Dizzle Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle3754061.eceApril 15, 2008"Our Wayne" Is Better Than Yours. I am still haunted by Wayne Rooney. Even now, sitting in my exile in the rust-belt of the Midwest, his short Everton career boomerangs back into my mind again and again. I was there in the Park End the day Wayne scored that goal. Sat there, in what - looking back - felt like a Royal box seat for Rooney's coming-of-age - I wasn't sure exactly what I was witnessing. Was Wayne going to be another false dawn like Danny Cadamarteri, the dreadlocked 17-year-old who came into the world of football feet first and hit the ground running, like a precocious young chess champ seemingly intent on playing a pickup game of speed chess with the Grand Masters. We all remember what happened the day Rooney came on against a bulletproof Arsenal side. Little snapshots flicker back into my memory. Wayne's goal; looping over Seaman like a vandal's brick, a Krakatoan eruption at Goodison, my dad letting off a minute long ecstatic scream at the final whistle, and listening to the feverish hoarse voices at the train station talking about "our Wayne". The rest of this fairy-tale remains unwritten; Wayne didn't go on to drag us into a golden age, instead he left for Old Trafford. But as long as I live in the U.S. - 3,300 miles away and sheltered from his successes with Man Utd - Wayne will occupy a strange limbo in my heart. Everton were of course compensated with millions of pounds for letting him leave, but the Wayne I knew, the bullish mercurial street-fighter, I wouldn't swap him for a wilderness of millions. No matter how much dirt emerges about Wayne Rooney, no matter how much the Scouse genius runs roughshod over his "Once a Blue, always a Blue" oath of fealty with obnoxious and hypocritical badge kissing, I will always regard him as a footballing God. To get over Rooney's departure to Old Trafford, I treated the new version of him as a different player - and it wasn't to hard to do. Sir Alex Ferguson has straitjacketed some of his wilder tendencies, turning his feral flair and atavistic aggression into the more controlled player he wanted him to be. Whilst at Goodison, Rooney notched up 15 goals in 67 appearances, a record that - on the face of it - is inferior to his goalscoring rate at United, where he has scored 52 goals in 124 league appearances, but that isn't taking into account Moyes' softly softly approach. Of those 67 games for Everton, 27 of them were as a substitute, and the Everton side of that time doesn't hold a torch to the current United squad. When watching Wayne now you see an awe-inspiring and excellent player; but I think that he could have become even better. The early Rooney - bursting past defenders, ruthlessly direct and blinkered, known to taunt defenders by putting his hands on his hips in mock boredom, who like a belligerent matchmaker, never ceased to revel in introducing the ball to the back of the net - won't be seen at Old Trafford. Say what you want about your Wayne, but OUR Wayne had it all and in many ways was uncoachable. The glorious trajectory predicted by many for Rooney hasn't quite panned out and although he is the jewel in England's crown, he is overshadowed by others such as Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kaka, players who should have been his peers in the high altitude world of top class football. Even Wayne's performances for England have suffered since he moved to Manchester. As an Everton player, Rooney scored nine goals in 17 games for England - but now he is playing under Sir Alex, his tally for England is a far more modest five goals in 25 games. Reading through the match reports during his time with Everton, you are struck by the fact that he was lauded by the press for his finishing and "killer instinct" - two things that have been removed in the lobotomised talents of the United version of Rooney. Sir Alex Ferguson got it very right when trying to coach out Cristiano Ronaldo's showboating flair, but he got it wrong with Wayne, as the young Scouser's direct early self was more akin to the Brazilian Ronaldo at Barcelona - a footballing egomaniac, and a lighting rod for every attack - attributes that no longer are present in Rooney. Manchester United's millions bought a star, but by separating Rooney from his boyhood club, they never got the legend. Rooney is one of the few players whose performances have made a profound impact on Capello since the former AC Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid coach took charge of the England team in January, but the Manchester United forward's perceived lack of composure in front of goal is troubling the Italian. Whereas Sven-Göran Eriksson, the former England head coach, described the young Rooney as “so very cold” in terms of temperament, Capello appears less convinced, characterising the 22-year-old as prone to rushes of blood to the head when given a run on goal.“I'm confident that he [Rooney] still has a lot of improvement ahead of him,” Capello said through an interpreter. “He's very good in every aspect, but the one thing he needs to improve - and can improve and will improve - is that in every game he has a lot of goalscoring chances and he doesn't take them, or he takes nowhere near as many as he should.“I'm sure he will improve. He is young. I spoke to Rooney and I think technically he is very strong, very good. What he needs is to be more relaxed in front of goal - not to have this obsession with scoring. It's true he is not scoring many goals at the moment, but he has chances. And a player who has chances, sooner or later, is going to start scoring. I have seen a few players who have looked like they were never going to become goalscorers, but at 26 years of age they start scoring goals. It depends on how relaxed and confident you are in front of goal. I'm much more wary of forwards who don't get chances. If you don't get chances, you are not going to score many goals.” Capello's comments call to mind Glenn Hoddle's infamous claim, which he later sought to clarify, that Michael Owen was “not a natural goalscorer”, but his appraisal of Rooney appears reasonable. Rooney has scored only 11 goals in the Barclays Premier League this season. A recent flurry of four goals in three matches followed a sequence of seven matches without a goal for club or country, while in the recent home victories against Liverpool and Arsenal he missed at least two clear-cut chances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cousin Of Sleep Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Silly child.Your Rooney-bashing is pathetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n/a Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 ok thenyeh rooney is sh*t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wavant Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Danny Cadamarteri. SheeeeeitWham to him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Member Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 whats this bullshit!!???!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzle Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 lol coming @ me like I wrote the sh*t!!!!!!!!! LMAOJust thought plp would like to see what Everton fans think of Rooneys progress& what Capello thinks aswellYou lot get ultra defence about this yout, even Arsenal fans ta rahtid.I've said a million times I RATE ROONEY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rsonist Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Trust Dizzle to make this topic...SMFH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cousin Of Sleep Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Trust Dizzle to make this topic...SMFHExactly what I meant, just ..him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilliam Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Danny Cadamarteri. SheeeeeitWham to him?Floored liverpool, Cut his dreads, ended up at Leeds / Huddersfield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzle Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Trust Dizzle to make this topic...SMFHExactly what I meant, just ..him.lol @ you twoEVERYTIME! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Dan Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Rooney at Everton was that raw type, he just got near the goal, skinned a defender and smashed it top corner. He should go back to that instead of dropping deep and do little or nothing. The only explanation is that Ferguson must see him in a Scholes typa role? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONELOVE Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Danny Cadamarteri. SheeeeeitWham to him?HE BEAT UP SOME CHICK IN A CLUB ..WENT COURT AND sh*t..AND GOT KICKED OUT OF EVERTON..HE WENT TO A LOWER LEAGUE CLUB NOT SURE WHICH 1 STILL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Dan Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Danny Cadamarteri. SheeeeeitWham to him?HE BEAT UP SOME CHICK IN A CLUB ..WENT COURT AND sh*t..AND GOT KICKED OUT OF EVERTON..HE WENT TO A LOWER LEAGUE CLUB NOT SURE WHICH 1 STILLHe went Bradford didn't he. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRC Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Danny Cadamarteri. SheeeeeitWham to him?HE BEAT UP SOME CHICK IN A CLUB ..WENT COURT AND sh*t..AND GOT KICKED OUT OF EVERTON..HE WENT TO A LOWER LEAGUE CLUB NOT SURE WHICH 1 STILLHe went Bradford didn't he.he went to pure w.yorkshire teams. bradford, leeds currently at hudds.he's barely scored any goals since he left everton just injured all the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agony Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Another anti-Rooney thread/post by Dizzle aka Rooney's number 1 fanSMH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzle Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Rooney at Everton was that raw type, he just got near the goal, skinned a defender and smashed it top corner. He should go back to that instead of dropping deep and do little or nothing. The only explanation is that Ferguson must see him in a Scholes typa role?Yeah that's how I remember him, soon as got the ball he was like a Raging Bull running towards goal, very R9-esque *remembers the Roonaldo shirts* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anelka Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 I was having this convo with my scouse Toffee mate last week..Rooney right now is top draw, but when he was Everton he played wid even less fearThe lad is a good finisher but gets over agressive n tends 2 smash the ball instead of place or pick his spot..How can man score a hatrick on his CL debut, Rooney is sick n theres more 2 come, he just needs 2 stay fit, if Wayne woudda stayed fit in 04, we woudda won it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HangTheDJ Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 His horror show against Spain (where he had to be taking off before seriously hurting someone), working with Fergie, broken metatarsals and his red cards against Villareal and Portugal have all made him a little less fearless IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n/a Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 every player in the world becomes less fearless its a natural progression and developmentcomparing rooneys attitude to playin from when he was 17, jus only signed pro forms, nobody new him, nobody new his style of play, no pressure to preform, not at a big clubto now jus doesnt make sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reuben Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Rooney at Everton was that raw type, he just got near the goal, skinned a defender and smashed it top corner. He should go back to that instead of dropping deep and do little or nothing. The only explanation is that Ferguson must see him in a Scholes typa role? 2-3 seasons from now thats what he'l be doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anelka Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Its the oppositeFergie wants Rooney to be a more box player Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HangTheDJ Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 every player in the world becomes less fearless its a natural progression and developmentdunno about that.Gerrard just used to sit infront of the back four and pass sideways when he broke throughhe epitomizes a fearless player now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n/a Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 prob is a couple of examples of players who aint lost that fearbut even gerrard as a youngster was a mad man he used to fly into double footed challenges and run around like a mad manif u saw super sunday with redknapp last week he said how in his first session gerrard crunched ince nd was hit bare x fieldersas you gain experience u use the experience to ur advantagebut true say u loose some of that 'boyish' attitude that made u stand out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojo Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 every player in the world becomes less fearless its a natural progression and developmentdunno about that.Gerrard just used to sit infront of the back four and pass sideways when he broke throughhe epitomizes a fearless player nowNot sure about thatl, Gerrard was trying crossfield balls and long rangers from time he stepped in the 1st team was just that Rafa saw he could become more effective going forward and allowed him more freedom. Most players are more direct in their play in their early days, I watch old clips of Owen and he's unrecogniseable from the player we see today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HangTheDJ Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 seen, i stand corrected then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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