Adam Dennehey WAFU manager
Wayne Rooney is going to be out for about four weeks. The news is disappointing on many levels for those who follow Manchester United. Perhaps one of the most disappointing effects is that we will all have to wait at least another four weeks to see how Rooney and new signing, Robin van Persie play together from the start of a match.
Since Manchester United’s acquisition of van Persie from Arsenal, Sir Alex Ferguson has started Rooney in the opening day fixture against Everton, with the Dutchman coming on as a substitute and vice versa in the second fixture against Fulham.
In both matches, either van Persie or Rooney came on in the 68th minute, leaving only 22 minutes in each game for the two to play together.
While such a short time cannot possibly be indicative of how the two will gel once they can play together for longer periods of time, it has shown that there may have to be a few changes for the pair to have success.
In the match against Fulham, when Rooney came on, it looked as though Sir Alex had initially placed Rooney up top, while van Persie filled in the middle, and played a little further back.
Personally, I believe the roles will have to be reversed for the pair to be more comfortable. Rooney generally thrives on working in the middle of the field, where he can come back to help the midfield, and get the ball. When he is playing with the likes of Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez, it is the position we see Rooney take more often.
On the other side, van Persie played as the highest striker for Arsenal. Not to say he didn’t come back for the ball, but his ability and comfort in being the furthest forward was a big factor in van Persie becoming the leading scorer in the Premier League last season.
So far, we haven’t seen much from the pairing, but that’s just because we haven’t had the opportunity to see the two grow. We know that individually, the two can score a plethora of goals. Considering that goal differential held United back at the close of the 2011-2012 season, having Rooney and van Persie together should only help.
We may also be able to see the pair flourish when Michael Carrick will be able to leave the center of defense and move back to the center midfield. Then he’ll be able to provide his expert balls to van Persie and Rooney and then we’ll see the goals come rolling in from the two.
By Jennifer Calhoun @Calhouner
