Quote:
Originally Posted by S/Side.Red
When the club tied Rooney down for 5.5 years it made it extremely difficult not to build around him. The contract extension really is a commitment to do just that. Rashford showed how much difference more dynamism made, but he's young and he only showed up in February. As you say, LvG had even criticised Rooney the season before. Quite why he didn't think it vital to have other options is a mystery to me. Only thing I can think of he was so c**ksure of seeing his three years out he was happy to be patient and take the risk.
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one explanation could be that if rooney has to play, then 9 was the one position where he could potentially limit rooney's ability to disrupt the circulation of the football and the automatic positioning, since the player would be required to literally get back in his box (approx 30m square in front of the penalty area)... rooney could be used as a wall for fast, mobile, clever players running past him. shaw's injury all but ended our penetration from deep on the left, and van gaal's tactics on the right left us without the balance we needed... mourinho has already adjusted the emphasis in wide positions, although he does have a fella at 9 now who can actually compete with centre backs with the technique and nous to take advantage...