Manchester United are leaving Wayne Rooney behind and don’t have time to let him learn a new position
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WAYNE ROONEY has pleaded to be given the time to change his game to become a major force in midfield - but can Manchester United really afford to wait?
Rooney has all-but-admitted his days as a front line striker are coming to an end as he comes to terms with losing the pace of youth from his game.
The England captain sees a deeper role as the position he should be occupying for club and country, and wants to be allowed to develop his game there for club and country.
Rooney said: "I have heard a lot of people talking about transition – well, let me do it. If that is what’s going to happen, let me do that.
"I feel I am not being given a chance if that is the way I want to go in my career to expand it.
"I am not being given that chance to go from there to there (attack to midfield). It is all right talking about your career, saying you can extend it by doing this and that, but you need to be given the chance to do it.”
Rooney can see the sun setting on a wonderful club career at United as the talisman of the side, as his body starts to betray him quicker than his mind.
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And the harsh reality is, United are evolving as a club and are leaving the 30-year-old behind.
That he has been usurped as the main man by a 35-year-old in Zlatan Ibrahimovic perhaps tells its own story of what might have been had he taken better care of himself and his body throughout his career.
Given the choice between the two of them to start up top for United, there is only one winner and it isn't Rooney.
So what about that much discussed number ten role? Well performances for United have shown Rooney doesn't cut the mustard there either.
Too often running out of position, playing too deep to link up with the front man and arguably lacking that finesse in his game needed to make the position his own.
So in midfield, where does Rooney fit in at Old Trafford? For the good of the side going forward, he probably doesn't.
The tactics Jose Mourinho, and most other top level managers for that matter, employ require the attacking midfielder to play with tenacity, tempo and pace.
Watch when Marcus Rashford, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Ashley Young are asked to play that role for United, and they are an example of perpetual motion working for the team.
Effort and commitment on Rooney's part can never be questioned, but he simply doesn't have the legs to play that role in a high-pressing side.
He talks of wanting to dictate the game from a deeper position, and when he has played that role some of his sweetly-struck long passes catch the eye in matches.
But United didn't break the world record to sign Paul Pogba with the idea of Rooney getting in his way or disrupting his natural game in mind.
Pogba is now beginning to show what all the fuss is about, bringing an athleticism and power to the United midfield that has been missing for years.
Put Rooney in that deep role and all the evidence is he slows up play, goes square instead of forward. Pogba's effectiveness would be negated.
And in any case, does a Rooney who himself claims he needs time to develop and prove himself represent a better bet in that role than the tigerish Ander Herrera? Or the craft and passing ability of Michael Carrick?
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In keeping with the digital media age, it would be easy to come up with 'Five reasons why...' when looking at Rooney's desire to play midfield in the latter years of his career.
But the reality is there is one simple reason - Manchester United have better players in other positions than Wayne Rooney now.