Wayne Rooney: Has he lived up to the hype

Last season he was great, yes. At his peak form was playing better than anyone else in the world.

He needs to do it for longer if that is to be borne out.

Has Messi done it for that much longer or indeed any longer? I'm only asking as you've implied that he is a great and that C. Ronaldo is not.

Rooney hasn't lived up to the hype and hubris that surrounding his debut for Everton and his first season but then again, how many people could? How many players (or people in general) get built up by the UK media so that they can be brought crashing back down when/if they don't achieve the unrealistic expectations that have been placed on them? Rooney is still a great player but I think there is something missing, maybe just a small change to his game, before he could be classed as truly World class.

Incidentally since England seem to be somewhat underachieving at the moment or over the past few years as a team, is it entirely fair to judge Rooney's performances for them when compared to teams that are performing well?
 

Exaaaachleeee

Ronaldo might be the better individual but Rooney is far more important to the team

Has Messi done it for that much longer or indeed any longer? I'm only asking as you've implied that he is a great and that C. Ronaldo is not.

Not that Messi is a great, just that I think he's been more consistent. I said at the time he was at his peak that Ronaldo was the best player in the world. At that time he was, at this time I don't believe he is - mainly through injury.
 
I cant really think of the last English player that has really gone on to live up to their initial hype, people like Owen spring to mind, they burst onto the scene and then dont really progress as they get older, Owen should be at his peak now, and he is nowhere near the player he was, obvioulsy injuries havent helped.

So many players over the years have dissappointed after the initial promise, I still think the **** is class tho, 3 years ago if someone would have asked who would become world class, Roon or Ron, most would have said Roon.
 
Messi is only 21, think how good Messi was at 19/20 compared to Ronaldo, Messi will be unreal soon if he has an injury-free campaign.
 
Not that Messi is a great, just that I think he's been more consistent. I said at the time he was at his peak that Ronaldo was the best player in the world. At that time he was, at this time I don't believe he is - mainly through injury.

Ok, although I've seen more of C. Ronaldo I haven't watched either enough to offer more than passing comment but I thought I'd ask you to clarify anyway.

Messi is only 21, think how good Messi was at 19/20 compared to Ronaldo, Messi will be unreal soon if he has an injury-free campaign.

That assumes he progresses either linearly or exponentially, he might already have hit his peak or be near to it. It's a bit of a tricky game to guess at the potential of players when there are hundreds of reasons they might not achieve it.
 
Messi is probably the only footballer in the world right now that grabs your attention every time he gets the ball.......in the same vein as Zidane/Maradona/Bergkamp (;)) etc

he might not score as many goals as ronaldo but he sets up a hell of a lot for his teamates anyway, both great players but i know who i prefer to watch.

you also get the feeling that Messi could take his game to the next level if he has an injury free period this season whereas Ronaldo has most likely peaked.

as far as Rooney he looked genuine world class at the Euros and never quite recaptured that since imo, you hardly ever see him running at defenders anymore.....it's kinda dissapointing he hasn't become the calibre of player everybody thought he would become.
 
I cant really think of the last English player that has really gone on to live up to their initial hype, people like Owen spring to mind, they burst onto the scene and then dont really progress as they get older, Owen should be at his peak now, and he is nowhere near the player he was, obvioulsy injuries havent helped.

Owen at Failcastle has scored something along the lines of 11 in his last 15, at a club thats frankly doing very very poorly and has hardly been the best enviroment for a striker to get goals, they aren't creating him chance after chance after chance, yet he's still scoring at a more than 1 goal in every 2 game ratio, which IS world class and few players ever match. Not playing due to injury for me doesn't stop a player being great.

I also think saying Messi is better and more consistant because Ronaldo has been out for what 4 games injured is a little ridiculous, Ronaldo has been incredibly consistant, perhaps one of the most consistant performers in the league for the past 2 years, maybe 3. I mean, what was the longest time between goals last year, did he hit a goal streak over 10 games then dip before and after like Adebayor or was he consistant throughout?


Anyone that would take Rooney over Ronaldo is a deluded England fan who think england players are somehow better. I can't for the life of me see how Rooney does more for the team, he leaves a gap upfront by not staying there which gives the 4 midfielders and his other striker one less person to pass to upfront. Its more often than not Ronaldo whose name you hear clearing a corner of freekick, he does provide goals and he scores a heck of a lot.

I don't think Rooney's bad at all, but Ronaldos the better player, frankly Ronaldo is more effective as an attacking midfielder, winger and striker than Rooney, but mostly because Rooney won't stick to one job.

The other point would be, without Ronaldo at Man U, would he be seen as a better player purely because there wasn't someone getting more goals there to overshadow him?
 
The biggest thing about Messi is that he is incredible in big games. It doesn't matter who the opposition are, nobody can take the ball off him.


EDIT - About Rooney, he's a top striker, there are only a handful that are better but he certainly hasn't reached the heights everybody thought he would, but that's not his fault, it's the English press. I really hope they don't do the same with Walcott, even if he does seem more grounded and intelligent, it'll be difficult to cope with.
 
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I don't think Rooney is that awesome, but he has a genuine passion for the game and an insanely-high workrate and for that alone he gets my respect. I'd have him in a England squad on that basis alone.

The difference between the 2 though is that Rooney actually seems to believe it all and that's why he get's so frustrated at times when he's playing poor and starts chasing opponents around and lunging in to them whereas Walcott is more level headed and grounded about it all, you can tell that from his interviews.
I believe the opposite actually. I think Walcott is in serious danger of getting wrapped up in the hype whereas Rooney appears to just love the game, wants to win every tackle, wants to be involved in everything, etc - admirable qualities in this day and age of ridiculously overpaid footballers. Plus I don't think it's a sign of ego to be frustrated about ones own performance tbh.
 
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His attitude is terrible but he is a talented player. If Portugal didn't deliberately injure him in the world cup, I think we could have gone a lot further ;)
 
Anyone that would take Rooney over Ronaldo is a deluded England fan who think england players are somehow better. I can't for the life of me see how Rooney does more for the team


Or a United fan that watches them both week in week out

I normally leave you to your little rants but you're talking utter **** there
 
Or a United fan that watches them both week in week out

I normally leave you to your little rants but you're talking utter **** there

Yeah, sure, Rooneys effective in every game, and half playing two positions has led him to be far more effective than Ronaldo, I forgot that.

I don't think Rooney is that awesome, but he has a genuine passion for the game and an insanely-high workrate and for that alone he gets my respect. I'd have him in a England squad on that basis alone.

I believe the opposite actually. I think Walcott is in serious danger of getting wrapped up in the hype whereas Rooney appears to just love the game, wants to win every tackle, wants to be involved in everything, etc - admirable qualities in this day and age of ridiculously overpaid footballers. Plus I don't think it's a sign of ego to be frustrated about ones own performance tbh.


Work rate I don't respect, because work rate is usual the description of people like Barton, Parker, Savage and others, they can run around like a headless chicken all they want but if you're a striker your midfielders want you to play as a striker so they have someone to pass to, they don't want a striker playing their role as what the hell are they supposed to do. A balanced team generally won't contain a player trying to do everything. But again that seems to be the ego thing he wasn't scoring so he wanted to get more involved, good for him, not as good for the team or other players.

As for Walcott looking to get wrapped up in the hype, he's shy, stays away from the press as much as humanly possible has a girlfriend whose not trying to be a fashion model or be in the press every other day. They are very quiet private people and he's had more hype at a young age than maybe anyone else. Wasn't his fault he was included in Sven's squad, but was he in the press talking about his chances and the team winning every day, no.
 
I was expecting Rooney to score more for England, but I think the Croatia game was a turning point for Rooney, Walcott and as a whole the England team was very good even without G Neville, S Gerrard and to a lesser extend Hargreaves.
 
I believe the opposite actually. I think Walcott is in serious danger of getting wrapped up in the hype whereas Rooney appears to just love the game, wants to win every tackle, wants to be involved in everything, etc - admirable qualities in this day and age of ridiculously overpaid footballers. Plus I don't think it's a sign of ego to be frustrated about ones own performance tbh.

It's over 2 years now since Walcott was plucked from obscurity, taken to the WC and hailed as the new boy wonder, it doesn't seem to have affected him at all so I don't think it will.
 
I think it was pretty impossible for Rooney to have lived up to the hype.

But, I do think the signing of Berbatov will be the making of him. Not because Berbatov is anything special, but because for the first time in Rooneys career he will have to fight for his place. Fergie looks like he will play Berbatov more often than not, and Rooney will have to fight for a place ahead of Tevez (who just happens to be the player that's made most United fans realise that Rooney isn't quite as good as we'd thought).
 
It's over 2 years now since Walcott was plucked from obscurity, taken to the WC and hailed as the new boy wonder, it doesn't seem to have affected him at all so I don't think it will.

I do think him being English, has meant him suffering the same over-hype-itis that Rooney got years ago. Also don't forget Wenger for years has said he doesn't care about nationality; he gets foreign players because there aren't any English players of similar quality at the same price/age. When he snapped up Walcott everybody went a bit mental, believing that if Wenger thought this kid could break into the Arsenal squad, we'd all better watch him and stuff. Going to the World Cup didn't help either.
 
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