Rooney Offer Hope For Man Utd’s Future

One of the biggest surprises of Euro 2016, from an England point of view at least, is how well Wayne Rooney has performed for his country.

Ahead of the tournament, there were calls for the captain to miss out on a place in Roy Hodgson’s squad, while other supporters believed he wasn’t deserving of a starting role.

When Rooney spoke at the news conference before England’s opening game against Russia, he had to defend himself against a journalist who said the Russian players no longer feared him.

Having once been his country’s greatest prospect, the player who upon all hopes were pinned, it looked as though this tournament may be a rather sad and embarrassing end to his career.

As it is, Rooney showed the Russians exactly why they were wrong to write him off, by putting in a man-of-the-match performance from midfield. It was only after Hodgson made the decision to substitute his captain that Russia were allowed to get back in the game, scoring an injury-time equaliser for a 1-1 draw.

Hodgson learnt from his mistake in England’s next game against Wales, keeping Rooney on for the full 90 minutes, as they beat their neighbours 2-1.

It was a change in position put in place by Louis van Gaal toward the end of the season that has allowed Rooney to thrive for his country. There was no chance of him getting in the team ahead of the likes of Harry Kane or Jamie Vardy, but England aren’t spoilt for choice with talent in midfield.

With Rooney and Anthony Martial out of United’s team with injury, Marcus Rashford was given his opportunity up front, and the captain wasn’t able to win that place back from him when he returned. Rooney spent the past few months of the season playing in midfield, and while he thrived in playing Hollywood balls, he didn’t contribute much else.

However, in the FA Cup final victory over Crystal Palace, Rooney arguably put in his best performance of the season from this new position. He is credited with creating United’s equalising goal, scored by Juan Mata, after he drove forward past several Palace players, before delivering the ball to the back-post for the Spaniard to score.

Aside from that though, he played like a leader, saw plenty of the ball, and played a very disciplined role. His desperation to win the FA Cup probably contributed to that, with a renewed hunger that had been missing from so many of the players for so long under Van Gaal.

In France, Rooney picked up where he left off as he looks to silence his critics, but also stake a claim for a starting midfield role at United next season.

In 2013, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea put in a couple of bids for Rooney, with the player keen to leave Old Trafford, according to Sir Alex Ferguson. When Rooney later reflected on his unhappiness at the club, after penning a new contract at United, he cited Ferguson’s decision to use him in midfield on occasion as the cause of his unhappiness.

“I got told to play in midfield and I didn’t want to,” he revealed. “I just think there had to come a point when, for my own career, I had to be a bit selfish really.”

While Rooney always knew that he would one day play deeper, when he was a “bit older” and “losing his legs a bit,” the past three years have seen a steep decline. Jamie Carragher tried to explain this by reminding people that the United captain was more or less like a 35-year-old, given how long he had been playing top flight football for, making his debut for Everton at 16 and for England at 17.

Rooney is now in the twilight of his career, despite only being 30, and you have to wonder how much longer he could be at United, particularly now they have realistic aspirations of winning titles again thanks to Mourinho. He believed United didn’t match his ambition in 2010, six months before United won their 19th title and reached the Champions League final, but now arguably the opposite is true.

Rooney recently revealed he was keen to sign a contract extension at United, despite his current deal not ending for another three years. Ahead of Euro 2016, this would have seemed like a ridiculous claim, with a lot of supporters hoping they would sell before then.

With his volatile relationship with Everton beginning to soften, aided by the BBC documentary he did as a retrospective of his career in which he spoke fondly of his boyhood club, and an appearance at Duncan Ferguson’s testimonial where he received a warm welcome, there is the possibility of the door being open for a return.

However, if the form he has been showing in recent games in midfield continues, he may be buying himself more time at United. Mourinho is obviously a fan, given his intentions to buy him for Chelsea, and would be grateful to have an easy decision to make on Rooney’s position and future. If Rooney performs well, then it’s a no-brainer to give him a starting role in midfield and allow him to keep the armband.

It would also mean then when it comes to dipping into the transfer kitty, the pressure on Mourinho to reinforce midfield may be reduced.

Before fans and the manager get too carried away, though, they should probably be mindful that Rooney’s top performances have come against Crystal Palace, Russia and Wales, which hardly makes him a world beater.

Hodgson, in all his wisdom, opted to drop all of the best performers for England’s final group stage game against Slovakia, but when Rooney came on, he hardly set the world alight. That said, he typically doesn’t make a great substitute, and usually thrives off regular playing time.

With England in the next round of the competition, Rooney has further opportunities to prove himself, before returning to United for the preseason tour.

Having now become the third most-capped England player of all time, he is set to break Sir Bobby Charlton’s record at United as the club’s highest goal scorer — now just five goals short of overtaking him.

While Rooney still has huge support among sections of the United faithful, there are others who are less than impressed with the talk of this new midfield role extending his future at the club. But if he plays as well against the big teams next season, it would be hard to argue with Mourinho if he includes Rooney in the spine of the team.