Seventeen years ago today, Wayne Rooney made his Man United debut

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Hard to believe he’s only 35.

I don’t think some younger people realise just how good he was, and I’m not a Man United fan by any means.

Arguably the best English player of his generation, the speed, the power and the technical ability he had - made him a complete forward.

Arguably started his decline when he gradually started dropping deeper, but he was sensational playing just behind RVP for a while.


Some debut, eh?.
 
Bit of a sad story comparing Ronaldo being back at United scoring goals and Rooney languishing in the Championship fighting fires as Derby manager now.

Despite a fantastic career, must be asking himself where did it all go wrong?
 
looking back at early videos of him (there was one on twitter with his highlights from his first ever euros) you notice just how much he lost his pace/athleticism as his career went on. Had an unbelievable career and undoubtedly a top top player but can’t help but think he’d have achieved even more if he took a bit better care of himself
 
Hard to believe he’s only 35.

I don’t think some younger people realise just how good he was, and I’m not a Man United fan by any means.

Arguably the best English player of his generation, the speed, the power and the technical ability he had - made him a complete forward.

Arguably started his decline when he gradually started dropping deeper, but he was sensational playing just behind RVP for a while.


Some debut, eh?.

If only he was dedicated to nutrition, sports science etc. and not a fat pie he would still be playing for a top side today.
 
Unfortunately for him at international level, he peaked at his first tournament

A combination of injuries and decisions made by the management at different tournaments meant he never set another World Cup or Euros alight

Had some brilliant stand out seasons for United. The first with him and Hernandez and previously him and Tevez as partnerships were superb
 
The biggest mistake of his latter years was opting to stay at United under Moyes when Mourinho wanted him at Chelsea.

It all just went a bit stale from there forward.
 
Bit of a sad story comparing Ronaldo being back at United scoring goals and Rooney languishing in the Championship fighting fires as Derby manager now.

Despite a fantastic career, must be asking himself where did it all go wrong?
It’s always been quite the relationship from the outside - two guys essentially the same age at the club and how their paths combined and then went in very different directions.

Rooney was a force of nature - so physically powerful for such a young lad.
An utter shame that he didn’t pick up at all on how Ronaldo was looking after himself and getting stronger each year, while Rooney went into physical decline during his 20s.. seems outrageous given the knowledge about this kind of stuff in top level sport nowadays.

No doubt about it though - Rooney scored some incredible goals.
 
Bit of a sad story comparing Ronaldo being back at United scoring goals and Rooney languishing in the Championship fighting fires as Derby manager now.

Despite a fantastic career, must be asking himself where did it all go wrong?
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Gym day, Erry day!
 
Bit of a sad story comparing Ronaldo being back at United scoring goals and Rooney languishing in the Championship fighting fires as Derby manager now.

Despite a fantastic career, must be asking himself where did it all go wrong?
The funny thing is he was better than Ronaldo until the year 2006 or so.

Then Ronaldo kept improving and the rest is history.

It just shows what hard work, dedication and prayers (ok, too far) do for a player's development and longevity!
 
That was his first game after Euro 2004 where he looked an absolute world beater at 18. Some debut after a long layoff. Had a glittering career obviously but never lit up another major tournament for England which would have seemed unthinkable 17 years ago.
 
Bit of a sad story comparing Ronaldo being back at United scoring goals and Rooney languishing in the Championship fighting fires as Derby manager now.

Despite a fantastic career, must be asking himself where did it all go wrong?
Kebabs and grannies I'd say.
 
He looked like a genuine superstar at euro 2004 aged 18. Underappreciated isn’t a word I’d use though, everything he did was hyped up beyond belief. Won PoTY in a year where Droga outscored him and outplayed him.

The Newcastle volley was something special.
 
Bit of an underachiever given the early promise. Looked like he might be on the same sort of level as Ronaldo or Messi but fell short.
 
Unbelievable, player. One of the greatest the EPL will ever see.

I’m a huge fan (as is our boss).
 
Hard to believe he’s only 35.

I don’t think some younger people realise just how good he was, and I’m not a Man United fan by any means.

Arguably the best English player of his generation, the speed, the power and the technical ability he had - made him a complete forward.

Arguably started his decline when he gradually started dropping deeper, but he was sensational playing just behind RVP for a while.


Some debut, eh?.
I was at that game.
 
Absolutely fantastic player. He could have played anywhere on the park and still would have done a job. He epitomises the English Premier League.
 
Bit of a sad story comparing Ronaldo being back at United scoring goals and Rooney languishing in the Championship fighting fires as Derby manager now.

Despite a fantastic career, must be asking himself where did it all go wrong?
Yes he probably asks himself that every night, sitting in his mansion and checking his Swiss bank accounts.
 
An absolute monster of a boy at 16-17yo. I think some people seem to forget how good this guy was!

I loved watching the prem back in they days :oops:
 
Did he suffer from being too versatile? I'm still not sure what his natural position ever was? Although I definitely preferred watching him play as a striker.
 
I watched that debut and thought he was going to be the best player in the world. He did have a great career of course, but never quite fulfilled the potential. And his last few years at Utd he was useless.
 
Remember his debut like it was last night, some performance for him and he took to United like he'd been playing there years.

He set the moment when he ripped the collar to fit his coupon through it...

Feel like most young English talent back then that he peaked in his early twenties and even in his late twenties he wasn't the same player.

Compare and contrast with the older generation like Ibra and CR7 who are proper athletes.
 
Even though he made his debut as a 16yo for Everton, I suspect he was playing a lot of competitive games prior to that in an age group above where he should have been i.e. U-18's or B team. To me he burnt out and he lost a lot of the power and pace which defined him.

Similar to Michael Owen and dare I say Robbie Fowler in that respect, that the way youth football in the UK is structured plus the 60+ games per season doesn't lend itself to longevity of career.
 
Pretty sure George Best was doing the Sky Sports special that night and was waxing lyrical about the new kid on the block.
 
I remember at Euro 2004 they were touting him as the next Pele. This was before Messi was on the scene and Ronaldo hadn't taken off as a global superstar either.
 
Clearly remember watching that night and thinking there was no limit to how far he could go.
 
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