Former Welsh international and now pundit Dean Saunders has recently claimed that former England skipper Wayne Rooney would’ve continued to be an asset for Everton this season had we not sold him over the summer.
Our Academy graduates better days were certainly behind him as we saw that first hand at Goodison Park during his second spell, but the 33-year-old – in a more unfamiliar deeper position as he transitioned to in his final days at Manchester United – still saw plenty of effort and skill, and his second spell did see 36 starting appearances, with four substitute showings and he ended the 2017/18 campaign with eleven goals to his name.
Fans were split when he left, believing that a more attack minded Marco Silva would get more from him that defensive, long ball denier, Sam Allardyce, but Silva seemed to clean his hands of him and let the club make the decision to move him onto DC United.
Okay, there’s no denying the MLS is a different kettle of fish to the Premier League, but Rooney has 12 goals in 22 goals and appears (from afar) to have got a second lease of life.
Speaking to Talksport on their Final Word programme (Monday, 7.30pm), Saunders claimed that Rooney could’ve still had a role to play at Goodison this year, denying that his legs had gone and basically slamming the short sighted nature of the decision to sell him on.
“11 goals. Top scorer for Everton last season. Top of the assists, Sigurdsson and him were level. Passes on the pitch, important passes, he was top of that. I think they won one game when he wasn’t playing. And they let him go! People are going to say, ‘his legs are gone’. They’re not! Have a look at his stats. Still, now he would have an effect on that team today.”
Now, I wasn’t in the anti-Rooney camp who expected energy levels like the young teenager he was was he broke through, but even I accept at some points he carried us, at others, he was accommodated.
It’s a shame how it went, but I’m not sure why the media needs to harp back to history for what-ifs just to make a sound-byte.
Did we make the most of his return – no. Can we change it now – no.
Move on.