Jun 18
The Wayne Rooney Debate
In an attempt to move on from the Ronaldo saga, I want to go back to the topic that was getting most “blog inches” (if that’s a phrase) before we descended into the current quagmire. What’s the deal with Wayne Rooney?
I’ve tried to phrase that as openly as possible, because the spectrum of opinion is broad. To some, Rooney is a maestro who had a bad season. To others, he’s a good player who hasn’t quite lived up to his billing or his potential. I know that after a sub-par performance in the CL final, most of you were leaning towards the latter — decent player, great to have him in the side, but not as stand-out amazing as we had hoped. I disagree, and here’s my take on things.
The ultimate team player
Rooney, to me, is team spirit embodied. There are two things that make him enjoy his football — playing in the team, and the team winning. Contrast to Ronaldo, who (whatever he said in post-match interviews) is all about his own performance first, and the team second. He will play wherever he is asked to, for as long as he is asked to, without sulking or whining. The only time you’ll find him sulking is if he is substituted when he still feels he has something to offer the team.
This stat doesn’t show up in any tables. It’s not quantifiable in assists, tackles, metres run, shots on target, or any other stat. It just is — he is prepared to subjugate his own desires and achievements for the good of the team, and has done so from the moment he walked in the door.
That’s why he’ll be at United for life, driving the team forward long after any of our continental imports have moved on. And if you don’t appreciate him for that, especially after the hullaballoo of the last few weeks, then you should damn well start.
Out of position
This is a subset of the above, but the most important one. Let there be no doubt, Rooney’s best position is just off the front man, with a roaming brief. He should be allowed to drop off into midfield to pick up the ball, or move out onto either wing when he sees space, or to push past the front man when he sees an opportunity. Teams should (Fabio Capello take note) be built around him.
But at Old Trafford, for one reason and another, they haven’t been. Last season’s team was as close as I’ve ever seen Fergie go to building the team around a single player — admittedly it was around one of the best players we’ve ever seen playing at the peak of his powers — but it usually doesn’t work like that. Prior to that, Ruud was the key man, and Rooney had to play second fiddle.
Set against that, look at where Rooney played last season:
1. up top, as a lone striker — he’s not tall enough for that role, and does his best work facing goal. Still, he worked hard and made life as tough a possible for defences, in turn creating spaces and gaps for a certain other player.
2. on the left — often he and Tevez alternated, but it was clear that they should be where Ronaldo was not, thereby stretching defences as much as possible.
3. as a wing back — remember the first Barcelona game? I don’t know of many other players of Rooney’s status and talent who would not only accept that role but really take to it.
There was only a short period where he played as part of a traditional front two, and if you buy a season review DVD (which I am currently glorying in) you will remember some of the sublime interplay between Rooney and Tevez through the centre.
Finishing
Another criticism levelled against Rooney is that he doesn’t score enough goals. Well, I agree that his finishing isn’t as lethal as it could be — certainly not good enough to be our main striker. But then who said he was our main striker? He certainly hasn’t been very often yet. Nor does he loiter around the six yard box for tap ins, and he isn’t even in the area for corners.
Rooney should be compared, in the grand scheme of things, to the likes of Cantona and Sheringham. That’s the sort of player he is. Le God never banged in 40 goals in a season, but he scored crucial goals in crucial games, went on hot streaks, and had that aura which generally improved the performance of everyone around him. Sheringham was the ultimate dictator-from-deep, gaining a yard with his brain rather than his pace, and chipping in with occasional but important goals. There are even shades of the strength and combative nature of Mark Hughes, with the same ability to score stunning goals from distance.
I am honestly not exaggerating when I say that Rooney has the best bits of all these legends rolled into one, and so to judge him on the number of goals he has scored alone is laughable. How dare anyone condense the contribution of one of our best team players into an analysis of the most crude stat? Most people here know more about football than that, and should know better.
Loyalty
I’ll keep this short, because I’ve covered it in a previous article. Rooney is even more valuable to us because he will be with us for the rest of his career, unless we choose to sell him. There’s a good reason why British players come at a premium (Carrick for £18m, Rooney for £25m, Rio for £30m) — that’s because if you’re United, you’re buying that guy with a view to keeping him until he retires. I was variously called narrow-minded and a racist back then, but I reckon a few more people see my point now.
Nowhere in the various Ronaldo threads have I seen the comment “don’t worry, we have Rooney”. Well, I’m making it now. Build a team around Rooney, and we won’t regret it.
Related items from Red Rants:- Wayne Rooney Interviews Capello
- Tottenham 1-1 Man Utd: Tevez Rescues Point
- Who Should Be United’s Captain Next Season?
- Do United Need Another Left Back?
- Rossi’s place at Manchester United
Tags: Opinions/Columns
June 18th, 2008 at 6:52
Excellent post, Penguin. It’s funny how we’ve managed to entirely forget our golden boy during this kerfluffle. The key to that however is the need for a target man. Even if Ronaldo stays Rooney can shine if he plays off someone like Saha — like we saw in the first half of the 06/07 season.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:30
Rooney is best behind a front man. Not wide with three attackers, he defends too much!
England and Utd seem to play Rooney wide or a lone striker, i think that is a waste of his talent.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:12
Couldnt agree more.. Rooney is a class act, he has more United blood in his heart, than ronaldo has in his entire body.. He has it all, vision, pace, strength, skills, he is without a doubt the most complete English player around.. He is so much more than just goals, his presence terriefies defences, boost the spirits of teammates, he is simply invaluable to United.. Rooney will long after Ronny is gone, still be grabing his United badge when he scores yet another goal.. Despite comming from Liverpool, Rooney is a much a United legend as Scholes, Giggs ect. his pasion and love for the United team is evident.
No one player is bigger than the club, Rooney has this season demonstrated how far he will go for the United team, Ronaldo could learn a lesson or two..
in 2-3 years, I sincerly hope we see Rooney as United captain..
June 18th, 2008 at 11:17
I could agree but….
Carlos Tevez has more passion and team work than rooney, is played out of position equally as much..
and yet Rooney still gets the plaudits.
Sorry but for me, Tevez is a far better player than Rooney, I know that wasnt the argument but he (Rooney) REALLY needs to work on his finishing.
He’s a great player but give me Tevez over him ANY day
June 18th, 2008 at 11:19
Couldn’t agree more. For me Rooney should be the first name that we build our team around for the next 5-7 years. He has several oustanding attributes:
1. Commitment, as you’ve said
2. A footballing brain. You watch him playing and he just sees things. A bit Scholes/Fabregas esque. Even when they don’t come off, he’ll try that cheeky chip to get a rusing winger in, or the throughball that needs to be delivered on a dime. That kind of ingenuity is priceless, and is often the difference in tight games.
3. Modesty. He just wants to play football, and improve. That really does seem to be about it. He doesn’t call for accolades, he doesn’t want attention, in fact he’s been remarkably quiet in teh press given the paparazzi who follow him around.
But he does have a few significant downsides, which I think he needs to focus on if he truly wants to be one of the best in the world, which he does have hte potential for:
1. Temperament. The fabled ‘red mist’. He acts like an absolute idiot occasionally on the pitch. You know it’s coming to. He misses a good chance, or feels he was fouled and gets nothing, then charges half the pitch for an inevitable heinous tackle from behind. He is going to continue to get himself sent off and suspended in important games if he doesn’t wise up. And I don’t buy the argument that he has to play like that to be effective. Its an excuse for his immaturity. Fergie should start subbing him everytime he does it.
2. His finishing. I’ve said before on here that I truly believe his problem is that he thinks too much about it. He needs to train and train until it’s just instinct. He should be able to get there.
3. His injury problems. Make no mistake, he has been hurt a lot for someone his age. And it’s only likely to get worse. If we become overly reliant on him, but he can only play half a season, then we’re in real trouble.
Other than that, he really is close to being complete. Personally I think he’s going to lose a step of his acceleration, and that he should therefore be preparing for that now, using his brain and touch. He should just train with Scholes, basically
June 18th, 2008 at 11:26
I have always been sure of Rooney’s ability bit if Ronaldo goes there will be huge questions asked of him and he will have to step up.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:30
@ Stephen
Odd point, that. I think most would agree that the main downside to an excellent first season for Tevez has been his erratic finishing - which has been worse than Rooney. I can call to mind four or five unbelievable misses from Tevez, to say nothing of the chances he spurned in the CL final. Rooney isn’t clinical enough (particularly in a one-on-one situation), but he isn’t as wild as Tevez.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:35
@ Beachryan
Fair points on the temprament and injury fronts. I think he has calmed down somewhat - that moment you mention where you cover your eyes waiting for the horrendous tackles doesn’t occur quite so often - but there’s further to go.
On the injuries, he has been a victim of more than his fair share of freak injuries, particularly the famed metatarsal. The good news here is that the injuries aren’t repetitive in the same place, and not in a troublesome area like his knees (contrast Saha and Hargreaves). Yes, he’s had a bad run, but I don’t see any evidence that it is inevitable or even likely that it will continue.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:37
Wayne Rooneys season - more goals/assists a minute than Torres. And Lampard. And Gerrard. And Fabregas. And Drogba.
Most will agree this has not been one of his best. But even in a season “below par” his contribution when it comes to goals and assists is incredible.
In the Premier League:
Rooney - 2184 minutes played. 12 goals scored. 13 assists. Goal/assists every 87. minutes.
Torres - 2541 minutes played. 24 goals scored. 4 assists. Goal/assists every 91. minutes.
Lampard - 1955 minutes played. 10 goals scored. 8 assists. Goal/assists every 108. minutes.
Drogba - 1529 minutes played. 8 goals scored. 6 assists. Goal/assists every 109. minutes.
Fabregas. - 2868 minutes played. 7 goals scored. 19 assists. Goal/assists every 110. minutes
Gerrard - 2843 minuted played. 11 goals scored. 11 assists. Goal/assists every 129. minutes
Ronaldo - Goal/assists every 72. minutes.
Can anyone show me one player - apart from Ronaldo - that has been more effective than Rooney in the Premier League this season?
June 18th, 2008 at 11:38
Brilliant article Penguin, and I totally agree. I love the guy and I just want him to work his magic even more next season.
Stephen; I know everyone’s been through this debate before, but I don’t agree with you there.. for me it’s Rooney over Tevez any day. True Rooney’s finishing has been poor this season, but Tevez hasn’t exactly been 10/10 on finishing too (rem the CL final?), and as for a footballing brain, Rooney’s is atleast 1.5 times better than Tevez’s. Don’t get me wrong, I love Tevez too but that’s what I feel about it. That said, I expect Tevez to improve even more next year, so we’ll continue to have this debate
June 18th, 2008 at 11:41
Do you guys think Tevez and Rooney can provide enough width to play in a 4-3-3 with a central striker at the apex? Ie
——–Rio——–
-Gary-Rio-Vidic-Evra
——Carrick——-
—Anderson-Hargo—
–Tevez——Rooney-
——Striker——-
June 18th, 2008 at 11:42
Penguin - Very nice article! I can’t agree more on what you have written about Rooney, especially about the value of a player beyond the stats. Too few people appreciate the other qualities a player contributes other than goals and assists.
There are many times when a well-timed run by a striker pulls a defender out of position such that there is space for a midfielder coming from deep to exploit and score a goal. So even though the striker played an important part in the build-up WITHOUT touching the ball, he does not get the assist statistic.
One really interesting example was David Villa’s winning goal against Sweden - if you watch the replay carefully, it was Torres that took out the first Swedish defender who was jumping to head away the pass, that allowed the ball to slip through to Villa to score.
Bottomline, Rooney is under-appreciated.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:52
HI,
Rooney is a very great player.But I think he has lost his touch.He is not the player he was.Most often he gave away the position of the ball.He needs to work on Finishing.I agree he creates lots of problem for the defenders.But I think he should always be on the ScoreSheet.I hope coming season will be goal scoring for him.
June 18th, 2008 at 12:44
rooney will be under or over rated based on whether the reviewer is british or non-british. he is a very good football player but there are loads of others who are much ahead of him (even at the same age as him). Now that he is married lets see how his career goes. SAF seemed excited about the fact that he was getting married.
Looks like Thuram is also leaving Barca. How about having him (he might come on a bosman?) just to be a ‘quality’ backup for vida and rio (and brown as well). These guys can learn a thing or two from him (he surely must be one of the greatest defenders in the game today). of course all depends on if he would be amenable to the idea of sitting on the bench for long times or not!
June 18th, 2008 at 13:00
hands-down agreed with Penguin. As long as Rooney’s around, no worries for United.
Having said that, Ruud (and Ronaldo) have been the only two ‘goal-scoring guarantees’ United have had in this decade. Would be nice if we had either Tevez or Rooney turn into one of those. Or if we brought someone in.
Other than that, Rooney is fab.
June 18th, 2008 at 13:24
Rooney for the hole (behind strikers) or “freedom” striker role …I think that would be his best position. He is not blessed with a lot of natural pace but has uncanny view for the pass and spotting spaces…putting him here in support of Tevez and a box striker would be ideal for him in my opinion. He is not effective in my opinion when he is running into corners and taking people on but more when he comes back, gets the ball and runs at defenders or gives the killer pass. As he gets older he will be even less so as I imagine his physique is more well suited to very short bursts rather than long runs.
June 18th, 2008 at 13:35
Where are his long distance shots? Running at the defenders??? Too much impetus given on being a team player and helping out deep that i fear the striker in him has gone…
June 18th, 2008 at 13:39
The problem with Rooney is that he plays best in a 4-4-2 formation, as people have said, off the main striker. Fergie seems to prefer a lone striker formation these days, especially for big games. If we really have to have a lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation I would love to see Rooney in the Scholes position. After all Scholes grew up as a centre forward. I could see Rooney scoring the Scholes goal against Barcelona.
June 18th, 2008 at 14:03
Stephen, to point you are right because Tvez scores in big games, Blackburn and Spurs to name 2.
But Rooney is the fans player he embodies all of us when plays.
June 18th, 2008 at 14:07
Utsav - I think you are going over the top with that assessment..He has to gain some confidence on his finisihing abilities and one-on-one situations…Even now he is one of the most feared strikers in Europe…
He has the ability, its just that Fergie need to provide the confidence he needs, in a similar way he have given to the man who loves white..Unfortunately team management tried to make a goal scorer in Ronaldo and unselfish strikers around him..and that was kind of the surprise element what we had during this season…goal scoring wingers and assisting strikers….not at all a conventional way to play football
June 18th, 2008 at 14:11
Without Tevez last year I would make the argument that we still win the Double, without Rooney there is absolutely NO WAY this happens. I don’t have the exact stat, but I would wager that we won more games with Rooney in the lineup than with any other player, CR7 included. Rooney is the definition of selfless. Yes he had a poor season as far as finishing goes, but his energy and determination were in my opinion what got us through some tough matches. Whether he was played out of position or not, the fact is that his work rate is top rate, and his link up play with Tevez, CR7, or anyone else for that matter, was remarkable to say the least. I don’t think he will ever be an out and out striker, but then again we don’t need him to be. When you hear what opposing teams have to say before playing United, they are almost always very cautious of Rooney, take De Rossi before the home leg of the Champions League. So many of you expect Rooney to be the next RVN, when we DO NOT NEED a poacher type with our system. We play balanced, attacking football, with much more technique than any other English club, with the possible exception of Arsenal on their day. Rooney is the perfect blend of Striker/Mid for this system, and we are blessed to have him at our services.
June 18th, 2008 at 14:12
Fergie was asked why Rooney seemed to underachieve compared to Ronaldo. His response, ‘but he is 8 months younger. I totally agree and truly believe the best of Rooney is the future of United.Nobody should underrate his impact as a team player, a hard worker who sacrifices his skill at times for the team’s overall good in terms of grit.The Rooney mystery my dear mates, confounds Fergie and more recently, Fabio Capello. Fergie will get a Berbatov/Huntelaar this summer and play Rooney behind them in a 4-4-2. That will definitely improve things. the future is bright.By the way i saw Benzema against Italy last night and even though Le Blues lost, aside Makalele he was the better player. If Fergie signs him, I ‘d have to see a doctor to cure my hangover.Give Rooney your heart, He bleeds RED. Alex Is god.
June 18th, 2008 at 14:30
People always talk abot his lack of goals he did score 18 goals in 43 games last season which is not bad considering where he played last year. He total for us 53 in 125, also which considering everything he dooes for the team is good enough for me!!
June 18th, 2008 at 14:39
Bit of a controversial one here but the thread here makes me ask will Rooney ever fulfill his true potential at Man Utd?
If his best position is just off a main striker which I personally believe it is but with Utd’s fluid forward attack where I think we play our best football with the forwards interchanging and support from mid-field then will Rooney ever be truely comfortable with this formation.
Don’t get me wrong I love the guy he’d always be one of the first names down on the team sheet and you know where you stand with him with regrads to the club (not going to mention a certain person) but there’s just that question at the back of my mind.
Please someone put me right and say Im talking rubbish.
By the way on a tanjent I also believe Huntelaar as good as he is is a definate no for Utd in the transfer market. Wrong type of player for the way we play.
June 18th, 2008 at 14:43
am not british,and i think rooney is great for us.so what if he doesnt score goals,when we are losing a game who would i want leading our forward line rooney.He just needs to find the position that allows him to express himself beautifully.He’s done a wonderful job this season despite the stop start,compare other strikers in the league who played more games,Remember rooney isnt an orthodox striker he’s more of scholes,Kaka breed.I end it with saying Once a blue always a red.Love the boy to death.
June 18th, 2008 at 14:51
Who can be truly negative about the Roon?. He is a Man Utd fan as well as our player. He is a terrace lad, and he plays on the field with the fervour of us Terrace lads. His hotheadedness is a problem, because we are unsure we will have him on the field for ninety minutes. He does need more composure in dealing with injustices he sees on the field, and in dealing with his own pride when he loses the ball in hotly contested dispossession situations. He knackers himself too much also in forays all over the pitch, so he is not in that vital place he should be when balls are floated into the box or round about, in the tight games. His receiving control of the ball is abominable, too often he lets it run away from him. He seems to have difficulty stopping the ball dead as it comes to him. For all round Endeavour though, he and, Tev, and Hargo, are second to none. They are combatants, and winners. Other fellow professionals speak more highly of him though, than they do about CR7 in the big games. I hope he becomes more greedy and less obliging to others in the pursuit of goals next season. Taking more of the opportunity to bag goals for himself. He is a very unselfish player for the teams cause, which is a credit to him. I do believe United forwards, especially Roon, have tried too hard to be another CR7 with all the trickery and fancy footwork, instead of playing to the Rooney strength, get into dangerous positions and thunder the ball into the net. He is vital to United. He will show just how vital, if Fancy Dan leaves this summer.
June 18th, 2008 at 14:51
Heck,am happy with rooney as he is
June 18th, 2008 at 14:53
nearly 26 comments b4 HE was brought up, must be a record!!!
June 18th, 2008 at 15:21
Well said mate ! Rooney is the heartbeat of ManU according to me….but as you also pointed out I think he should be more lethal in his finishing…i would any day prefer ManU to build team around English player than a foreign player…this year my favourite has been Tevez but no can guarantee that he will play for ManU till his playing days…so better to invest in English players or players who are willing to be part of a team for 4-5 years inspite of all the ups & downs…This is one of the reasons I like Darren Fletcher and John O Shea
June 18th, 2008 at 16:03
Rooney is also reliable in the big games when compared to others…. And recently Cappello also said that he wanted Rooney to be selfish… But I think his selfless attitude is wat makes him a player he is today…
June 18th, 2008 at 16:22
Alot of you on here think of me as a Rooney detractor. This couldnt be further from the truth, I just choose to look at things objectively. All I have said about Rooney is that people have placed the World Class tag on him just because he has World Class potential. I know we all love him, but there comes a time when its ok to start asking questions of why isnt he World Class now. Some of you are asking this, and others are just blindly saying he is the best ever. I for one sincerely hope the departure of Ronaldo makes Rooney step and prove he belongs in the upper echelon of world players.
Switching gears I would like to address a few comments I have seen today and in previous post that I dont quite agree with.
1. Rooney is not United Thru- and Thru. He is a scouser who’s heart belongs with Everton. The only reason he is in Manchester is because he is playing for one of the best clubs in the world and this is his best chance for silverware. Mark my words, if Everton were bigger than United and could pay him more he would be gone faster than Ronaldo. Dont confuse his being a Fierce competitor as someone who would die for the shirt(He would die just to avoid losing).
2.Some one made a stat showing Rooney’s goal/assist ration per minutes played. Fair enough stat, but all that aside and being honest with ourself. Would we really rate Rooney over Torres,Fabregas, and Gerrard? Which leads me to my next question. Why doesnt anyone try and come in for Rooney? This is a question that people said was ridiculous, but I want answers. Why is rooney so untouchable when we tapped him up from his boyhood club everton? Gerrard plays for his club, and he is constantly being linked away from Anfield.
3.”Rooney is our most feared attacker” again Im just not buying it. Opponents only say this, because they dont want to appear terrified of Ronaldo. It is the same thing as when one girl says another girls is cute. They only say it when the other girl doesnt threaten them(ask any girl who they think is better looking, Jennifer Aniston or Courtney Cox. 9/10 the girl will look you in your eye and say Cox is way better.) Back to football, if rooney is more feared then why does every team make Ronaldo the focus of their defense?
4. Rooney vs. Tevez. This one is wide open as far as I am concerned. It comes down to personal preference, I just hate when people say Rooney is better hands down. They both have pros and cons and they both are erratic in front of goal. One minute they look clinical the next the fluff a tap in from 4 yards out. I personally think Tevez is slightly better cause of his career accomplishments but again this one is not the Open-shut Case that some of you make it out to be.
I Know this was kinda long, but I just had to get some things of my chest. Make no mistake I am a huge Rooney fan, I own his jersey and no ones else on the team. But forgive me if I stop just short blind worship.
June 18th, 2008 at 16:25
GREAT WORK RR. NO RONALDO HERE!
Imo I think Rooney is more a playmaker type than a goal poacher. 12 goals is good enough considered he passes when he can go for glory most of the time. His footballing brain is UNMATCHED. He knows where his teammates are, the opponents are, the best thing to do and most importantly he has the techincal ability to match. Seriously, there isn’t a United player I want to see coming off the bench when United are 2-0 down. The way he carries the team is inspirational and urges the other lads to match him for effort!
Rooney has, is and always be the rally banner for United.
(Trying not to flame Ronaldo =D)
June 18th, 2008 at 16:30
Okay here’s a news that we’ve lost another teen prodigy Said to be the next Messi check this out we are losing to clubs like Almeira This Really Sucks…http://sport.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/06/18/Prem-Almeria-sign-Piatti-linked-to-Man-Utd/
June 18th, 2008 at 16:34
I wouldn’t swap Rooney for any player. Totally agree with what Penguin says and there definately isn’t a measure for what He gives the team.
Though I think it’s just that we all know what a fabulous talent Rooney really is and therefore expect so much of him.
Looking back on his debut as an example… The amount of talent he always possesed added to his selflessness is unreal.
I dunno if anybody recalls, but there was a time when Rooney was also ahead of Ronaldo in terms of ability…
June 18th, 2008 at 16:48
“so better to invest in English players or players who are willing to be part of a team for 4-5 years inspite of all the ups & downs…This is one of the reasons I like Darren Fletcher and John O Shea”
Classic stuff Vignesh - a Scot and an Irishman.
I’m with the poster who wrote that Rooney needs to concentrate on his own talents and not in trying to emulate CR7. We want the bull-terrier that burst onto the scene with thunderbolts and a fixation on the back of the net.
I reckon the kid will come good in a couple of seasons when he realizes he is more effective when playing his own way. Would be great if he was allowed to drop deeper next year.
June 18th, 2008 at 17:04
Well written Penguin. Rooney is truly the heart and soul of the team, but he also has had problems of late. He needs to regain his scoring touch. No he may not be our main striker but more goals are still expected of him. You are absolutely correct that his best position is as a second striker just playing off the main man. When he was playing with RVN he was much more dangerous and at times lethal in his finishing. He also played with more confidence. Last season was a difficult one for him for all the reasons you gave. His injuries really played a major part in his loss of form. His finishing was poor but what I noticed the most was his diminished ability at first touch skills. He was fighting his injuries but most of all, he was fighting his own confidence and ego. Honestly, I think the single biggest reason for Rooney’s drop of form has been Ronaldo’s significant increase in form and his ability to score goals. It has challenged Rooney to the point where the lad tries to hard to do too many things and sometimes go a bridge too far with his final touch or dribble. RVN never brought this out in him, but Ronaldo has created an almost competitive edge between the two. This may go back to the England vs Portugal match at WC 20006 or it may not, but I think there is a rivalry there, even if it’s only in Wayne’s mind. In years past his skills were sharper but he did things with more ease and he never tried to do too much with the ball. Last year I remember him trying tricks with the ball, plenty of back heels, chips, etc and a lot of the time they weren’t coming off. These are skills that Rooney wouldn’t try three years ago. His approach was more direct.
I also think that a major reason for Rooney’s small fall from grace has a lot to do with his own work ethic and attitude. He works himself silly and gives 110% all the time. At times I think he exhausts himself into mediocrity. He needs to stop running back so much and trying to be the team’s best defender. Above all, he needs to check his passion and temper at the door because it gets him all fired up and it forces him to gas himself and then he also commits silly fouls and gets yellow cards because of this excess energy he is using. Even Fabio Capello has come out and told him to stop trying to do so much and stop running after balls that are far from his proper zone of influence.
This added fatigue and extra effort probably has more to do with his lack of finishing than anything else. Four years ago his role was well defined and although he often ran all over the place, he seemed to be controlled a little more as to how far back he would go. Fergie is to blame for much of Rooney’s problem. His inability or unwillingness to partner him up with a true striker and have him play the position he is best at exclusively, has in my opinion damaged Rooney as a player. Buying Tevez may seem like a smart move by many but for me he was never the player United should have gone after. He is too similar to Wayne and so we now have to forwards up front who don’t play like forwards and are rarely up front. Instead they get stuck somewhere in the midfield or in the wings doing things that really aren’t what we want from forwards. Both players have only vague idea of what the 18 yard box looks like. They have seen pictures and heard descriptions but I think they believe it’s a place somewhere in Serbia. Fergie has allowed and promoted Rooney to go all over the place and waste valuable energy doing things that should never be required of him. If he used less energy and centered himself in the attacking third of the pitch, I think we would see a much greater Wayne Rooney and the Rooney that scored the hat trick in his debut against Fenerbahce. Stop wasting him out of position and stop him wasting his energy on useless endeavors on the pitch. He needs to focus on being a second striker and not ST/LW/LMF/LWB/AMF that he has been playing.
Who does Rooney remind me the most of? Penguin feels he is another Cantona or Sheringham but I think he is more suited to be like Paul Scholes. A failed striker but an accomplished attacking midfielder/second striker. Rooney is a very good passer of the ball and he has vision. He is capable of beautiful long range goals and the occasional foray into the box. He’s also a poor tackler and he’s poor in the air. Sounds an awful lot like the Ginger Ninja circa 1996/2002 to me. Fergie needs to define his position and also get him a striker that will truly work well with him. I laugh when I read a lot of you say that he and Tevez work so well together. Well they do work well….ENOUGH, but he worked so much better along side of Ruud van Nistelrooy. A traditional striker and goal poacher is needed to open up Rooney’s game and get the other team’s best defenders off his back. Rooney will rebound if they buy a true striker and if Fergie learns to contain Rooney’s unnecessary running and efforts.
June 18th, 2008 at 17:06
excellent post jhomson33! If we were to be really unbaised the sentiments would exactly be what you have written.
June 18th, 2008 at 17:20
Johnsom33; Very harsh words towards a lad who has shown great pride and love for his adopted team. Yes he may be a Scouser but he has always acted with pride and defended the honor of Manchester United both on and off the field. He is a Red Devil through and through. Your Everton analogy is weak because lets face it, they don’t compare in class and quality so what’s the point? I’m from Edmonton Alberta and yet my favorite football team is New England Patriots and my favorite hockey team is the Boston Bruins. I have lived in Vancouver for 20 year and I hate all their teams. Rooney may have been born in the Scouse, and apprenticed with Everton but he went on to bigger and better things. He has never shown anything but the utmost in passion and loyalty to the club, so your theories are based on some kind of animosity or paranoia due to his heritage and birthplace. It’s quite sad really when we have loyal players on our team who live and bleed Red Devil red and then supposed loyal fans have to slag them or accuse them of misguided loyalties or intentions. Save your wrath for Ronaldo who is the real culprit when it comes to lack of loyalty, and not Wayne Rooney who has worn the United jersey with pride and dignity since arriving. If you own a Rooney jersey I suggest you give it to somebody you know who is actually a fan of Wayne’s because from where I’m standing, you clearly are not. Somebody else would appreciate it more. You are to tied into your territorial bias to believe a player from Liverpool could love our team and want to be United for life. I’m just staggered by what you wrote, not to mention totally in disagreement with it. But I suppose that’s your prerogative.
I will say one thing in favor of what you wrote. I too laugh when other teams say that Wayne is the player thy most fear. That may have been the case 3 years ago but it certainly is now. Perhaps they say that because he supposedly is a central forward unlike Ronaldo, but still, he has far from put fear in too many hearts over the past two years. But I still think the boy can regain his finishing and dangerous presence. He needs a true striker to play off and he needs to stop thinking of Ronaldo and stop trying to out do him because he’s just not in CR7’s class. That’s lain and simple.
June 18th, 2008 at 17:30
[Grognard]
Mate, let’s take his word for it that he’s a Wayne Rooney fan. It’s not in our place to judge johnsom33 on his loyalty, I’m sure I know how you’ll or any fan will feel if his loyalty is questioned. It is what he thinks — disagree, but don’t shoot the messenger as you would say.
June 18th, 2008 at 17:33
grog
rooney is a self confessed evverton fan. didnt he once very very proudly wore “Once a blue always a blue” ???
He is now a red thru and thru (apparently) but players change allegiances so fast these days that nothing can be taken for granted. Gone are the days of the likes of Neville (Gary), Giggsy or Scholsey!
you are totally wrong to think rooney is a boyhood man utd fan!
June 18th, 2008 at 17:37
And about territorial bias, for an Englishman growing in the UK, it is common for them to support their local team and it is ingrained in their culture. So one may assume that Rooney is an Everton fan at heart. I’m sure Everton fans will disagree because to them Rooney is judas.
Point is, Rooney used to go around with the Once a blue, always a blue tag and suddenly had his head turned when United came calling. And the circumstances under which he left Everton would make any Everton fan’s blood boil and I can see where they are coming from. But had Everton been a big club, I doubt he’d have left it. However, that said, the argument by johnsom doesn’t hold water because it’s more a question of if’s and but’s — which is like saying had Oldham been a big club Scholes would have left United in a whisper.
What we should ask is, if a big club comes calling now, would Rooney consider moving?
June 18th, 2008 at 17:44
I believe once Fergie lands a top striker this summer, Rooney’s supposed problems will be over. Granted, He’s a workaholic, but all to the greater good of the team. Rooney will explode and that is guaranteed.Why its not happening too soon,I will agree with Grognard and partially blame Fergie.The boy’s immence talent has been mysteriously masked and unmasking said talent should/will be Fergie’s uppermost task in the next season. That said, has anyone noticed how the Berbatov/Huntelaar/Benzema debate has been completely redirected by the resurgenec of a certain Podolski. He has been terrific thus far and I am pretty certain Fergie noticed.I hope the Gaffer has obliteratedany plans of signing Veloso.Te lad loves Milan and frankly he was below average and eventually subbed in a match played by portugal Team B.Moutinho in the same vain will require immence tutoring,coaching and brushing up to even be considered worthy enough to shine scholes’s boots.We definely neeed an AMC as Scholesy’s twilight was obvious in the Cl final last month.The paucity of transfers to OT is really infuriating and the ‘news now syndrome is wide spread.What do Grognard,Craig Mc or anyone think of Mikel Arteta.Why hasnt he even been mentioned? I think he’s a very effective paly maker type player.Anyway i hope Germany and Ballack finally get their acts right especially since Schweinstiger is due to return, and make the meeira kid weep his ass back to OT for his final season.
June 18th, 2008 at 17:57
RR
what we should ask is if, and its an if, utd somehow become a mid table team and everton a regular champions league contender, then would rooney still be with utd? or if it originally were the case then would rooney have moved to utd at all ???
June 18th, 2008 at 17:58
Brilliant article Penguin. And I have to say that you have done a brilliant job making people not talk about Ronaldo. Not many people can do that at the moment. Agree 100% on everything and I believe Rooney will saty with us for the rest of his career. Hopefully he will be the star of next season.
June 18th, 2008 at 18:00
RR - I can’t believe your thinking that every lad in England’s common bias is towards their local team. That it is ingrained into them culturally. Go into most school’s in England, and you will find that many do not support their local team. Territorial bias for ones loval team is not as prevelant as you might suppose it to be. Beckham for instance and a lot of his school friends who territorially should have been West Ham supporters, were in fact Man Utd supporters. So it doesn’t always follow does it?. This support for teams outside your local area is more than may be thought. Rooney for sure will always be a scouser at heart, but there are a lot of factors involved in a player’s happiness at a certain club or not. For instance Rooney did not get on with his manager, the manager not showing the same faith in him as Fergie. So he was not played as often at Everton, whereas he is a regular since coming to Man Utd. I think many factors like this help a person to feel at home in one club rather than another.
I agree with Grog actually. From reading Johnsom’s post one couldn’t actually see that he is a Roon fan. Not that it is a problem to me though, because there are one or two players that each of us might say we are not fans of. I can see where Grog’s coming from though.
June 18th, 2008 at 18:04
[craig]
I said it is common. But I didn’t say all of them are like that. But don’t Englishmen take pride in supporting their local team? Even Manchester United fans in England have a second team who may be from where they grew up? I am not generalizing, but there is a possibility right?
I wouldn’t know for sure, I admit it, but I think there may be some truth to it, no? If not, ok, I take it back.
Anyway, my point is that since Rooney was from Liverpool it is fair enough to assume that he could have been either an Everton or a Liverpool supporter. Certainly he wasn’t a Man Utd fan before coming to United because of the “Once a blue, always a blue”
June 18th, 2008 at 18:06
rooneys problem is currently one of confidence caused by having to live in the shadow of Ronaldo. I remember about two years back when both r & r were touted as the two best young players in the EPL if not Europe. Since then Ronaldo has lept ahead partly because he has developed faster and partly because the team is set up to supply him to get the goals. Rooney has had to fit in with this settlement and is being played out of posistion. Personally i imagine that he has felt second best to Ronaldo and has felt that to compete he has had to find another role more distinct role for recognition - that of team supreamo and workaholic. Just imagine the CL final the biggest game of your life and all the man u crowd chant is viva Ronaldo, i think he just cannot compete with that and subsequently has gone into his shell. I think it might actually be the best thing in the long run to sell Ronaldo (and i thought this midway through the season) as A) rooney WILL step up and B) playing to Ronaldo constantly -which we do with increasing regularity - will hamper overall team effectivness and allow other decent teams to stiffle our play. Oh and C) i think Ronaldo has bought into the hype - you can tell from his body language when he scores (or if someone else scores) that is all about him. That i am afriad is cancerous for a team.
Rooney reminds me a lot of Raul at Madrid (perhaps the most underated player of all time)and i think he will be with us for a long time soon and contribute to the team dynamic as no-one else can.
Make no mistake as a footballer he is one of the best there is and one of the very very few players who went he gets the ball you know something EXCITING is going to happen.
Some one commented why know one has put a tentative bid in for Rooney (if he was that good they would ?) Well they know that he would not go, his agent does not flirt the possability with potential suitors. and that is becasue he is committed to United. Ronaldo on the other hand…….
June 18th, 2008 at 18:08
WhiteY, you genius mate, I have been saying all season that United’s midfield is an area that needs to be greatly improved. We need a great tackler and ball winner, who both makes and scores regularly. Some people on here feel that might be Rooney or Tevez, and I am not against that, except neither can tackle very well, their strengths lie more in other areas. So I would love a great ball winning tackler, and killer pass type assist player in midfield. Whether Anderson will become this, we shall just have to hope and see. The lad can tackle, but his attacking and shooting needs mega improvement. Arteta is a great player, but Cahill is even better, yet both are very injury prone, so I am not sure. I don’t know why United haven’t thought about Milner too from N’Castle, he is a great player too.
June 18th, 2008 at 18:17
Rooney had a very good season. He is excellent playing both as a main striker or just off a main striker. As long as he’s played up front he is very good. He is less effective when played in midfield, on a wing. Play him up front with a strike partner and he is very effective, regardless of whether it’s with a tevez or a huntelaar. He certainly is not a failed striker.
June 18th, 2008 at 18:22
RedRichard, I couldn’t agree with you more mate. How truly deflating it must be for the other United players to only hear Ronaldo anthems chanted from every area of stadiums home and away. Yes, players must have felt it in the champions league, and especially players like Rooney, Rio, Nani, Evra, Hargo etc who die for the United cause, and do all the dog work. I have a real beef with all the Ronaldo accolade, like he won us the 2 trophies singlehandedly. Truth is, in the CL, his feckin dilly dallying on the penalty spot but for Massive Man VDS, would have cost us the trophy. So yeah, I more than see your point about the CR7 acclaim Red Richard.
June 18th, 2008 at 18:38
Grognard, well support our team in our own way. I admit that I write more negative stuff about rooney than positive. But this is only because everyone waxes poetic about rooney, and frankly it gets a little boring with out a difference of opinion. I dont have to defend fanhood because from where I am standing it appears you and me have drastic views of what the really means. My only problems with your viewpoint is that their is no room for an opposing view. if anyone disagrees with you, they get flamed.
RR, this was a great post. we are all sick to death of ronaldo. We all no nothing, yet we argue in circles day after day. It is refreshing to talk about players who we all know is gonna be there next year.
June 18th, 2008 at 18:39
Jos, reading your last post I think you are missing something!. Not all players change their allegiances so fast these days as you put it. There are still those who fall so in love with the whole magic of a place like Old Trafford, Real dastardly Madrid, and other teams. It is the whole mystery and history, and culture of a particular club that holds players in its grip, and makes loyalists out of them. They cannot see themselves playing anywhere else. So the cause of their allegiance to a team and its cause, and its place of situation matter more to the player, than the area perhaps he grew up in. Mancunians cannot understand why any player would want to leave our club, and very few do want to leave once they have experienced the magic of it all. Does that make us unreasonable, and biased, course it feckin does. To many United fans, our club is more than a club, it’s a religion, you will no doubt have seen the banners testifying to the truth of that statement. So perhaps Roon is and always will be a scouser at heart, but will he ever leave the club that he openly declares now to be ‘the best team in the world in his mind’ - maybe, but I don’t think so. The truth is, Roon was loved by Evertonians, but not appreciated and loved and used by management as he should have been. At United he is loved and used as he wanted to be by Fergie and the fans.
RR - I see where you are coming from now, fair do’s then!.
June 18th, 2008 at 19:18
Throughout the whole Ronaldo saga I’ve been telling anyone who cares to listen, “let Ronaldo go, Rooney’s a better player anyway.”
It say’s everything you need to know that Rooney would play in goal if that was where SAF put him! :@D
June 18th, 2008 at 19:39
RR, I have been thinking thru your post on Territorial bias lol. I think bias towards a particular team can fall into several catagories. There is local idiom. Where kids are breastfed on a particular team by fanatical parents. My experience and a lot of my friends were such. So parental influence is major factor in who we may support. Supporters of this kind, are I agree with you, the most faithful to their local club. Such supporters will support a team that their parents support and have influenced them to support too. Because Dads mainly take their kids to support their chosen club from a young age. This will be the case whether the parents live in the locality of the club, or far away. Then there are those who thru peer pressure will opt for teams that are winning things. They have a winning mentality bias, and will attach themselves to winners, no matter which teams are winning at the time. They may or may not stay when that team cease to be winners. Mostly they will move on to other winning teams though. Then you have those people who like a particular player, and will support that club specifically because they love to watch and support that player. Other fans come to their persuasion because they just enjoy good football, fast, furious, entertaining, edge of your seat stuff, and will follow those teams that hypnotise them. Are they hangers on?. I don’t really think so. Football as an entertainment, is like a good concert, people go for the pure enjoyment of it all. Lastly, there are those from all other nations, who will support teams that their fellow nationals are involved with for as long as they are with that team. So it is such an admixture congregation of fans. Yet to locals, the true fans are those who grew up with their team, territorial choice and bigotry as you mentioned RR. Is it fair for Mancs to think we are the true born and bred supporters, I don’t think it is really anymore, because football is so global, that there are those like Grog and others who are as fanatical in their support as we locals.
June 18th, 2008 at 19:40
[johnsom33]
That said, I see what you mean. But I think the only other player in United who would draw a fair bit of debate apart from Ronaldo would have been Rooney anyway.
It wasn’t me, it was Penguin who wrote it. So thank him.
June 18th, 2008 at 19:40
want to see rooney at his best last season, dig up a tape of him destroying arsenal in the fa cup 4th round, absolutely magical and in my opinion what led to the demise of arsenal, after the 4-0 drubbing, then came eduardo and the rest is history,
that game made me believe rooney still has a lot to offer, but has not had the chance or was misused, just let fergie find the perfect partner, ol’ wazza will be tearing it up again
June 18th, 2008 at 19:49
jos; I never said Rooney was a boyhood United fan. I just said that he is one now. Who cares if he is an Everton fan. It’s not kept him from scoring against them and he certainly isn’t a David Moyes fan.
June 18th, 2008 at 20:15
johnsom33. I think both you and RR are overreacting to my comments. I wasn’t “FLAMING you” at all. I was disagreeing with you and arguing my pointof view. I thought that was what this site was all about. Did I call you names or insult you personally. I din’t know that disagreeing with you was flammable or wrong? Any time I have ever overreacted about people being rude towards me it was because they would throw personal insults like stupid, idiot, loser etc. I never called you any names but I take great issue with your comments on Rooney. Simply put I disagree with you and i was able to defend my position. But somehow in defending my position you and RR became all PC on me and I am not quite sure what it was that said that’s so wrong? By questioning your love for Rooney I was stating my opinion from where i stand based on what you wrote. If that was wrong of me then I am man enough to apologize to you. However, on everything else I said I stand firm by it and I believe it to be the case. That’s what disagreeing is all about. And I did show you respect by saying that your views are fine because voicing them is your prerogative. My comments were not intended to be rude, it’s just meant to show strong disagreement.
RR; Sometimes the messenger needs to be shot. But I think I was using a water pistol here.
June 18th, 2008 at 20:17
whiteY; Honestly neither Arteta nor Cahill do anything for me and I don’t think they are United class. I want world class players, not international class.
June 18th, 2008 at 20:49
Craig; Well said mate. I totally agree with you. I would add that people’s allegiance to local teams has also changed by the farther widening aspects of today’s television coverage and of course the internet. Truthfully, I find fans who are hopeless homers a little pathetic. Certainly not if they are United fans because in that case they are lucky to be following the best team in the world. But fans who loyally waste their time following shite like Millwall, Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday etc are just glutton’s for punishment. They remind me of the baggage boy at the local supermarket who keeps doing the same job into his 50’s. Lack of imagination, ambition and good taste seem to be epidemic amongst sports fans in general. I have always picked my teams by one factor and one factor only. Did the team and it’s players capture my fancy and imagination? If they did, I become a fan and when I become a fan I become very loyal. But I am also honest enough to say that I might not stick with that team if it goes from riches to rags and doesn’t recover within an acceptable time frame. I personally do not see the point in supporting a loser and I don’t care if their home turf is my back yard. I am into sports for the entertainment value and watching Reading or Derby bore me to death with their lack of skill and long ball tactics does not make me feel a love for them or the game they play. People’s love for the underdog is just such bollocks. Everybody was so enthused by Barnsley’s FA Cup run and were happy to see a team like Cardiff make it to the final but then when it came time to hype the final, nobody but the locals from the two teams gave a damn about the game. Why? Because people want to watch a showcase with true talent and sides that stimulate the imagination. Why settle for scum when you can have cream?
Supporting losers or underachievers is a personal thing but I for one will never ever understand that mentality. The team’s people support tells me a lot of their personal ambitions and self esteem or lack of. Supporting the neighborhood pub team is one thing but in today’s global and technical society, staying within your neighborhood is really being a one dimensional and very close minded person. Unless of course you have a team like Man Utd, Real Madrid, Barca, Juve or Milan playing in your municipality. We all have a guilty pleasure when it comes to cheering for another club that just doesn’t add up to much. For me it has always been Spurs. Why? Because in 1980-81 I saw enough games with Glenn Hoddle, Ozzie Ardiles and Ricky Villa to say that despite United, I like these guys. At least they were capable of winning the FA Cup a few times to give me some pleasure but for the most part they never were much more than middle of the table underachievers. To this day I still sort of like Spurs except when the play United. I cannot imagine what it must take to live in a city like Liverpool, Manchester or London and support Everton, Man City and West Ham? Like I said stubborn, close minded people imprisoned by their neighborhood ties like a bunch of sheep. I thank the good lord he gave me a mind and freedom to make my own choices and not follow the whims of family, friends or what the neighbors like. That freedom has made my love of sports a true treat and a satisfying pastime. I have had great fun watching Germany, Bayern Munich, Manchester united, The New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins win many many championships and always be top contenders for the most part. I never at first selected these teams because of their success. I selected them because of the way they played their respective games as well, I like players who played for these teams. And what a treat this freedom to choose has given me over the years. Now ask yourself, what can a poor pathetic sod who supports Millwall expect?
June 18th, 2008 at 20:56
FERGIE! Sign Arshavin now….PLEASE! Beautiful goal. I’m also a big fan of their left back Zhirkov. He’s a bit older but he is a very skilled player and passer. He is also a LMF fro CSK Moscow even though Hiddink chooses to use him as a LWB. Versatility and class. That’s what we need. Russia are taking it to the Swedes.
NIKOS; How about Greece leading against Spain? Hope they win for pride and respect. Spain is so overrated. They lack that extra grit and graft that is needed to win it all I think. So now that I said that they will go on and win the whole thing.
June 18th, 2008 at 21:18
Grognard: I don’t intend to start a war ith you on it but the casual dismissal of the choice people to support their local team over seeking glory is extemely unfair. You talk of close mindedness, well I think you could do with looking closer to home before applying your sweepng generalisations to hundreds of thousands of English football supporters.
June 18th, 2008 at 21:26
[JB]
I addressed that to him through email. In future if you have a problem write to me, I will convey anything to him. As you said, you don’t want a war and I don’t want one too — so let’s refrain from bringing up statements that will start a war.
June 18th, 2008 at 21:32
[Grognard]
Granted he’s a good player but to what use? He will add to the plethora of second strikers we already have at the club.
June 18th, 2008 at 21:35
Grog - hahaha, think about it, every dog has it’s day!. The fans of the David’s of football thoroughly enjoy their warfare against the Goliath’s. They enjoy it more so when they defeat Goliath too, it is something that stays with them for years, happy remembrances. We wouldn’t have leagues at all would we, if we didn’t have the David’s and their fans. Some people bless the days of the little people!. Wouldn’t do if we all only supported the winners. I mean some of the clubs you mentioned, the Reading’s etc haven’t done too bad in competitions against our own Man Utd. I love to see the ‘Little People’ get a bit of glory against the giants of football. I celebrated like you wouldn’t believe Grog when Barnsley beat the Blues of the Chelsea Kremlin, and the Reds LiverFools!. Some people just love their local team, and the area they grew up in, like RR said. These local clubs that are so called ’small fry’, foster a kind of family atmosphere, and people get to know each other, and enjoy the comraderie. I can appreciate that. Bit like you said about supporting the lads from your local pub. Wouldn’t do for us all to be the same. Variety, the spice of life. My family supported Man Utd when they dropped into a lower league, and saw them come up again the following season. Great drama Grog, my Dad wouldn’t have missed the opportunity for the world. Though he wouldn’t like it repeated LOL. So I respect the fans of small clubs, because they wait a long time for their day of glory, but enjoy being part of their local town football family. You know what I mean Grog.
I agree with you about Arshavin. Also Gus Hiddink plays our kind of football. Fast, good quick passing ability, much attacking philosophy, and shots on goal. Very exciting to watch. I will be routing for Holland in the next round though, that goes without saying.
June 18th, 2008 at 21:53
RR: My apologies it’s just the policy isn’t very clear here. I thought the emails to yourself were for personal attacks and the like and not general disagreements with comments.
June 18th, 2008 at 22:00
JB, excuse my ignorance mate, but do you happen to know if the Man Utd dvd ‘End of Season Review’, is the same as the ‘How we won the PL’ shown on MUTV?.
June 18th, 2008 at 22:05
Brilliant article, Rooney is a class player for United, great that you made that point.
June 18th, 2008 at 22:12
[JB]
Yes, there is a fine line here. But I suppose you knew (and I know too) what comments will ensue in a war. So if you think making a certain comment will set off a war, you would be better served if you convey your sentiments off the comment section? I’d rather act as a bridge between your comments with each other via email rather than have it here. That’s all I am saying.
June 18th, 2008 at 22:14
Perhaps I am over reacting. But considering the million wars that have gone on this site over the past year, I have felt the need to be pro-active. It’s tough on me, but I need to do something to ensure clean debate. It’s certainly not foolproof, but it’s an attempt.
June 18th, 2008 at 22:14
JB; I see what you are saying but sorry, I’ll express my views as I see them and I really am not looking for anyone’s approval. I was being honest with my feelings and how I see things. I never said my viewpoint was the law or the way other’s should feel, nor do I believe that what my views are necessarily correct. But kindly allow myself to express my feelings without your moral judgment. I take no offense to what you say I just think that you should allow me to state my views from MY perspective. Of course others will have different ways of looking at things and I respect that. And in return am I not allowed to think my own thoughts as well? I call it as I see it right or wrong. At least I take the time to offer my honest opinion of things.