability when he plays there.
As for Lampard well he's only 32 now, that's 2 years older than Gerrard, I assume you feel you need to replace him soon as well? Personally although his goal threat might diminish I think Lampard has plenty of years left in him.
Silva doesn't hit many long balls but that's because he plays so far up the pitch so most of his work is short-mid range, the only reason Cesc has the opportunity to do so is because he is everywhere, you're as likely to see him as the furthest man forward as you are to see him picking it up off the 'keeper. It's no discredit to Silva really, I'm sure if he played deeper he'd play more longer passes.
13th highest premier league goal scorer of all time.
For someone who you think isnt a striker, its amazing how there are only 12 players (all of them strikers) who have managed to score more premier league goals than him.
He is either the greatest goal scoring midfielder the premier league has ever seen, or a great striker.
Which is it?
If he continues scoring at his current rate, and plays through till he is 34 odd, he will of scored more premier league goals than everyone apart from Alan Shearer.
Whether he's any good at CB or not is beside the point. Chelsea need a RB and Ivanovic isn't the answer.
Without Lampard's goal threat, he's half the player. Lampard's drop in form from last season is staggering and with the niggling injuries he's been picking up, he's only headed in 1 direction.
Saying that, I'm sure he could play a part at Chelsea for a couple more years (in a similar way to Scholes at Utd) but he won't be the integral part of the team he is now. His goals and influence on the side will need replacing though, whether that be from a direct replacement or a change in system.
As for Gerrard. We most certainly do need to start (as you say, he's 2 years younger than Lampard) looking at how and with who do we replace him. That appears to already be happening under Dalglish though. Gerrard had been playing a more withdrawn role with Meireles pushed further forward, replacing Gerrard in the AM role.
Indeed, since he's come back to fitness, Rooney's passing has been on par with the best passers in the world.