Open letter to Wayne Rooney from a Manchester United fan

Wayne Rooney

Dear Wayne Rooney,

I have been your fan right from the time you burst onto the scene as a teenager during Euro 2004. After your incredibly eye-catching performances in Euro 2004, you were rightly heralded as a potential world beater. I was doubly happy when my favorite club Manchester United signed you. The transfer fee was quite hefty, but boy didn’t you start repaying it fast. That hat trick on your Champions League debut against Fenerbahce still lingers on in the memory.

Ten years have passed since that and you have provided us many more great goals, memories and performances.You have broken many records in your time here and stand to break a few more. 216 goals, just 23 behind all-time leading goal scorer for Manchester United, Sir Bobby Charlton. It shouldn’t take long to break that.

The club has enjoyed unparalleled success on all fronts during your time here. A Champions League crown and five Premier League titles are testament to that success. We have been the most successful club in England, outdoing moneybag competitors like Manchester City and Chelsea. During this period many players have contributed heavily. Ronaldo, Scholes, Giggs, Evra, Vidic, Ferdinand etc. have been pivotal. But none have enthralled and enervated in equal measure like you have. During the good times you have embodied the spirit of the club. Skillful and hardworking, talented and determined, tenacious and unflappable. You have been a central driving figure in all the successes. Fans will always be indebted to you for that.

Probably the best goal you have ever scored.

At the blooming stages of your career, fans predicted continued high standards from you. The expectation was a Ballon d’Or and a career graph scaling the heights of contemporary greats of the game like Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka etc. Those expectations were not unjustified too. The pace, power and drive that you had, the maturity in your game at such a budding stage of your career. It was very impressive, it seemed like England has finally found its own world-beater and Manchester United, another gem.

But let’s get this straight, your career has not progressed the way everyone envisaged it would. Instead of consistent good performances we have gotten regular highs and lows with periods of mediocrity. There was the odd season when fans thought that you had finally come of age. But the next season would be below your potential again. Phrases like ‘typical over hyped English striker’, ‘spoiled brat’ and ’prodigal son’ are thrown around regularly in your context.

What is more frustrating is that, the reasons for these lacklustre performances are due to reasons other than pure footballing ones. You never seemed to be in the right frame of mind and you struggled with fitness. Mainly though, that single minded love and dedication you had towards Manchester United has waned significantly of late. Which means that even when you are playing well, the fans are unsure how long it will last. It’s like dreading the end of a great movie you are watching. You don’t want it to end as you are not sure when you will watch something so good again.

England’s expected yet surprisingly dismal campaign at the World Cup has sent waves of criticism and disappointment throughout fan bases. Your personal failure must also be particularly painstaking. This should have been your World Cup, the one where you become the main man for England and inspire a dysfunctional team. The one where you finally shine on the biggest stage in football. But far from being the main man, you were stuck out on the left wing against Italy and struggled as a result.

Wayne Rooney had a dismal campaign for England at the World Cup in Brazil

Sturridge was deemed a better striker and Sterling the better number 10, which might have shattered your confidence, but you did put on a brave face for the team. It was overall, a disappointing campaign personally and collectively for England and it's hard to imagine you being an important figure in the next world cup at the age 32-33. Commiserations on your World cup failures, Wayne.

Shifting focus to Manchester United, remember the transfer requests, sir? Two requests submitted; pardoned. Earnings of £300K per week, undeservedly ranking you as one of the highest earners along with some of the world's best; granted. Even given an ambassadorial role at the club upon retirement, an honor not extended to true legends like Giggs and Scholes yet. It is clear you deemed it acceptable to hold the club down to ransom according to your whims.

Fans are clever enough to see all this and do not hold you in good regard for these actions. Your inconsistency and constant sulking has been hurting the team badly. Before the start of every season there is questions over your form, fitness and mindset. Five years ago, no fan would even remotely think of Wayne Rooney leaving United, but now it's a distinct possibility. Yet, whenever you have stepped on to the pitch, the fans have never failed to appreciate you or stand by you.

The club is ushering in a new and exciting era under Dutch phenomenon Louis Van Gaal. There is heightened optimism in all corners that he will bring back the club to where it belongs, the top. He not only has great knowledge and understanding of the game. For more than two decades Sir Alex ran the club under his tutelage with incredible efficiency and an uncompromising hunger for success and he will be remembered fondly. But a change was needed, a new direction was required. David Moyes wasn't the right man and his stint showed just how daunting a manager's task becomes when he doesn't get the backing of the players. Van Gaal won't let that happen.

Sir Alex Ferguson was a key figure in Wayne Rooney’s rise to the top.

It is well known that Van Gaal refuses to bow down to anyone, attested by the high profile fallouts he has had with top players like Rivaldo, Luca Toni, Frank Ribery etc. He is known to take tough and unpopular decisions for the team which may not be good news for you if you don’t start performing. He is known to instill a footballing philosophy and discipline throughout the club, the benefit of which we will reap for a long time to come. But a leader is only as good as his team. No individual is more important than the club and every player will be expected to give his best for the team.

The stakes are really high. Another mediocre season or two and Manchester United maybe looking at a Liverpool like abyss from where it may take decades to get back to the top again. Do we want that Wayne? The message to you from the fans is simple, loud and clear. Fall in line, earn your place in the side and contribute your bit to this new and important era for the Club. Fail to do that and you may well get booted out this time which no true United fan would like.

Pre-season is upon us, a very important one. New strategies have been tried so as to play two strikers up front which may mean good news for you and Robin van Persie, all the early signs are quite positive. Every United fan wants Wayne Rooney to do well, score goals, provide assists, make tackles, launch long balls forward, make incisive passes and as a result play a prominent role in landing many more trophies at Manchester United.

But what we also really wish for is the Wayne Rooney with a smile to drive the club forward like he used to, the Rooney who enjoyed playing for United and took immense pride in wearing the jersey. We would like that Rooney back please, not the sulky one. You have always been called as the quintessential team man, on the field. More of that please, this time for the greater good of the team, for the fans and the club.

Manchester United and Wayne Rooney has been a true romantic relationship. Tons of happy memories, lots of compromises, an odd case of infidelity, but always a huge dose of mutual love and respect. Let bygones be bygones, we want the relationship to continue. Here's hoping that both the club and you return to where we belong, at the top. Hope you have a great 2014/15 season ahead and provide us many more memories to cherish.

Regards,

Pradyumna D S

Manchester United loyalist and Wayne Rooney fan.

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