Well, we said it would happen and it has. Faster than some of us probably believed it would. Ruud and Rooney are now a feared strike pairing. Even though we've only seen a handful of goals that came as a result of one passing to the other (shockingly Ruud to Rooney as often as its Rooney to Ruud) there is definitely synergy at work. Rooney's always been the player to watch on his team. The same can be said for Ruud. Rooney has benefited from the extra space he gets due to not being THE guy to watch. Ruud is still THE guy to watch, as his goal tally reflects, however having a player who is both creative and capable of wreaking havoc to set up chances for himself in a central position has also lightened Ruud's load. At the beginning of the season it was mostly Rooney to Ruud. Rooney being a creative force, but as he moved into a more central role and became used to Ruud's style of play and the team has gained some cohesion, Rooney started getting chances for himself. Some of them solo and others assisted. We've now got two players who you really don't want to allow chances to more than once in a game, because more than likely if u give them both a couple chances, you will be down a couple goals. Hopefully we can get consistent wingplay and Scholes can capitalize on all the attention to front pairing gets and then he'll be back to scoring 15+ goals. As for now though, we've got the most feared strike pairing in the league and I don't think any team will have 2 players reach the level of scoring that Ruud and Rooney will hit. As it stands they've got 13 and 10 goals and could both go for over 25 if Ruud doesn't get injured and Rooney gets hot
agreed, they're both hot right now, Rooney is well...Rooney, he's always magical and even in his off days where he won't score he'll do something special. Ruud is also getting back into form, not quite there yet I think as he's still missing some clear cut chances. That overhead back-kick was fantastic however and I want to see him try things like that more often, show the opposition that he's dangerous from all over the pitch.
I've been more impressed with Ruud this term than Rooney. My expectations of Rooney were written out when he first came here and he hasn't once failed to meet my expectations. Ruud, coming off such an injury laden season has reinvented himself somewhat. He was selfish and inconsiderate for most of his time here (no really, but, he scores goals and no one could really question his strike rate or GPG) but now he plays for the team over himself. That was my complaint with him even when he was at the peak of his powers - he only passed the ball to get it back - now, he really does set up others in better positions and doesn't neccesarily have to get the ball back as a pre-requisite to giving it to someone in the first place. This one facet alone has opened up his game exponentially - he's harder to mark now, less predictable and is really benefitting from a selfless team play aspect to his game. This could be age tbh, a lot of players reach an age where they have an epihany and start to do things you didn't previously associate with them and it could be that is what has happened with Ruud. He sees a yung team around him that needs his experience and he is giving it to them Whatever the cause, I like it. I was going to say it was the switch to 4-4-2, but it is more than that imo.
and on what basis are you saying that, anywas ya Rooney, Ruud and now picture this OLE! lol lets hope Ole gets back in forum once he plays with the first team again!
When Ole returns I'd much rather see him on the right wing, he worked wonders a couple of seasons ago in the same position. Ruud will not only get the brilliant passes from the center from Rooney but he'll finallly get more decent crosses from the right.