He goes by the name of Wayne Rooney

But what everyone forgot was it was Rooney who scored the 2 goals to give us a first half lead. No one talks about his raking cross field passes against Aston Villa which lead to the first two goals and those against Cluj in the Champions League. He got taken off on numerous occasions where he was clearly one of the better players going forward. None of us talk about his impact in the second half of the home game against Tottenham. Ferguson says “Wayne Rooney on top form wouldn’t be taken off”. I’d say Wayne Rooney on average form is still better than many in our squad. I’d say he cannot reach top form when he is played as a striker in one match, a central midfielder in the next and is on the bench in the other. What does he do in training? Does he train to improve his passing and the movement in the midfield region or does he do a normal striker’s training? What else can you expect from a player who is not sure about his role in the team other than clumsiness on the ball and yet, he is still better than most players? Rooney is capable of taking a shot from 30 yards out but now he is unable to decide whether he has to take a shot or try to set another teammate up. Like many say, his versatility is his curse.

Two times when central midfield has been the need of the hour, a new striker has been brought in and in order to accommodate all of them, it has been Wayne Rooney who was moved all over the pitch. I don’t find it surprising that he has asked for a transfer or for assurance over his role in the team. Messi once said, “Rooney would even play for 100k euros a week, such is his love for the game”. For me, that is true. Rooney would play anywhere for the team, but that would eventually anger his well-wishers and his family and it must be on their persuasion that he went to the extent of asking for a transfer. Wayne Rooney isn’t just about goals. He isn’t the poster boy that would make girls go haywire, like Ronaldo. He is bald and that recent hair transplant isn’t far from average. He isn’t a technical genius like Robin. What he brings to the team, apart from the goals, cannot be caught on YouTube videos and banners. All of us want Ronaldo to return and Robin to score in every single match. We sing and cry for the Ronaldos and Robins. Master Wayne is taken for granted. He will play anywhere for the team, he loves the game and he loves the club. He will do all on his own. Won’t he? We have never given him the support that he deserves. If it is true that Antonio Valencia referred to Messi as the best, Ronaldo as an inspiration and Rooney as the heartbeat of Manchester United, I’d dare to say on similar grounds that “He’s the hero we deserve, but the not the hero we need right now. We ignore him. Because he can take it. A dark knight”. It has been the case always, except for those two seasons in which he set the pitch on fire with his goals. Ah, and what bad luck the boy has, we didn’t win the league in exactly those two seasons.

Maybe he can take it no more. Maybe he has had enough. I have not seen any other player kissing the badge on the jersey with more vigour and love than Rooney did. Whether he stays or leaves, I wish Wayne Rooney plays for a team where he’d have a last chance at reaching the promised land, as was expected of him when he was young. May be it’s too late now to become the White Pele that he was introduced to the world as, but he can still become the white knight of the team he’d play for.