Here's what I don't get. There have been plenty of strikers who have played top flight football till way into their thirties and some even later (e.g. Teddy Sheringham).
(In fact Sheringham won a treble, another title and PFA and writers player of the year award at an older age than Rooney.) So why is Rooney finished because he is 32?
Rooney has been a support striker all of his career - Van Nistelrooy, Tevez, Berbatov, Ronaldo, Zaha, Van Persie etc. He has never been the main out and out striker at club level. And do you know what, he was probably the world best in that position.
Yet we seem to have decided upon a new position for him that he has never played in within his entire career - one that requires more running and energy than when he was a younger and fitter player. Only at Everton!!! Play him as a proper support striker to Tosun in a 442 or 352 for God's sake!
Over the last four or five seasons, teams have gone away from playing two up front to just one and two wide men and there is no coincidence why Rooney has struggled at club and international level during this time.
Refreshing to see Burnley have now reverted to two up front and Leicester also won a title playing two up front because those systems fit their personnel the best, however we have decided to keep playing a formation that doesn't get the best out of the players we have in the squad and invent positions for our more versatile and technically gifted players just to fit them in!
Rooney is better than Sheringham was, but Man Utd, Spurs and West Ham didn't decide to play Sheringham in midfield because his legs (which he never had in the first place) had gone. They played to his strengths, used his footballing brain and got the best out of him.
We need to start doing the same with Wayne, starting with a change of shape and approach. The prodigal son is not finished yet...
