The Freddy Adu Of Your Country

[Mpache]

1 minute ago, Gunnersauraus said:

He was exceptional but when he was young it seemed like he could have been the best player on the planet. He was never at that level

Yeah this is kind of what I meant.

Rooney is far from a Freddy Adu because he was not a failed product. However, when he started he was seen to have the same potential as Cristiano Ronaldo had at the time. One of them did reach that potential while Rooney didn't, so I can see where you are coming from.

He was still a great player and was one of United's key players in their success. Just not quite the Ronaldo he was seen to be at first.

[Stan]

Rooney is literally the highest scorer for one of the biggest teams in one of the biggest leagues in the world. A very competitive one at that. And for country.

To say he didn't reach expectations is silly talk. 

It's not like he tailed off about 10 years in to his career (given he started as a 16 year old).

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, Inti Brian said:

He didn't in the sense that he was supposed to be as good as Ronaldo, but you definitely cannot call him a failure either. In his prime he was exceptional.

I think you get what in saying. He was an exceptional player but his potential at a young age seemed even higher

[Eco]

Just now, Gunnersauraus said:

I'm not saying he wasn't a great player. A lot of people on this forum said he was average I've always said he was a top player. But when he was 18 it seemed like he could have been the best in the world. He was better than Ronaldo at 18 but Ronaldo was clearly better over the course of his career.

I think Roony was likely put under more of a microscope because he is English. He also didn't stay in his peak for as long as Ronaldo (but outside of Messi, has anyone?), and maybe that is what people think of his legacy. 

Rooney was absolutely a top player in the world during his Man U days. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Eco said:

He's the All-Time Scorer at one of the biggest clubs in the world, and leading scorer for his country...what the else could he have done? 

Been at Ronaldo and Messi,s level. He seemed to have that potential at 18

[Mpache]

Just now, Stan said:

Rooney is literally the highest scorer for one of the biggest leagues in the world. A very competitive one at that. And for country.

To say he didn't reach expectations is silly talk. 

It's not like he tailed off about 10 years in to his career (given he started as a 16 year old).

I think you are underestimating how highly he was seen when he started his career.

Rooney in my opinion was world class, but you can't say he was as good as Cristiano Ronaldo surely? Not even close.

A future Ballon D'or winner and didn't win a single one.

I only disagree with the sense that he was like Freddy Adu. He was not at all. I can't think of many examples besides Jefferson Farfan however.

[Eco]

Just now, Gunnersauraus said:

Been at Ronaldo and Messi,s level. He seemed to have that potential at 18

I heard you, but you are comparing him to 2 of the greatest players of all-time...so it's hard to really hold that against Rooney when he achieved so much in the biggest league playing for the biggest club. 

[Cicero]

18 minutes ago, Inti Brian said:

He didn't in the sense that he was supposed to be as good as Ronaldo, but you definitely cannot call him a failure either. In his prime he was exceptional.

Virtually no one predicted Ronaldo to grow into the player he had. J

Just because Ronaldo transitioned into one of the all time greats, it shouldn't  put a dent into what Rooney has accomplished. 

6 minutes ago, Gunnersauraus said:

He was exceptional but when he was young it seemed like he could have been the best player on the planet. He was never at that level

Again, no one predicted the levels Messi and Ronaldo would turn into. 2009-12 you could argue Rooney was a level below them. 

 

I love how the only argument against Rooney is that he wasn't at the level of two players who will go down as the greatest of all time. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Stan said:

Rooney is literally the highest scorer for one of the biggest leagues in the world. A very competitive one at that. And for country.

To say he didn't reach expectations is silly talk. 

It's not like he tailed off about 10 years in to his career (given he started as a 16 year old).

It really isn't silly. Like I've said it seemed like he was gonna be one of the best of not the best player in the world. He never reached that level. He was never even really close to being a world player of the year 

[Eco]

1 minute ago, Cicero said:

I love how the only argument against Rooney is that he wasn't at the level of two players who will go down as the greatest of all time. 

Exactly. 

[Mpache]

Just now, Cicero said:

Virtually no one predicted Ronaldo to grow into the player he had. J

Just because Ronaldo transitioned into one of the all time greats, it shouldn't  put a dent into what Rooney has accomplished. 

Now, I was too young when the 2004 euros happened, but looking back at docos and asking older folks they all told me about the comparisons back then between Rooney and Ronaldo. Also 2006 the World Cup. I could be very wrong, but I just know Rooney was seen as the future best player in the world.

I can see what your saying that no one predicted Ronaldo to become as good as he would eventually be, but he still had huge potential.

[Stan]

Just now, Inti Brian said:

I think you are underestimating how highly he was seen when he started his career.

Rooney in my opinion was world class, but you can't say he was as good as Cristiano Ronaldo surely? Not even close.

A future Ballon D'or winner and didn't win a single one.

I only disagree with the sense that he was like Freddy Adu. He was not at all. I can't think of many examples besides Jefferson Farfan however.

I'm really not.

He reached heights no other English player has done in modern times. Man scored 208 goals across his PL career.

Also I'm not saying he was as good as Ronaldo. Not even mentioned him . Who is making that comparison?

You can be pretty fucking quality at what you do but still not be as good as Ronaldo. That's saying more about Ronaldo than Rooney in this scenario. 

Also, the Ballon D'or thing is a stupid comparison too considering Ronaldo/Messi utterly dominated that for ages. So many players could have won that but didn't. Again, says more about Ronaldo/Messi than any other player.  

[Cicero]

Just now, Inti Brian said:

Now, I was too young when the 2004 euros happened, but looking back at docos and asking older folks they all told me about the comparisons back then between Rooney and Ronaldo. Also 2006 the World Cup. I could be very wrong, but I just know Rooney was seen as the future best player in the world.

I can see what your saying that no one predicted Ronaldo to become as good as he would eventually be, but he still had huge potential.

Which he still lived up to.

You are having Messi's and Ronaldo's level of ability tamper your overall judgement on Rooney. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Eco said:

I heard you, but you are comparing him to 2 of the greatest players of all-time...so it's hard to really hold that against Rooney when he achieved so much in the biggest league playing for the biggest club. 

Well you asked the question mate. Like I said he was better than Ronaldo at 18. And even taking them out of the equation he was never near the top 3 so  alot of players who weren't as good as him at a young age overtook him

[DeadLinesman]

1 minute ago, Gunnersauraus said:

It really isn't silly. Like I've said it seemed like he was gonna be one of the best of not the best player in the world. He never reached that level. He was never even really close to being a world player of the year 

There are plenty of world class players that don’t get close to a Ballon Dor. Wayne Rooney was absolutely world class for several years of his career. It’s an absolute shambles his name has even been mentioned in this thread.

[Mpache]

2 minutes ago, Cicero said:

I love how the only argument against Rooney is that he wasn't at the level of two players who will go down as the greatest of all time. 

I think you've got the wrong idea mate!

Rooney was undoubtedly world class, a key player in United's success and it's silly to call him a "Freddy Adu".

However, he didn't live up to his initial potential. He became very very good, but the fact that some people don't want to call him world class tells me it all. There shouldn't have been a question about that if he lived up to what he was seen to become.

[nudge+]

One must have some extremely high unhealthy expectations to even suggest that Rooney didn't live up to his potential...

[Mpache]

2 minutes ago, Stan said:

Also, the Ballon D'or thing is a stupid comparison too considering Ronaldo/Messi utterly dominated that for ages. So many players could have won that but didn't. Again, says more about Ronaldo/Messi than any other player.  

That's what I'm saying though, he was seen to become the best player in the world, but wasn't in the end. He was world class for sure, but he did not live up to initial expectations.

Again, he's not even close to being Freddy Adu. However, I can kind of get @Gunnersauraus's point.

As someone who got to experience Jefferson Farfan, he could have been as good as Alexis Sanchez was in his prime but he didn't become that, yet he was still a tremendous player.

[Eco]

1 minute ago, Inti Brian said:

I think you've got the wrong idea mate!

Rooney was undoubtedly world class, a key player in United's success and it's silly to call him a "Freddy Adu".

 However, he didn't live up to his initial potential. He became very very good, but the fact that some people don't want to call him world class tells me it all. There shouldn't have been a question about that if he lived up to what he was seen to become.

So you think he didn't live up to his potential, yet you even classify him as World Class? 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Virtually no one predicted Ronaldo to grow into the player he had. J

Just because Ronaldo transitioned into one of the all time greats, it shouldn't  put a dent into what Rooney has accomplished. 

Again, no one predicted the levels Messi and Ronaldo would turn into. 2009-12 you could argue Rooney was a level below them. 

 

I love how the only argument against Rooney is that he wasn't at the level of two players who will go down as the greatest of all time. 

He wasn't ever the third best player in the world either. So there were other players who overtook him not just Ronaldo and Messi. And I never mentioned Messi either. Messi was better than Rooney at 18 but he came a few years later.

[Stan]

Just now, Inti Brian said:

However, he didn't live up to his initial potential.

Says who? Who's opinion are you taking of his potential back then?

You said yourself you don't even know about 2004 Euros so how did you know what his potential was?

The 'world class' thing is in your own head because the 2 you are comparing to is Ronaldo & Messi (more the former, to be honest).

But I'll go back to what I said earlier. You can still be absolutely fucking quality at what you do (which Rooney was) but still be a level below Ronaldo. 

[Eco]

Just now, Gunnersauraus said:

He wasn't ever the third best player in the world either. So there were other players who overtook him not just Ronaldo and Messi. And I never mentioned Messi either. Messi was better than Rooney at 18 but he came a few years later.

Context. 

Rooney played in the same era as CR, Messi, Xavi, Inesta....you are talking about 4 of the greatest players at their position EVER. 

[Cicero]

4 minutes ago, Inti Brian said:

I think you've got the wrong idea mate!

Rooney was undoubtedly world class, a key player in United's success and it's silly to call him a "Freddy Adu".

However, he didn't live up to his initial potential. He became very very good, but the fact that some people don't want to call him world class tells me it all. There shouldn't have been a question about that if he lived up to what he was seen to become.

He did. That's what you aren't getting. 

Again, you are letting Messi and Ronaldo's ability of scoring 50+ goals every season for 10 bloody years tamper your judgement on Rooney. 

3 minutes ago, Gunnersauraus said:

He wasn't ever the third best player in the world either. So there were other players who overtook him not just Ronaldo and Messi. And I never mentioned Messi either. Messi was better than Rooney at 18 but he came a few years later.

Who else was better than Rooney circa 2009-12? 

[Eco]

Speaking of real busts...has anyone fallen harder than the Italian bloke who scored the wonder goal for United and then disappeared? He was from future GOAT to ghost in about 3.5 seconds. 

[Mpache]

Just now, Stan said:

Says who? Who's opinion are you taking of his potential back then?

You said yourself you don't even know about 2004 Euros so how did you know what his potential was?

The 'world class' thing is in your own head because the 2 you are comparing to is Ronaldo & Messi (more the former, to be honest).

But I'll go back to what I said earlier. You can still be absolutely fucking quality at what you do (which Rooney was) but still be a level below Ronaldo. 

If you ask older folks, watch docos and look all over the internet you'll hear the same thing.

I agree Rooney was absolutely world class but he didn't become the "next Gazza" or the "next Charlton" that he was tipped to be. 

It's hard to have a better career than Rooney had, both at an individual and collective level, but he didn't become the best player in the world the media said he would.

Quote

Take a trip down to memory lane and cast your mind back to around 2005/06. Rooney was expected to be The Man. He was the most exciting player since Paul Gascoigne and possessed a deadly combination of raw speed, strength, skill and was a brilliant finisher but also he could score some delicious goals outside the penalty box. 

This is an opinion from Quora, and I think he's right.

Here is another one.

Quote

Though there were some incredible highs, such as the overhead kick against Manchester City and winning every major honour at the club, it could be argued that Rooney fell just short of achieving his true potential, though he was still a very good player for the club.

Argue if it's cherry picked or not, but we're not saying Rooney was a bad player or a "Freddy Adu". He was closer to the best player in the world than "deadweight". However, he didn't live up to initial heights made by the press and media.

Do a quick google search and this is what comes up.

A world class player should NOT be questioned this much, so again, I can kind of get what @Gunnersauraus is saying even if I don't think it belongs in this particular thread.