The English Football Thread

[Ol’ Qwerty Bastard]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Do you think losing Zlatan was a factor? And how do you feel now about Rooney being back with Everton? Do Man U fans still love him or what?

Zlatan is definitely a factor. physically i think he showed his age in the prem, but his technical ability is timeless. he could do nothing for 85 minutes but would still find a way to score the goal that would put us on top. I think Lukaku is a great goal scorer but he's a finisher not a creator, and in Jose's system they're asking too much of him in terms of hold up play and running with the ball at his feet. personally i think putting Mkhitaryan and Rashford/Martial on the wings and keeping them further up the pitch would allow us to do. it's part of what made us so good during our early run of games. Mourinho has them coming back so far defensively however that at times it feels like we're playing with a flat 5 across the midfield which is absolutely nuts.

as far as Rooney goes, i'm not entirely sure. i will always appreciate what he did for the club but i don't think he was the club legend that he was made out to be. he was simply the best we had during a time where the best of our english talent like Scholes, Beckham, etc. had moved on. keep in mind i'm a bit of outsider as i don't live in England, but from what i've seen and heard and the way that i feel myself, it was like Rooney was never entirely our own. when you look at club icons like Giggsy, Sir Bobby, Scholes, or even to some extent the Nevilles, they were Manchester through and through. i felt with Rooney there was some sort of disconnect, like in the back of my mind I was always thinking "yeah, he'll be leaving shortly." just my two cents. this could be way off the mark and just how i feel myself.

he definitely did and still is getting a lot of backlash from a portion of the supporters. it's pretty disgusting imo. while i do think he's a bit overrated and has a tendency to muck up a lot, he had some great years and left everything on the field whenever he played for us.