Manchester United: Life after Rooney

Sir Alex Ferguson recently confirmed that Wayne Rooney asked for a move away from the club. There is nothing concrete yet, all we have so far are rumors. Wayne Rooney has been linked with moves to Arsenal, Chelsea and most recently Paris Saint-Germain. Some rumors suggest that he is desperate for a move away from the club whereas some suggest that he might make a complete U-turn and decide to stay at Manchester United. It is believed that he asked for the move away because he is not getting as many games as he’d like and he was not happy with being dropped/substituted in some of the bigger games this season. He had asked for the move away before Sir Alex had announced that he was retiring at the end of this season which has made some people believe Wayne might change his decision as there is a new manager coming in. It is a well known fact that all has not been well between Sir Alex and Wayne since he handed in his first transfer request back in 2010. With David Moyes (who has previously managed Wayne at Everton) coming in, some people are hoping he can convince Wayne to stay at Old Trafford, whereas there is another set of fans who want Wayne out as they are not able to forgive him for handing in a second transfer request.

This season Wayne Rooney made 37 appearances for Manchester United out of which 6 have been from the bench. 27 of these have been Premier League fixtures out of which 22 have been starts. If we look at just the Premier League games, he has been used as a Center Forward, Attacking Midfielder, Winger and also as a Central Midfielder in the double pivot, this clearly shows how versatile he is as a player. His best position in my opinion is as an attacking midfielder playing just behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1/4-5-1. He has played in that role for a major part of this season and even though he hasn’t been in great form and his fitness levels have not been up to the mark, he’s still done well in that role combining with Robin van Persie and creating and scoring goals for the club.

This is how the club have performed with and without Wayne Rooney over the past few seasons :

Win % with/without Rooney. Courtesy: whoscored.com

Compared to last season’s difference in win% of 28.1%, the difference this season is only 4%. The credit for which has to be given to the likes of van Persie, Chicharito and also to Kagawa to some extent. The presence of Michael Carrick in the midfield has also helped the team a lot in making this improvement.

If there is any truth to these rumors about Wayne moving to France, then where do Manchester United go from there. Will they have to bring someone in during the transfer period or can someone from the current squad replace Wayne Rooney with a bit of tweaking in the team’s style of play? As mentioned earlier, Wayne Rooney’s best performances have come while playing behind the main striker. There is one more player in the Manchester United squad who can play in that same position and according to some people do a better job than Wayne Rooney.

Shinji Kagawa hasn’t really been used in that role this season but we all know how good he was in that position when he used to play for Borussia Dortmund. He scored 13 goals and created 8 in his last season for Dortmund before leaving for Manchester United. At Manchester United, he has been used on the left wing in most of the games he has played because Wayne Rooney has been used as the CAM/Second Striker. If Wayne Rooney leaves, Kagawa can then be deployed in that role which is his preferred position and then his services can be used to their full extent.

This is how Manchester United could line up in the coming season if Wayne Rooney leaves :

4-2-3-1 with Kagawa replacing Rooney.

4-1-2-1-2 Diamond.

The 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 is more likely as that is how Manchester United have played this season in most of the games, it would be a straight swap with Kagawa replacing Rooney and playing just behind the striker. Kagawa can easily link up with all the players around him given his passing skills and can also make runs past the striker and take attempts at goal. But we can’t rule the diamond out because that is another formation which has been tried, specially during cup games. In the diamond, they could also use Jones as the CDM and play Carrick along with one of Cleverley/Anderson ahead of him. Kagawa will play ahead of the midfield trio and just behind the two strikers and act as the link between the midfield and the attack.

Inference: Wayne Rooney is a very important player for this Manchester United side and if he does decide to leave then he will be missed. They will miss the work rate, the defensive contribution from a player in an advanced role but they can cope without him specially if they bring in a good box to box midfielder (something that the fans have been crying out loud for) to play alongside Carrick in the double pivot, then this Manchester United can continue challenging for the title.