Wayne Rooney: The Manchester United sensation

Since the introduction of Football there were a numerous number of stars to have lightened up the 105m long pitch. They are wizards who played the game in the interest of their country and their club, glorifying the journey with trophies, personal accolades and records on their way.

Lionel Messi, Pele, Zidane, Maradona are a few names who personify the term ‘Football legends’. Every prodigy who becomes a heartthrob of the fans has something extraordinary in his game and personality which drives the masses crazy.

One of many maestros is the England and Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney. He is in line to be the leading goal-scorer in Manchester United’s history if he surpasses Bobby Charlton’s 249.

As a Boy

We are talking about a player who started kicking around a football in a nursery facing is his house in Croxteth, England. He registered himself at Everton Football Club at the age of 9. Rooney performed stupendously as an under 10s and 19s notching 120 odd goals at the age of 15. At 16 he made his debut for his the club he supported as a boy. He is England’s youngest ever goal scorer till date.

Arsene Wenger on Rooney- “Rooney is the biggest England talent I’ve seen since I arrived in England. There has certainly not been a player under 20 as good as him since I became a manger here”.

The Big break

In 2004 he was signed by Man United for 25 million from Everton. Sir Alex Ferguson claimed “he was a rare talent and Everton had unearthed a little gem” before persuading the board of directors to sanction a multi million pound move. Rooney started the repayments to United early by scoring a hat-trick on his full debut in a Champions League match. This made him the youngest player to score a hat-trick in Champions League. In his debut season he scored 17 goals in all competitions and was graced with the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

Since then he has achieved plenty in his career. He has 5 premier league titles, a Champions League, 2 League Cups, 3 FA Community Shields and a FIFA Club World Cup, 2 runner-up medals from Champions League, a jeweled cabinet of trophies. An individual major namely Ballon d’Or is what he might just seek towards the end of his career. But born in the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo he may well be content with what he has.

Rooney also has had the privilege to work around with the likes of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and many more. There is no doubt that he has emulated a hand full of qualities off and on the pitch while playing with the greats of the game. He was lucky to be surrounded by the best men in the game always.

Attributes

Being a number 10, Rooney has all the attributes that are asserted on the pitch. From a trequartista to an out and out striker there is nothing Rooney can’t do. He can also be deployed in the mid-field or at defense. A complete footballer that he is, Rooney is never short of temperament and zeal to perform and contribute for the Club and Country.

Rooney is one of those spirited men who hate losing individually as well as collectively. He quoted in his autobiography “I hate losing. I hate it with passion. It’s the worst feeling ever and not even a goal or three in a match can make a defeat seem OK.” For this attitude and endless endeavors of his the England players nicknamed him ‘Wazza’.

Crux of the Club

Wayne Rooney is not just one big name of Manchester United Football Club. He is a member of the team for whom the games are threaded by the manager and the foundation is laid for crunch games and Derbies. When we talk about a Derby, one game that surely strikes the chords of our mind is the Manchester Derby of 2010-11 at Old Trafford in which Rooney scored the Goal of the season, scoring an outrageous goal with an overhead kick meeting Nani’s cross. Which Rooney claims as the best goal of his career, The Goal was also nominated for FIFA Puskas award for goal of the year. Sir Alex Ferguson described the strike as the best goal he has ever seen at Old Trafford.

He has extensively served United in their 5 Premier League titles and also the Champions League in 2008. Rooney also had a indispensable hand in each of the Premier League titles

He has become one of the prime figures of Manchester United and is recognized as one of the finest players of the era. All great managers have made it public that they would love to have Wayne Rooney in their stride.

Rooney’s first trophy for United was the League Cup in 2006. He scored 16 goals in 2005-06 followed by 14 goals in 2006-07 in the Premier Leaguer. In 2007-08 season, despite missing 10 games at a stretch Rooney managed 18 goals helping United to the Premier League title as well as the Champions League glory. Scoring a 15-20 goal a season is not a hefty ask of a player of his caliber and when he goes beyond that number, it’s tough for any opponent to bring a halt to his progress.

20 goals in 2008-09, 16 in 2010-11 and 16 in 2012-13 have resulted in Premier 0League titles for Manchester United. Although after 2007-08 he has been deprived of any European success with Barcelona having the better of United in the finals of 2009 and 2011.

The Hassle

Wayne Rooney the Chutzpah of England and Manchester United had two nomadic phases in his prolonged star studded time at Old Trafford.

In October 2010

The reasons presumed by media and others were the loss of his starry image in the dressing room or fallout with Sir Alex. The manager stated Rooney’s desire to leave Old Trafford which was later disguised by Rooney claiming injury was the reason to be on the bench.

May be he wanted a hike in his next contract to match the status of the highest paid footballers like Messi and Ronaldo. Stars and idols like him sometimes become fogged by the run of time when they are surging ahead at an alarming speed. These are the phases when individuals start thinking of themselves as bigger than the Club or Country. That’s where the manager’s skills come forrad.

‘Wazza’ always likes to be the center of attention (for good things of course) the pivotal point of any team he belongs to. He likes to be treated as special and the one and only.

Not starting the matches he wanted to and being substituted at the peak moments of the game were not at all the moves he seemed to appreciate of the manager. The accumulation of these unavoidable points had made Rooney unsettled and gasping for a switch elsewhere.

In July 2013

With Manchester United going into its most feared phase of transition without Sir Alex after 26 years David Moyes, the chosen one had a lot of hidden traces to unearth. The immediate one being Wayne Rooney’s stay at Old Trafford.

Robin van Persie was the first choice striker for David Moyes coming from a 36 goal season. Moyes did his grafty best to convince Rooney to remain at United and dismiss the flurry of offers from European giants. Chelsea were the front runners in the chase of the Manchester United Talisman with rolling offers till the very last day of the window.

Rooney had sealed his lips through the speculations and decided to reveal his intentions by working on his fitness and coming like Tigger on speed again in the most anticipated and hyped match between Manchester United and Chelsea. Since that day he has never looked back and neither have the fans.

Unconditional Love

Despite Rooney’s petulant behavior on the field, reckless challenges, the frustrated movements, suspensions and the muddied transfer sagas the Manchester United fanatics have retained their love for their star forward since his arrival at Old Trafford in 2004.

He soon made a lot of followers in and outside Manchester for his aura and magical impact on the game. People stood by him through his lean patches, the transfer speculations, the betting allegations, personal issues and many other matters.

During the recent stiff between the management and Wayne Rooney regarding the transfer to Chelsea the fans stood by him and bestowed on him a standing ovation for his performance against Chelsea and Bayern Leverkusen contrary to the run of affairs resulting in Wayne Rooney’s return of gratitude in the form of remarkable display of football in the following games scoring a couple of delightful free-kicks in his tally of 6 goals this season.

People ought to love a footballer who believes “If playing football is like being underwater, then scoring a goal feels like coming up for air”.

The red half of Manchester along with the media and others in the world will always acknowledge these words of Sir Alex Ferguson on Rooney: “Wayne Rooney was born to play football and it was plain to see from the outset that his future as a major figure in the game was assured”.