London – So is Wayne Rooney a striker or a midfielder at Manchester United these days?
Some say that if Rooney is to have a future at Old Trafford he will have to reinvent himself in the deeper role he has occupied for the last two games.
Others argue that United’s willingness to sacrifice his goal threat is another sign that his days at the club are numbered.
Either way, when England’s first-choice striker has just one touch in the opposition’s box – as Rooney did at Upton Park on Wednesday – something isn’t right.
He was outstanding at Stoke on Sunday when Sir Alex Ferguson switched him to a midfield role “to get that confidence and form back”. But there was nothing confident about the figure who trudged off after 71 minutes at West Ham three days later with United 2-1 down.
Deployed behind Robin van Persie, Rooney struggled to make an impact. Switched to the left, he was virtually anonymous. He also made just one tackle. When Rooney’s number went up the reaction spoke volumes, but it was by no means the first time he has found himself dispensable recently.
Left on the bench against Real Madrid, he was also replaced in the Manchester derby last week with his team needing a goal. At one time that would have been unthinkable.
It feels as though Rooney and United are reaching a crossroads. His contract runs out in June 2015 and the club must decide whether to sell him or make good on Ferguson’s promise to offer him a new deal with his market value set to drop over the next 12 months.
Rooney wants to stay but he must have reservations over his role. At 27, he should be coming into his prime as a striker, and 16 goals from 34 club appearances this season suggest he is hardly a spent force.
But it might be that he has to accept a midfield position he was first given against Everton and Otelul Galati last season.
It should be well suited to a player with his passing range, vision and determination to be at the heart of things. As Ferguson says: “He has all the qualities you need to be a central midfield player.”
It is hoped that Rooney might evolve into the playmaker United have been unsuccessfully chasing through pursuits of Wesley Sneijder, Luka Modric, Eden Hazard and Lucas Moura.
Shinji Kagawa had a hand in both goals at Upton Park but Ferguson accepts we have still not seen the best of him. Another strike partner for Van Persie is on United’s shopping list and that in itself is a worrying sign for Rooney, though he seemed to embrace a midfield role in his book, My Decade in the Premier League, last year.
“When I get stuck into the action as a central playmaker, I love it,” he wrote. “I get more of the ball, I’m involved loads and, after one game, I even think about playing there permanently, but only later in my career. I’d prefer it if I was playing up front, because I can still do a lot of damage, but the sacrifices don’t bother me.”
Rooney’s future at Old Trafford could hinge on that still being the case. – Daily Mail
