Manchester United: The Rooney experiment

A friend of mine texted, ‘So now we know why we are going to get Falcao!’ I was perplexed. I looked at United’s team sheet. Ryan Giggs and Tom Cleverley were on the bench. Scholes and Anderson didn’t even make it that far. Kagawa started in midfield; however, it was not in the middle of it. It was from the left. Robin van Persie and Javier Hernandez started up top. Rooney started too; only, he started in the middle of midfield.

United were 12 points atop the Premier League at the start of play. Stoke had been in what was probably the worst run in their history in the Premier League. Sir Alex thought that he might as well gamble. In truth, Stoke were woeful and Rooney had a relatively easy time of it. He played off Carrick and generally had a solid, yet unspectacular game.

In truth, Rooney had not much to do and whatever he had to do, he did quite well. Did his performance merit him a look in for a more regular role in the United engine room? The answer, in my opinion, is a yes and a no. Yes, some time in the not-so-near future; no, not any time soon.

When one looks at Rooney in the center of midfield, there are two questions that come to mind: one, is that where his best position is? And two, do United not have/can United not go in for someone better suited to the job.

To answer the first, in my opinion, at the moment, no, that is not the best position for Rooney. When one talks about the best position for Rooney, there are two dimensions to it. First, what is the position that he is most effective in? Second, where is he most effective for the team? The answer to the first question is, somewhere up top. Sometimes it is at the tip of the attack and at other times, it is behind the other striker, in the hole. Either way, it is playing as an out and out attacker. It is the role in which he has played most of his career and it is the role that he is most effective in. He drops deep to link up play. He is dynamic and looks for the killer pass to his partner. He also has a good shot in him. He has that dynamism that makes him one of the best strikers in the world.

When Rooney plays out wide or in midfield, he loses that much of his dynamism. He does put the shift in when asked to but the fact is that he can do so much more damage when he is at the sharp end of the field. When in midfield, he is far too conscious of his defensive duties, that he does not really follow through on his run into the box. That is quite a loss for Rooney is a threat in the box. When he plays in the middle, when he does get into the box, it is, inevitably, with a late surge. Most balls that United play into the box are such that the strikers attack them, and if Rooney is to be brought into the game, it would have to be through a cut back.

To answer the second question, and maybe the more pertinent, is Rooney the best that United have got/can get in that position? To the question of whether he is the best that United have got, let us look at the options. Cleverley, Carrick, Giggs, Anderson, Fletcher and Scholes. Carrick, on current form, is probably the first name on the team sheet. Giggs has another season in him, maybe two at most. However, Giggs is not a sustainable option. Scholes might play another season, he might not. Fletcher’s future is suspect, at best.

That leaves Cleverley and Anderson. Anderson seems to be on the way out. He has been given quite a few chances and has, thus far, failed to impress too much. He has the sporadic brilliant performance in him but that performance is all too irregular. His days at Manchester United seem to be numbered. Cleverley, in contrast, has been very solid whenever called upon but then again, he has not set the world on fire with his performances. When he has played, he has been consistently functional but a whole lot more was expected of him. As the close season approaches, there are talks of reinforcements and, inevitably, they are in the middle of midfield.

At the right price, the right reinforcements are always available and United do look a little light in the middle of the park, especially when one looks at the departure of Giggs and Scholes sooner rather than later. It is not to say that Sir Alex might take the gamble of trying Rooney in midfield for the reminder of the season but he, as much as anyone, will be mindful of the fact that this is not an area that United can afford to experiment with for too long, if United are to be serious contenders in Europe.