Haha, some fine wit there boys. He is right though. Although I haven't played any sport at professional level I have played a lot of sports to county level and I assumed that my body would be fine till mid 30's at least. When you are 18 you can play sport all day and barely worry about a warm up or warm down. These days (just 25) I simply can't do that. I was out of action and could barely walk for days when I played my first hockey match after 2.5 months of inactivity though injury.
Wayne Rooney
- Thread starter Wayn0r
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7lb is sod all for someone like him to lose in 3-4 weeks with all the expert advice and training he has at his disposal, the more important issue is that he let himself put it on in the first place which he put down to having a few bevvies whilst on holiday if I'm not mistaken.
Get a grip fat bloke.
Get a grip fat bloke.
He so would as well. You might see him hiding under his hoodie swearing at the cameras as they chase him to the van.
Caporegime
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his 26 man lol
Caporegime
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Fact is Tevez had what will be the worst season of his career(while also winning the title and being insanely crucial to winning the title, odd isn't it 
) in terms of training, not being a part of a team. He spent several months barely playing and a few months barely training, not playing reserve or training games or possibly football of really any kind and still looked fitter, though larger, than Rooney after preseason.
Difference is there was a huge reason for Tevez to get out of shape, and when he was back he was commended by loads of people for training insanely hard to get fit. What did he, a professional athlete/sportsman do over summer, put more weight on, come back and half arse preseason? No, he dropped weight and looks fitter than ever and has been instrumental in all their games so far.
What did Rooney do, he put on weight, clearly didn't get particularly fit in preseason while the rest of the footballing world did. Frankly he just comes across as fairly unprofessional, as does his general behaviour/attitude on the pitch.
At 18 you can get away with some light smoking, some big party nights, going to all the press/launch/celeb events, letting it all go to hell in summer and coming back and working insanely hard to get fit.
I doubt you can name a single athlete still going strong at 35+ who has that attitude. You have your Ricky Hatton's who half arse their entire career, get shown up against the best, let themselves go between fights and fight an unhill battle against their own body because of their own stupidity, and someone like Mayweather who stays very close to his peak between fights, who works hard, and is still ridiculously fit at a late stage in his career.
Maybe the real question is, does he have the desire or motivation to step up, get fit, stay fit, lean, strong and focus completely on his fitness rather than other things. Thing is he's rich, he's on a huge contract for a few years more at least anyway, does he have a whole lot of reason to try that hard, will he at 26 turn into a model pro to lengthen his career or will he be happy with what he has and keep going backwards. Two years in a row(or is it three?) his summer/preseason has been a complete joke, he's come back not even slightly prepared for either season, having to go away to America to get fit when the rest of the team/league get it right is rather, embarrassing. You'd think after the previous issues with fitness he would, if he was going to get it together... not have had the issue again this season.
) in terms of training, not being a part of a team. He spent several months barely playing and a few months barely training, not playing reserve or training games or possibly football of really any kind and still looked fitter, though larger, than Rooney after preseason.Difference is there was a huge reason for Tevez to get out of shape, and when he was back he was commended by loads of people for training insanely hard to get fit. What did he, a professional athlete/sportsman do over summer, put more weight on, come back and half arse preseason? No, he dropped weight and looks fitter than ever and has been instrumental in all their games so far.
What did Rooney do, he put on weight, clearly didn't get particularly fit in preseason while the rest of the footballing world did. Frankly he just comes across as fairly unprofessional, as does his general behaviour/attitude on the pitch.
At 18 you can get away with some light smoking, some big party nights, going to all the press/launch/celeb events, letting it all go to hell in summer and coming back and working insanely hard to get fit.
I doubt you can name a single athlete still going strong at 35+ who has that attitude. You have your Ricky Hatton's who half arse their entire career, get shown up against the best, let themselves go between fights and fight an unhill battle against their own body because of their own stupidity, and someone like Mayweather who stays very close to his peak between fights, who works hard, and is still ridiculously fit at a late stage in his career.
Maybe the real question is, does he have the desire or motivation to step up, get fit, stay fit, lean, strong and focus completely on his fitness rather than other things. Thing is he's rich, he's on a huge contract for a few years more at least anyway, does he have a whole lot of reason to try that hard, will he at 26 turn into a model pro to lengthen his career or will he be happy with what he has and keep going backwards. Two years in a row(or is it three?) his summer/preseason has been a complete joke, he's come back not even slightly prepared for either season, having to go away to America to get fit when the rest of the team/league get it right is rather, embarrassing. You'd think after the previous issues with fitness he would, if he was going to get it together... not have had the issue again this season.
Caporegime
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That's one of the differences that splits him apart from say c. Ronaldo who by all accounts is a model professional in terms of fitness and physique etc.
Caporegime
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Beckham maybe more so, some people fitness/strength/certain type of physique comes naturally, others have to work insanely hard.
By all accounts Ronaldo trains insanely hard and its one of the reasons he's so good but I think he could get along being a top pro not putting in quite so much as he's rather gifted. Beckham, not the fastest, not the strongest, not great in the air, but everyone has always said along the lines of, we trained for 3 hours, Beckham stayed and practiced crossing/freekicks on his own for hours extra every single day, always.
Ronaldo comes across as gifted and he would be so anyway, Beckham comes across as a guy who needed to put in extra hours to get an edge, and he did every bit of extra work he could take to get where he wanted to be. Both exceptionally hard working professional athletes, Rooney has never, ever struck me as such.
By all accounts Ronaldo trains insanely hard and its one of the reasons he's so good but I think he could get along being a top pro not putting in quite so much as he's rather gifted. Beckham, not the fastest, not the strongest, not great in the air, but everyone has always said along the lines of, we trained for 3 hours, Beckham stayed and practiced crossing/freekicks on his own for hours extra every single day, always.
Ronaldo comes across as gifted and he would be so anyway, Beckham comes across as a guy who needed to put in extra hours to get an edge, and he did every bit of extra work he could take to get where he wanted to be. Both exceptionally hard working professional athletes, Rooney has never, ever struck me as such.
Rooney is so far above average regarding footballing skill it is embarressing to even suggest such a thing, however it appears more than coincidence that Rooney rumours abound, reports of a £38m bid for Neymar and the reports that Cristiano (I will only play for Manchester United or Real Madrid) Ronaldo is voicing his unhappiness and rumours of wanting away are all happening immediately on the close of the Transfer Window. Will United and Madrid's offensive lineup look a little different come January 1st?.....it wouldn't surprise (or disappoint me).
Ultimately I do not think Rooney did himself any favours with his wantaway rumourmill to secure a new contract a few seasons ago and I suspect there is no smoke without fire, although whether that will amount to anything in the short to medium term I doubt it unless someone of real proven quality is drafted in to replace him, (ala Ronaldo/Neymar).
Given that I remember David Beckham showing his ample footballing skill at the tender age of 12, I would say that he has far more innate talent than you give him credit for. Skill is not all about speed (Beckham was not exactly slow) or strength (again Beckham was not exactly bundled off the ball very often) or good in the Air (He scored or assisted his fair share of headers) sometimes it is about commitment, accuracy, leadership, passing, assist play, and any number of attributes that often get overlooked, World Class Footballers are not all goal-scorers or pacey attacking flamboyant forwards, some, like the Beckhams and Scholes of this world are World Class despite that common perception.
Roberto Carlos for one....arguably Patrice Evra for another, Maldini another, Philip Lahm another, Marzolini, Ruud Krol, Camacho, Lizarazu, Frank de Boer, just to name a few more.
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I said a player with real proven quality, not a proven player as in Premiership/Europe, and he clearly has proven quality, whether that translates into European Football remains to be seen.
Caporegime
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Most skills kid show are, well, crap. But it also doesn't preclude the fact that he's said to have dedicated himself to football even at a young age. So he could simply have been playing footie for 3 hours after school practicing precision when other kids didn't.
No one is particularly slow, hence you're either really fast, or it doesn't really matter, and, as always everyone will score a header eventually, Henry scored a few, everyone does, Ronaldo dominates the penalty box in the air, Beckham couldn't even remotely be described as doing so, same goes for strength, has he destroyed a midfield with a display of his strength like Yaya, De Jong, etc, etc, nope, hence, not strong.
Its a very rare player who is literally slow as hell, or weak as crap, and there is a handful of players who dominate in the air like Ronaldo/Falcao/etc. Owen/Defoe score quite a few with their head.
I also don't remember saying only flamboyant or fast players are good, or that goals are all that count? I said that strength/speed weren't really a part of his game, they weren't natural strengths(if you have a strength, ultilise it on top of every other thing you can gain that isn't natural), and what Beckham did was practice for hours to make him pretty much the best crosser of the ball, the best freekick tacker, the best corner taker in the world for a long period of time. That wasn't natural talent, he himself, Fergie, everyone who ever talks about him, its practice, a dedication and commitment to be the best that not many players have.
I would dare say that one of the reasons Scholes is one of the best players ever, is because you'll find he worked harder than most around him also. The best of the best tend to commit and work harder than those who aren't.
I think you would be hard pushed to find any premiership footballer that did not practice religiously since an early age, you implied that his ability is entirely predicated by the fact that he simply worked harder, I disagree. I think that he worked to perfect an innate talent that he already possessed. In his way he is as talented as the Ronaldos of this world....not all players can be judged directly.
Ronaldo is a forward, Yaya, De Jong are central midfielders, they are not even comparable to Beckham as they played a different position and a different game.....
Again comparing Beckam with Strikers/Forwards. Beckham was very strong for a right midfielder, he was also pretty pacey (he was a right midfielder, not a winger) as well as all the other attributes that we associate with him.
I disagree, at 12 he already possessed an innate talent that he honed into as close to perfection as he was able with that dedication....the most dedicated person in the world will never kick a professional football without some innate natural talent....something I think Beckham had/has in spades. Just because a player is dedicated and people refer to his dedication doesn't preclude raw natural talent to begin with.
Indeed, they also tend to have bags of natural ability to work with and to mold into a world class player with that dedication and commitment.
I think it is quite frankly embarrassing that a player of Rooney's stature or any footballer for that matter who's job is to be at the peak of their physical fitness and then match that with their undoubted skill and talent can come back from a pre season where you have had a rest after the season has finished and also been part of an international squad and be unfit.
Rooney has gone down hill these past few years. He still scores plenty of goals and gets a lot of assists but I have no doubt that if he had done what Tevez has done he would have done even better.
No footballer who is in the place Rooney is eg world class facilities and coaches should be anything but at the very top of his game mentally, physically and technically.
It is rumoured that the problems are genetics but Tevez isn't exactly Giggs and is probably the best player to match Rooney too. Both similar size and build and Tevez has had weight issues, just Google any pics of him on holiday recently. He has put the work in and got himself extremely fit.
I have no doubt Rooney can do it he just doesn't want to I feel.
Rooney has gone down hill these past few years. He still scores plenty of goals and gets a lot of assists but I have no doubt that if he had done what Tevez has done he would have done even better.
No footballer who is in the place Rooney is eg world class facilities and coaches should be anything but at the very top of his game mentally, physically and technically.
It is rumoured that the problems are genetics but Tevez isn't exactly Giggs and is probably the best player to match Rooney too. Both similar size and build and Tevez has had weight issues, just Google any pics of him on holiday recently. He has put the work in and got himself extremely fit.
I have no doubt Rooney can do it he just doesn't want to I feel.
it's not only that, it's the fact he has access to the best physio's, equipment, training etc that money can buy and get's paid to stay at his peak.
there's us mugs paying for gym membership, some struggling with injuries, some paying for personal trainers etc who would welcome such opportunities, let alone getting paid extortianate amounts for playing football.