Manchester United's Rooney dilemma

David Moyes has not taken charge formally. He will not do so until the beginning of July. He has, however, started to realize what life as manager of Manchester United looks and feels like. Scarcely has be begun to enjoy his holiday – possibly the last one that he will have as stress-free as he is now – that decisions are already being made for him and the future of Manchester United. No, it is not the Glazers who are making the decisions, well, not at this point in time, anyway. It is the large legion of fans that is.

When Rooney came, he came as the Golden Boy of English football. After bursting on to the scene as a wee lad at Everton, Manchester United seemed the only destination for England’s next-big-thing. In truth, the move has been a success, one that has quite justified, over the years, the enormous price that Sir Alex paid Everton for a teenager.

His relationship with the club has not, however, been all smooth sailing. After announcing his arrival in style with a hat-trick, Rooney has been a team man. He has played wherever he has been asked to play, not necessarily where he always wanted to play. When Ronaldo burst on to the scene, he was quite happy to play second fiddle and put in the shift, so to speak. Once Ronaldo left, he found himself to be the main man and, for a while, reveled in the spotlight.

Then, however, appeared the cracks. He did what one does not do. He questioned the desire of Sir Alex Ferguson and the ambition of the club. Nobody does that. Not even Wayne Rooney. Sir Alex, however, played it brilliantly. He knew that he was on the cusp of building yet another squad at United and he knew that Rooney was central to those plans, if not five years down the line, certainly in the immediate future. In accordance, he gave Rooney a long rope – perhaps the longest rope he has ever given any of his players – and Rooney stayed. And United won things. And Sir Alex was vindicated.

Now, however, the situation is different. With his involvement in the past campaign increasingly sporadic, Rooney decided to try his luck one more time. This time, however, Sir Alex was to have none of it. Rooney, for his part, was nowhere near his best and it could be argued that he was played out of position. However, this had never, in the past, stopped him from performing at his peak. It could be clearly seen, as the campaign progressed, that he was more and more disillusioned with the emergence of van Persie as the main man. The game against Real Madrid was the last straw.

He was Wayne Rooney – England Superstar. He was benched in favor of Danny Welbeck, a relative nobody when compared to him. Of course it hurt him. To Sir Alex’s credit, however, the decision to play Welbeck paid rich dividends and if it were not for the red card to Nani and his, Sir Alex’s, subsequent inertia in acting in response, United might well gone through at the expense of Real.

Rooney now is at a point in his career when his next contract is almost everything. He is approaching his prime. He has lost pace and a bit of his dynamism but, in exchange, has developed a more rounded game. Sir Alex opted to use him in midfield in the last few games – a role that Rooney said that he would like to see himself playing in the future – but those were mixed results. Thus, Rooney must now decide.

The fans are divided. Some do not want to see him go and understandably so. All said and done, he is still one of the best players in the world and, with massive changes in the air at Old Trafford – the most notable being the absence of the Gaffer in the dugout – it is paramount that the senior players stay and oversee the transition. Also, David Moyes and Rooney have buried the hatchet and Moyes will, most definitely, not hold it against Rooney any more. He, more than most, knows the potential of Rooney and will be hoping that Rooney will be integral to the Moyes era.

There are, however, other fans who are not so charitable. They still have not forgiven him for his tantrums and still believe him to be a spoilt brat who got his way once too often. They also think that he is over the hill and that it is time for United to cash in and get reinforcements at other areas that need strengthening.

Whatever happens, there is one thing that is for sure. Until David Moyes has a chat with Rooney, there will be rumors and there will be counter rumors. There will be calls for his head and there will be calls for his stay. In the end, it will come down to Rooney and whether his heart is still in Manchester United. If it is – and assurances from Moyes will go a long way in fortifying that – then there is no doubt that he must stay for, all said and done, he is still one of the best players in the squad and a genuine match winner. If his heart isn’t, however, he must leave. Manchester United can cope without him. Of that, there is no doubt. After all, no man is bigger than the club. However, do they need to cope without him? That is the question everyone must be asking.