Ehi69:


Lol. Are we currently better than Arsenal? When was the last time we signed a player amongst fierce competition from top teams? Please remind me because I can remember the times we failed!

When was the last time we went for a player being competed for by other clubs? Players rejected us when we were taking home trophies year after year, so cause we are at the level we are now is not a criteria

The last time I checked, it wasn't teams like southampton and valencia thaat came for Di maria

Ehi69:


When man city signed silva he was a promising lad at Valencia not a world beater. Yaya was average at best at Barca. They were enticed with enormous wages.

I'm sure you were joking about Real Madrid. Their reputation precedes them!

Chelsea had the special one.

Who do we have? Mr philosophy.....

let's just assume you are serious.
so Real Madrid's "reputation" signed the players & they payed £85m+ & £100m for two players

Chelshit's special one enticed those players huh?

so di Maria & Falcao are being paid "philosophy" weekly. guy help yourself to a cold beer abeg

dopeJemi:


And developing players won't take us to the level of barca or Madrid, chelsea? Please.. we are bigger than them, players would pick us ahead of them anytime, anyday, our brand is too big to be a last resort, "performance on the pitch" is the only reason why we are not at the same level with Madrid and barca but I believe it's all going to change next season


Benzema
Muller
Lewandowsky
Mandzukic
Icardy

Are all tested and trusted

Mandzukic isn't an upgrade to Van Persie.

Top clubs don't sell their key players no matter the transfer fee offered! Why would bayern sell Muller or lewondoski? Why would real sell Benzema?

Unrealistic targets!

SailorXY:


let's just assume you are serious.
so Real Madrid's "reputation" signed the players & they payed £85m+ & £100m for two players

Chelshit's special one enticed those players huh?

so di Maria & Falcao are being paid "philosophy" weekly. guy help yourself to a cold beer abeg

Di Maria, Falcao and Mata are club rejects! (Maybe im being too harsh). We bought what nobody wanted. It's different from buying a key player from a club.

Ehi69:


Mandzukic isn't an upgrade to Van Persie.

Top clubs don't sell their key players no matter the transfer fee offered! Why would bayern sell Muller or lewondoski? Why would real sell Benzema?

Unrealistic targets!

Mandzukic is miles ahead of the RVP of now so I don't know what you are saying

They become realistic when money speaks

Ehi69:
Di Maria, Falcao and Mata are club rejects! (Maybe im being too harsh). We bought what nobody wanted. It's different from buying a key player from a club.

"reject" is not as bad as you think. you can even call GEJ a reject but that's your opinion.

Mata cost good money & left CFC with a big CV. what's the worth of Oscar & Willian, what reputation do they have in CFC? put them up for sale tomorrow let's see the kind of clubs that come calling & how much they bring.

di Maria was bought for £57m & arrived as a UCL winner & a World Cup finalist. not bad for a 'reject'. heck I'll shake my head 10 times if I had those achievements & you call me a reject!

Sneijder & Robben were also forced out or "rejects", I don't see them weeping in a corner of a dark room cuz Ehi69 thinks so.

perhaps you can remind me the name of that guy's goal that knocked out Real Madrid... err... you say

SailorXY:

"reject" is not as bad as you think. you can even call GEJ a reject but that's your opinion.

Mata cost good money & left CFC with a big CV. what's the worth of Oscar & Willian, what reputation do they have in CFC? put them up for sale tomorrow let's see the kind of clubs that come calling & how much they bring.

di Maria was bought for £57m & arrived as a UCL winner & a World Cup finalist. not bad for a 'reject'. heck I'll shake my head 10 times if I had those achievements & you call me a reject!

Sneijder & Robben were also forced out or "rejects", I don't see them weeping in a corner of a dark room cuz Ehi69 thinks so.

perhaps you can remind me the name of that guy's goal that knocked out Real Madrid... err... you say

You misunderstand me! I'm not saying these players are bad purchases or poor themselves. My point is, they weren't needed by their clubs hence it was easy to sign them.

dopeJemi:


Mandzukic is miles ahead of the RVP of now so I don't know what you are saying

They become realistic when money speaks

Mandzukic and Van persie are the same. No pace, can't dribble or create chances for themselves. A pacey and skillfull striker will open a new dimension for the team than buying another 'Falcao'

sinizia:


So for all those seasons Rooney was playing 10, what was Scholes' position? Please don't write an article, just tell me Scholes' position since Rooney was paying 10 for 10 seasons out of his total 11 for Man Utd.

Scholes was our central midfielder in the last decade. He paired Carrick in central midfield 4 and 8 positions.

For example:

Brown(2)...Ferdiand(5)...Vidic(6)..Evra(3)

.........Carrick(4)... Scholes(

CR7/Nani(7)..Rooney(10)..Giggs/Park(11)

......................Tevez(9).

slimghost:

Benzema is not better than Rooney! and Neymar and Muller are not out and out strikers. Still you are entitled to your opinion bro.

benzema is one of the most useless strikers i have had to watch. he's not better than rooney. without zidane's protection, he would have been shipped off eons ago. he's the reason madrid haven't achieved much since florentino perez came back.

he has consistently been the weakest forward in the last 6 seasons or so. had madrid gotten any of david villa, falcao or aguero when they were tearing la liga apart, madrid would have achieved so much more. we are better than signing benzema.

we should look at.....

•reus
•lacazette
•dybala
•lewandowski

Why isn't anyone saying anything about Carlos Bacca of Sevilla?

coogar:


rooney was a striker....
it's his lack of goal scoring that made the media brand him a number-10. which number-10, i ask? fergie used 4-4-2 throughout in that era - fergie was the last manager to abandon 4-4-2 in the premier league. it wasn't until 09/10 that fergie changed his formation in the league & that was after ronaldo left.

saying rooney was a number-10 in that era would be the same as saying yorke or andy cole was a number-10 in 1999. rooney was a striker like saha, ruud, bellion & solksjaer in his first 4-5 seasons. his fans only use this excuse because they know he doesn't measure up to the elite strikers in europe.

this was rooney's interview in 2008....


Q: How do you feel you’re developing as a striker – would you liken yourself to any of the aforementioned front men?

rooney:
Not really. I think it’s difficult for you to compare yourself to someone else, but I certainly hope I can become as good as them.

I’ve definitely changed the way I play this season in the fact that I’ve played further up front rather than in behind a main striker; that’s something Carlos has done.

I’d probably say I’ve enjoyed that role more as you seem to get more chances and hopefully that means I’ll end up with more goals.

Gbam! Rooney himslef said He had been playing behind the striker before 2008 and he was (now) trying to play on same line as Tevez. Tevez trying to make Rooney move up front closer instead of far behind.

In 2011 SAF said he had always deployed Rooney as number 10.

Rooney is 10 but that doesn't mean he didn't occassionally play as a winger or central midfielder or striker.

elampiro:

Gbam! Rooney himslef said He had been playing behind the striker before 2008 and he was (now) trying to play on same line as Tevez. Tevez trying to make Rooney move up front closer instead of far behind.

In 2011 SAF said he had always deployed Rooney as number 10.

Rooney is 10 but that doesn't mean he didn't occassionally play as a winger or central midfielder or striker.

rooney has always played as a striker. it's his lack of positional discipline that had him dropping deep to search for the ball. capello, sven-goran eriksson & ferguson always complained then that rooney gets too much attracted to the ball.

against the weaker teams(majority of the league games) in the EPL, we played a flat 4-4-2. in europe, the objective is not to concede so we often went with 4-5-1/4-3-3. using number-10 angle to excuse rooney's poor goal return is ridiculous.

sinizia:


LOL!! I've been patiently waiting for Elampawa to bring up his usual lies and maybe label Scholes a winger or even a striker.

Coogar how do you cope arguing with this Elam guy, cos the few days i've been here he argues like someone high on some surreal weed? How do you cope? kudos for condoning his atrocious views.

You are an amateur. You who don't know football position, a brainwashed follow who thinks I am a student like you who should be online 247 replying post. Keep waiting for elampiro. You are probably on holiday.

Rooney said in that Coogar's post that he had been playing before the main striker until Tevez, in 2008, told him to move upfront closer to him. Is English so hard for you guys?

Ferguson said Rooney was an AM for him.

coogar:


rooney has always played as a striker. it's his lack of positional discipline that had him dropping deep to search for the ball. capello, sven-goran eriksson & ferguson always complained then that rooney gets too much attracted to the ball.

against the weaker teams(majority of the league games) in the EPL, we played a flat 4-4-2. in europe, the objective is not to concede so we often went with 4-5-1/4-3-3. using number-10 angle to excuse rooney's poor goal return is ridiculous.

All these are lies or statemnts from your imagination due to your poisoned mind towards Rooney.

In 2011 SAF said he played Rooney BEHIND the striker.

I will be back tomorrow.

elampiro:

All these are lies or statemnts from your imagination due to your poisoned mind towards Rooney.

In 2011 SAF said he played Rooney BEHIND the striker. I will be back tomorrow.

coogar:
it wasn't until 09/10 that fergie changed his formation in the league & that was after ronaldo left

sometimes i wonder if you read & understand!

tess1:


I don`t know how Rooney will be a number 10 when SAF majorly played 442 flat formation but not 4411 or 442 diamond in the league.

SAF only changed his system after he bought RVP to be able to accomodate both Rooney and RVP in the team.

How somebody will be saying Rooney played as a number 10 throughout his Man Utd career except for one season still baffles me.

How can this your statment be true when:

1. In 2009 summer Rooney challenged SAF he wants to play upfront.

2. In 2011 SAF said he had always used behind the striker- as number 10.

3.

Rooney said in that Coogar's post that he had been playing before the main striker until Tevez, in 2008, told him to move upfront closer to him. Is English so hard for you guys?

Ferguson said Rooney was an AM for him.



I will come tomorrow for any replies, or if I am abit chanced much later tonight.

coogar:


benzema is one of the most useless strikers i have had to watch. he's not better than rooney. without zidane's protection, he would have been shipped off eons ago. he's the reason madrid haven't achieved much since florentino perez came back.

he has consistently been the weakest forward in the last 6 seasons or so. had madrid gotten any of david villa, falcao or aguero when they were tearing la liga apart, madrid would have achieved so much more. we are better than signing benzema.

we should look at.....

•reus
•lacazette
•dybala
•lewandowski

God bless you for affirming that the 'french pig' is useless. Now Reus is not an out and out striker and can never guarantee you 25goals a season(his nain strength lies with his creativity). Dybala is off to Juve almost certainly. So that leaves Lewy and Lacazzate. Honestly,I had take Lewy any day anytime.

slimghost:


God bless you for affirming that the 'french pig' is useless. Now Reus is not an out and out striker and can never guarantee you 25goals a season(his nain strength lies with his creativity). Dybala is off to Juve almost certainly. So that leaves Lewy and Lacazzate. Honestly,I had take Lewy any day anytime.

if LVG cannot bully teams like juventus then we should start looking for another manager. juventus? their club value is less than what we paid to grow grass @carrington complex!

adidas deal kicks off next month or so......we are back in europe. we are in the same echelon as madrid & barca. we should naturally get what we want. we need 2 young strikers next season.

coogar:




sometimes i wonder if you read & understand!

Where did SAF say that? That's from you.

SAF said he had alway depoyed Rooney behind the striker. He said this when United signed Ashley Young.

Rooney himself Said he has always played behind the striker. He even challenged SAF to play him as a striker in 2009/10 season.

coogar:


rooney has always played as a striker. it's his lack of positional discipline that had him dropping deep to search for the ball. capello, sven-goran eriksson & ferguson always complained then that rooney gets too much attracted to the ball.

against the weaker teams(majority of the league games) in the EPL, we played a flat 4-4-2. in europe, the objective is not to concede so we often went with 4-5-1/4-3-3. using number-10 angle to excuse rooney's poor goal return is ridiculous.

Rooney has always been played majorly as a striker in the 442 formation used mostly during Fergie's era. It is only when we are playing a big team in the league and most especially in Europe that he changes his formation when he wants to make it difficult for opponents to beat us.

It was after he bought RVP in 2013/14 that he dropped Rooney to play in the midfield so as to be able to accommodate him in the team with RVP.

elampiro:
3/07/2011 23:00, Report by Nick Coppack in Boston
Young shines on debut

Sir Alex Ferguson says he was “very satisfied” with Ashley Young's first Manchester United appearance and believes the former Aston Villa forward will create plenty of goals for his new club.

The England international, wearing the no.18 shirt, played 67 minutes as a right winger against New England Revolution in the Reds' 4-1 victory on Wednesday night.

He saw plenty of the ball in the first period and teed up presentable chances for both Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov.

It was enough to cement Sir Alex's belief that Young is one of the finest talents in the English game, and the United boss believes the Reds will benefit greatly from his delivery from wide areas during the forthcoming campaign.

“[Right wing] was his position with Aston Villa until last season when they started playing him in behind the strikers – Gabriel Agbonlahor or Darren Bent – in a more advanced role, like the way we use Wayne Rooney.

“His capabilities are such that he can play wide left, he can play in behind the strikers and he can play wide right. He showed tonight he's a fantastic crosser of the ball. I think he hit three fantastic crosses in the game, which maybe isn't something we're used to with the way we play. But if we do get used to it then there's goals there. I was very satisfied.”
http://www.manutd.com/en/Tour-2011/Tour-2011-News/2011/Jul/Young-impresses-on-debut.aspx

What do you guys understand from the above?

I will produce more like this tomorrow. I have seen many already, but I dey busy.

tess1:


Rooney has always been played majorly as a striker in the 442 formation used mostly during Fergie's era. It is only when we are playing a big team in the league and most especially in Europe that he changes his formation when he wants to make it difficult for opponents to beat us.

It was after he bought RVP in 2013/14 that he dropped Rooney to play in the midfield so as to be able to accommodate him in the team with RVP.

This is not true, as of August 2009 before the league kicked off, Gary Neville said Rooney's best position is behind a striker.

elampiro:

Where did SAF say that? That's from you.

SAF said he had alway depoyed Rooney behind the striker. He said this when United signed Ashley Young.

Rooney himself Said he has always played behind the striker. He even challenged SAF to play him as a striker in 2009/10 season.

so any player who plays behind the striker is automatically an AM or automatically plays in the hole? are you even aware there's a difference between AM & SS(supporting striker or second striker?)

rooney played ahead of tevez in 07/08 whenever we played 4-4-2.....yet, you are telling us here that rooney has always played behind a striker. which is which?

tess1:

Rooney has always been played majorly as a striker in the 442 formation used mostly during Fergie's era. It is only when we are playing a big team in the league and most especially in Europe that he changes his formation when he wants to make it difficult for opponents to beat us.

that was how i remember those seasons too. i still watched our season review DVD of 07/08. rooney was a striker. he wasn't an AM at all. he didn't even have the qualities of an AM. carrick was the deep lying midfielder & scholes were in the advanced role.

It was after he bought RVP in 2013/14 that he dropped Rooney to play in the midfield so as to be able to accommodate him in the team with RVP.

i agree with this.....
rooney also played as a 2-pronged attack in 11/12 season. he formed a great partnership with welbz or chicharito. it was in 12/13 that fergie dropped him completely in the hole. scholes had lost his box to box ability then so we had to use 2DMs.

coogar:


so any player who plays behind the striker is automatically an AM or automatically plays in the hole? are you even aware there's a difference between AM & SS(supporting striker or second striker?)

rooney played ahead of tevez in 07/08 whenever we played 4-4-2.....yet, you are telling us here that rooney has always played behind a striker. which is which? .

If you play behind a striker you are in the 'hole'. An AM.

In 4-4-2 the two strikers are on same line or virtually on same line always.

5 la liga teams will be in UCL next season!
Cc Coogar

elampiro:


This is not true, as of August 2009 before the league kicked off, Gary Neville said Rooney's best position is behind a striker.

In what formation? Put what GN said in proper perspective. Is it in 442?

elampiro:
I said it that Rooney beats Lampard hands down in Assists they were laughing at themselves. Sinizia and Coogar, see below what I believe to be 'OPTA standard' Assists figures. Lampard played 48,729 minutes. Rooney played 31,776 minutes. Lampard played 16,953 minutes more than Rooney. That is 188 full ninety minutes of football matches.



Premier League All time most assists
Assists Assist name
131
Ryan Giggs
99
Steven Gerrard
96
Frank Lampard
94
Wayne Rooney
89
Francesc Fabregas
80
Thierry Henry
62
James Milner
60
Robin van Persie
59
Gareth Barry
58
Ashley Young
57
Stewart Downing
56
Didier Drogba
53
Peter Crouch
53
Danny Murphy
51
Nolberto Solano
50
Damien Duff
50
Aaron Lennon
49
Nani
49
Dennis Bergkamp
48
Morten Gamst Pedersen
48
David Silva
48
Mikel Arteta
48
Leighton Baines
47
Nicolas Anelka
47
Dimitar Berbatov
46
Cristiano Ronaldo
45
Paul Scholes
45
Luis Antonio Valencia
44
David Beckham
43
Kevin Davies
43
Charles N'Zogbia
43
Robbie Keane
42
Jermaine Pennant
42
Chris Brunt
42
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
41
Michael Carrick
40
Steed Malbranque
39
Shaun Wright-Phillips
38
Andrew Cole
38
Paolo Di Canio
38
Theo Walcott
38
Carlos Tevez
38
Gabriel Agbonlahor
38
Robert Pires
37
Emile Heskey
37
Emmanuel Adebayor
37
Matthew Etherington
36
Luis Boa Morte
36
Steven Pienaar
36
Bobby Zamora

This stat here tells me Rooney was a number 10 in major part of his career. I know he also played as a winger, striker and central midfield. He played most part of his first season as a winger.

elampiro:


If you play behind a striker you are in the 'hole'. An AM.

In 4-4-2 the two strikers are on same line or virtually on same line always.

So what formation was played for Rooney to have played behind the striker?

4 4 2 formation doesn't necessarily means they have to be on the same level. They may be slightly adjacent to each other.

When Rooney is pushed to the striking position in this formation, it is either he leads or he supports. Mostly throughout his career in this system he acts as a support striker. The two strikers shares the responsibility of scoring when the opportunity comes depending on their positioning.

tess1:


In what formation? Put what GN said in proper perspective. Is it in 442?

I will go look for it tomorrow. But SAF above said BEHIND THE STRIKER. That is the hole.

Secondly, why did Rooney begged to be played as a striker just before 2009/10 season kicked off?

tess1:

When Rooney is pushed to the striking position in this formation, it is either he leads or he supports. Mostly throughout his career in this system he acts as a support striker. The two strikers shares the responsibility of scoring when the opportunity comes depending on their positioning.

There is no much difference between a support striker and a number 10. Association Football made this clear. Some look at the distance they play from each other. Rooney is usually very far from the man ufront. Then SAF said BEHIND THE STRIKER. Saf surely knows the difference. Rooney also said BEHIND THE STRIKER. Note: They didnt say co-strikers.

Behind the striker is the hole.

elampiro:


This stat here tells me Rooney was a number 10 in major part of his career. I know he also played as a winger, striker and central midfield. He played most part of his first season as a winger.

This is a Farce. It doesn't say anything.

If Thiery Henry had had the same playing time as Rooney, he would've scored more assists than Rooney. What kind of logic is this?