WAYNE’S ALL WASHED UP
says GRAEME SOUNESS
WAYNE ROONEY is past it as a Premier League star.
That is the astonishing claim from Liverpool legend and Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness. The former hardman midfielder and ex-Anfield boss reckons the Manchester United skipper needs to go abroad if he wants to command a regular place again, with China or the USA the most likely destination this summer. Souness reckons Rooney’s attempts to reinvent himself as a midfielder have failed miserably. “I’d have thought the natural move for him as a striker would be to a central midfield player,” said the Scot. “I thought that would have been seamless and he would have got that overnight. But he has not grasped that. “An occasional ping of a ball from right to left wing does not make a good central midfielder. “There is a lot more to it than that. He is 31, I had my best football years at 31, so I am mystified with it. “He’s not understanding that position. It is not an occasional Hollywood ball, there is far more to it than that. “It is about filling areas. It is about standing still rather than moving a lot of the time. “He loves his football, I would imagine he will want to go somewhere where he will play regularly.
Hurtful
“This will have been his worse season of professional football, he has just not played enough games. “From being the captain and the first name on the teamsheet to this. That will be hurtful to him. I think he will move on, I don’t see him accepting that.” Rooney is set to be on the bench against his former club Everton tonight, having plummeted down Jose Mourinho’s pecking order at Old Trafford.
And Souness fears Rooney’s powers have faded so much that he would struggle to get guaranteed first-team football anywhere in the Premier League.
He added: “With his next move, he is a big enough player to say, ‘I need to be guaranteed I’m playing every week’. But no big club will accept that demand.
“So it’s more likely he will go abroad. He has achieved everything in this country, so this will be a new challenge, a new experience for his family, another culture.
‘‘I did it at 31, I went to Serie A and it certainly didn’t do me any harm. That is what I would do and what I did do.
“At that time it was the place to go, like the Premier League of today. All the big players were in Serie A.”
The MLS or China would seem a more likely destination for Rooney after being overtaken by the likes of Paul Pogba at Old Trafford. But Souness has not been
impressed with the impact made by the France international, who could be back tonight after two games out with a hamstring injury, following his return from Juventus for a record £89m fee.
Souness said: “He’s like Ross Barkley. Both of them have got a trick on the ball, look silky on the ball – and in Pogba’s case he has got a real engine.
“Do they have an understanding yet of what is needed in terms of decisionmaking? They have a long way to go.
“It is about simplifying it. Can you teach that? Only time will tell. All the proper players have it.
“What makes a good football player? Athleticism, technique and, probably most important, a good football brain.
“If you have got a really good football brain, you can cover your deficiencies.
“You don’t get caught in a race if you are not quick, you are already on your way. If you can’t head the ball, maybe you give them a little nudge when the ball arrives.” SKY SPORTS will show the biggest games in the Premier League run-in including Chelsea v Manchester United, the North London and Manchester derbies and more.