Is Wayne Rooney World class?

[hans kraay fan club]

Paul Scholes was a better player than Beckham. If he hadn't taken his ball home like a spoilt ten-year old, when asked to play out of position, he would have got much more kudos on the world stage.

This

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I look at Lahm as a comparison and he has every attribute. His contribution to Germany's ball retention is as important as any of the players on the team, and he is always showing for the ball and has a range of passing, plus he gets himself out of tight spots without resorting to a hoof out of play. Defensively he is solid, and can play left or right back. He probably passes it twice as much as Cole does in a game, but will have half the number of uncompleted passes.

Very good points. And don't forget Lahm has an eye for goal as well.

 

[Aadam]

messi has performed FAR better than rooney at champions league level though

Messi plays for Barcelona. My nan would perform better in the CL for Barcelona then Rooney for United. He has something like 30 goals in 60 games, which isn't bad going considering....

 

[Common as Mook]

Okay, we can probably agree that defensively as a left back Cole is world class. It is the primary function of his role. Where I think he lacks true world class status is his ability on the ball. I think he panics in tight positions, his passing is not actually that great (stats bare this out), and he doesn't show as much for the ball as he could.

I look at Lahm as a comparison and he has every attribute. His contribution to Germany's ball retention is as important as any of the players on the team, and he is always showing for the ball and has a range of passing, plus he gets himself out of tight spots without resorting to a hoof out of play. Defensively he is solid, and can play left or right back. He probably passes it twice as much as Cole does in a game, but will have half the number of uncompleted passes.

They are the best two left backs in the world. Because you define Lahm as world class doesn't mean Cole can't be too. What's your point?

I'd imagine Cole's domestic trophy haul is larger, but I may be wrong. They also have the same number of international honours....

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Messi plays for Barcelona. My nan would perform better in the CL for Barcelona then Rooney for United. He has something like 30 goals in 60 games, which isn't bad going considering....

messi has been instrumental in barcelonas success in recent years.......absolutely instrumental and was superb in 2 finals

 

[keaton]

there's plenty of better centre backs in the world than john terry........plenty

Who?

Sergio Ramos, Puyol and Kompany, yep. Who else?

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Who?

Sergio Ramos, Puyol and Kompany, yep. Who else?

the original poster seemed to claim that terry was the best........you've just named 3, all of which I would agree with, but would also add:

pique, vidic, silva, pepe are at worst equal to him........in this tournament i would say both the german centre backs look superior to him also

terry is good at the "last ditch" stuff, but it is often his lack of pace that results in him needing to do that in the first place (at the highest level, anyway)

 

[hans kraay fan club]

in this tournament i would say both the german centre backs look superior to him also

Max hummels looks an INCREDIBLE prospect. Superb.

 

[Bold Seagull]

They are the best two left backs in the world. Because you define Lahm as world class doesn't mean Cole can't be too. What's your point?

I'd imagine Cole's domestic trophy haul is larger, but I may be wrong. They also have the same number of international honours....

My point is that Cole's ability is limited to his defensive attributes. He's a typically effective Premier league bomb it forward full back, but lacks basic technique to retain possession and help 'build' attacks based on keeping the ball and getting the team forward.

I've been really impressed with Coentrao for Portugal who has no problems controlling the ball in a tight spot and finding a team mate, and Alba has added some solidity to the Spanish defence which was supposedly their weak link. Cole is not in the top 2 left backs in Europe, let alone the world.

England will continue to fail if we hold players like Terry, Cole, Parker, Gerrard, Rooney in such elevated high regard. They are chasers, 110% players, but technically, each of them gives the ball away far too much, and none of them actually retains possession of the ball in tight spots. Until England can coach players who can touch and pass simply but positively in an instant, then we are destined for 1/4 final failures for years to come.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Max hummels looks an INCREDIBLE prospect. Superb.

agreed, a big move must be coming up for him, looks a brilliant defender

(it's MATTS btw )

 

[Icy Gull]

Messi or Rooney, is that really a serious question??

 

[Danny-Boy]

Rooney had a crap game and a crap tournament
He wasn't match fit for either game and that was his fault as he managed to absent himself from the team for the first two games
IMHO we should have used him as a substitute at most - I personally would not have even taken him to the tournament
Waste of space

Totally THIS. Rooney was a gamble forced on Hodgson by media pressure, he couldn't leave him out of the party, but should IMHO have instead taken Peter Crouch who unlike Carroll is gifted on the ground as well.

I tried to put this point over last night on Radio 5 Live but the c**ts left me on the phone for over 30 minutes before telling me there wasn't time to put me on air. Steve ? is a loudmouth mick piece of poo...

 

[leigull]

England will continue to fail if we hold players like Terry, Cole, Parker, Gerrard, Rooney in such elevated high regard. They are chasers, 110% players, but technically, each of them gives the ball away far too much, and none of them actually retains possession of the ball in tight spots. Until England can coach players who can touch and pass simply but positively in an instant, then we are destined for 1/4 final failures for years to come.

Unfortunately just a quick look at how many people on here are voting Terry as England's best player in the tournament, and describing the English defence as "fantastic" shows what hard work it will be to ever get the nation to appreciate what is needed at International level. And we're Brighton fans who have had the prviledge of having Gus Poyet coach our team in the same required style.

 

[NickBHAFC18]

Max hummels looks an INCREDIBLE prospect. Superb.

Agreed. He hasn't put a foot wrong all tournament. No wonder he is being linked to all the big teams recently.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Oh please. He had one decent season for England - 2002 qualifying. Other than that, another bog standard England player made out to be the greatest player ever.

As someone else mentioned in a thread a while ago, you have to go back to Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton to find three truly world class English players. The only one who came close since then is Gazza and he lasted 5 minutes.

Guilty as charged....and I stand by that comment and thats why we were successful.
When I think of how few caps Peter Osgood won. One of the best centre-forwards in his day...big,strong,brave, mobile, two footed and a superb header of the ball...compared to that podgy pudding earning in excess of £200k per week. His efforts at heading the ball in the last two games reminded me of the fat kid in the playground, who can barely get off the floor, whilst all the other kids stand around laughing.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

This is a great article

Euro 2012: Wayne Rooney is being killed but only with kindness | Richard Williams | Football | The Guardian

 

[Neil]

Or is he massively over rated?

more like OVERWEIGHTED

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

more like OVERWEIGHT

Indeed. In today's Guardian on one page the is a picture of Pirlo looking lithe and stately. On the facing page is a picture of a pudgy red-faced out-of-breath sweating Rooney struggling through with the ball.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

As Chris Waddle brilliantly put it, when asked if Ronaldo was one of the best players in the world - "The standard of of football's got to drop before he's one of the top five."

Ditto Rooney.

 

[Mellotron]

As Chris Waddle brilliantly put it, when asked if Ronaldo was one of the best players in the world - "The standard of of football's got to drop before he's one of the top five."

Ditto Rooney.

Utter nonsense regarding Ronaldo. He is comfortably 2nd best in the world, by quite a long distance.