With Ronaldo Gone, It`s Rooney`s Time

With Ronaldo Gone, It`s Rooney`s Time

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It's not often that you think of Wayne Rooney as a beautiful butterfly. But perhaps the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo will finally release the granny-grabbing genius from his cocoon...
When Wayne was snapped up by Manchester United in September 2004, it was widely said - at least by English observers - that they had acquired the best young footballer in the world. He'd been England's youngest-ever cap, he'd been brilliant at Everton: imagine what he could do in a team like United, with players like Horseface and Scholes and Giggs, with a manager like Ferguson. It has not yet, if United fans and Wayne's cheerleaders in the press are totally honest with themselves, come to pass.
For it was another young player, signed the year previously, who became United's key figure over the next half-decade, and Ronaldo's star has totally eclipsed Rooney's in recent times. But with the impending, colossal transfer of the petulant Portuguese, Man United will have to prove once and for all that they have not been a one-man team for the last few seasons.
And key in their attempts to do that will be Wayne. There is a vacancy for a star player at Manchester United; maybe Sir Alex will attempt to fill it with a Ribery or an Eto'o - although the latter looks past his best to my mind. But really, there are only three players of Ronaldo's quality around, and they all now play for Barcelona or Real Madrid. A like-for-like Ronaldo replacement does not exist.
Instead, Sir Alex must get more from the personnel he has, especially Rooney. Under Fabio Capello, Rooney's England form has been transformed, with a magnificent 10 goals in 12 games - aided and abetted by a large man up front, in Emile Heskey or his deputy, Peter Crouch.
The purchase, not of an attacking-midfield genius in the Ronaldo/Messi mould, but rather a genuine centre forward, might have a beneficial effect on the club form of Rooney. It is now widely believed that United will take up their option on Carlos Tevez, but I'm not so sure that the rich man's Craig Bellamy is really what they need.
With Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes all but done and Dimitar Berbatov still only sporadically threatening, United now possess only one man capable of destroying a decent opponent. In Rooney, they have a player with the physical presence, stamina, heart and touch of genius to become a great.
With the hard-to-like Ronaldo gone, Rooney can become what he was supposed to be all along: the star player around whom the team is built and the figure to lead the club. Sir Alex needs to make Rooney believe that, and he needs to change his formation or personnel to facilitate it.
He can't find another Ronaldo, but he can help to unleash Rooney.