Wayne Rooney revels in his midfielder role with Derby and hopes to pull the strings of his new team when they face Manchester United in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
At 34, the former England captain is in his twilight years and took on a player / coach role with the championship club in January.
His illustrious career saw him start at Everton, move to Man United where he became their top scorer, before returning to the Toffees and even playing MLS for DC United.
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Wayne Rooney has impressed since joining Derby
Rooney burst onto the scene in 2002 at the age of 16 with an outrageous goal against Arsenal.
Almost two decades later, he still plays a slightly different role from the one he started his career with.
In the last few games he has played in a midfielder role and not in the position that we are most used to seeing – the attack.
Former English teammate Darren Bent is not surprised that Rooney was a success with Derby in the championship.
“He’s the top scorer for Manchester United and England, now in midfield, which doesn’t sound right,” Bent told talkSPORT. “It is a testimony of him and the technique he has.
“His range of passes has always been phenomenal. Its distribution is second to none. This does not surprise me.
“In this league, I think that by keeping the midfield, you can somehow get away with it. In the Premier League, this is a key position because you are talking about players who are starting the attack; you’re talking about the Ndidis, the Kantes, the Jorginhos … these guys get the ball and start the attack.
“In the Premier League it could be a little bit more difficult, but in the Championship he can grab the ball from the back and pass it all over the park.
“I didn’t see him coming, but if you asked me, I wouldn’t have been surprised because his technique is second to none.”
Perry Groves Says Wayne Rooney Would Improve Manchester United Midfielder – He’s Better Than Matic and Fred!
Derby has arguably been a better team since Rooney joined the team and Bent thinks it’s the effect he has had off the field that is just as important as the effect he has had. sure he.
“Seeing him now as he ages, and the legs are not what they used to be, he still manages to be effective in games,” said Bent. “His performances on the field were good but above all I think it was the effect he had on young people like Jason Knight, Max Bird … this type of guy.
“When he went there for the first time, Derby was struggling and I know they have been a little bit inconsistent recently, but for the first five or six games they haven’t lost. The impact was immediate .
“If you’re a young player and someone of that quality – you’re talking about an all-time great – walks into the locker room, it will always have a positive effect.
“After the last few seasons – especially after the last one – there was optimism with Frank Lampard in charge and they had some of the young players from Mason Mount, Harry Wilson and Fikayo Tomori and there was a real buzz around Derby . Everyone is gone.
“It fell a little flat, so bringing someone of this magnitude was huge. You hope it will pay dividends, but is it just how much he has left in the tank?
“Some of these Derby players would not have dreamed in their wildest dreams that they would have ever played with Wayne Rooney.
“I never thought of seeing him in the Championship; the fact that he is in the championship with Derby is huge.
“I don’t care how old he is and what stage of his career he is, you have to admire the guy. I’m still pretty close to a lot of guys in Derby and they say his standards are very, very high.”
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Wayne Rooney left DC United to return to England with Derby
The role Rooney plays in Derby is a role we are not used to seeing, but it is a role that Phillip Cocu says is the best for the team.
He told the Derby Telegraph: “I think right now I think it’s his best position, but he can play as No. 10 or when you play with a selected midfielder, he can be the ” one of two attacking midfielder.
“He gives us a lot with Max Bird, they have a great connection, and that was important.”
The building blocks were put in place in 2011 for Rooney to convert to midfield.
Many thought that he would eventually go down the field as he got older and when he started to lose his rhythm.
His range of pass and football intelligence has often been cited as the reason why he could thrive in another position.
After a particularly impressive performance in the Champions League midfielder against Otelul Galati in 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson, then manager of Rooney at the time, said: “It was an option for us and a good option because he all the qualities you need to be a central midfielder.
“The first thing you have to say about him is that he gets the ball very well. He is helped by the fact that he plays in a role before, when receiving the ball is no longer a problem, but it was an advantage for him. “
However, playing in the midfield was not something he wanted at the start and even led Rooney to consider leaving United in 2013.
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Rooney is considered a Manchester United legend after a brilliant 13-year stay at Old Trafford
“Everyone at the club knew that [in attack] this is where i wanted to play and i think that’s why i was disappointed because i was told to play midfielder and i didn’t want to, “said rooney at a conference Press.
“But I was always going to try to help the team, so I think there should come a time when for my own career I had to be a little selfish, really.”
It looks like Rooney has accepted his new role as a midfielder and Derby has shown improvement with him on the side.
When he made his debut, they were 17th in the championship and since then, they have been improving steadily until 13th place.
It’s a long way from their run to last season’s playoff final under Frank Lampard, where they were finally beaten by Aston Villa.
Derby are a better team with Rooney and the statistics show the influence of the former Manchester United player on the Rams.
The 34-year-old scored four goals and added two assists in 15 games in total, but it was his passing numbers that were truly impressive.
His average success rate is 81%, with an average of 50 successful passes per game.
His best game in a Derby shirt was probably against Stoke as he scored and scored in the Rams’ 4-0 victory.
Rooney completed 88% of his passes in the game and also had 63 hits in total, mostly in the middle of the field.
He hopes to have a similar influence when Derby hosts the Red Devils – with full comments on the FA Cup fifth round clash LIVE exclusively on talkSPORT!
Earlier this year, Arsenal icon Perry Groves even claimed that Rooney would improve the current Manchester United midfielder if he was still on the payroll at Old Trafford.
“Yes. Definitely. He would do it 100%,” said Groves on talkSPORT. “He’s better than Fred and he’s better than [Nemanja] Matic. Is it better than Lingard? I’m better than Lingard!
“Wayne Rooney is so good, he can still play in this United team.
“He reminds me of Paul Scholes. He was a player who got into the box, then as he got older he had to drop a little more and started to be the playmaker.
“Rooney can do it in the blink of an eye. It would improve United 100%. “
