O Captain! Roy’s Captain! - What happened to Wayne?

28 years old. Captain of both his country and one of the biggest football clubs on the planet. £300,000 a week wages. Commercial deals coming out of his ears. The prospect of becoming both England and Manchester United’s all time record goal scorer looms ever closer on the horizon.

‘So, where did it all go wrong, Wayne?’

If, like me, you grew up in the north west of England and took an interest in football then the chances are that you had heard of Wayne Rooney before he made his explosive Premier League entrance with that goal against Arsenal. Murmurs about a special talent dwelling in Everton’s youth teams were around long before David Seamen was left helplessly clutching thin air in front of a jubilant Goodison Park in 2002. Back then it was easy for a sceptical non Evertonian like myself to scoff at the notion that the Blues had some secret weapon ready to unleash upon the Premier League. I’d heard it all before and the reality never stacked up to the stories: Michael Branch, Franny Jeffers, Danny Cadamarteri, need I go on? Well, in this case, yes actually, I must. Because Wayne Rooney was no myth.

Within a few months of that famous goal against the then reigning champions, Rooney was lighting up English football on a weekly basis. Terrorizing defenders with a mixture of rare natural ability and breathtaking power, he blazed a trail through the Premier League and was, soon enough, making Euro 2004 his own personal coming out party before injury struck.

A £30m move to Manchester United quickly came along and with it a Champions League debut hat trick that confirmed what we already knew: Rooney was more than ready for the big time. During his first two seasons at Old Trafford he was undoubtedly United’s star turn. A period of transition was taking place at the club and the young Scouser was set to be the man who would lead United into a new era of success.

That success duly arrived in the form of multiple league titles and three European Cup finals. But this is where things become complicated in the Wayne Rooney story.

By 2007, Rooney’s downward trajectory was already in motion even if the public couldn't yet see it. Despite being England’s main man by this time, he had already become a supporting act at club level. He remained an audaciously gifted player capable of the extraordinary, but a supporting act none the less. It was Cristiano Ronaldo who had took on the mantle of becoming United’s next talisman. The Portuguese, who Rooney was often compared favourably to during their early days together in Manchester, had moved onto a new level and England’s latest great hope was now required to do a lot of the leg work while Ronaldo took centre stage.

People complained at the time - and indeed since - that Alex’s Ferguson’s decision to often use Rooney out wide and make the most of his work rate to free Ronaldo was what stunted the progress of England’s most talented footballer in a generation. They may be right. But so was Ferguson to do what he did. Vindication of his decision to ‘sacrifice’ Rooney in order to get the best out of Ronaldo was immediately apparent and hasn't diminished with the passing of time. Seven years on, it now seems almost unfathomable to think that debates ever existed about which player was more gifted or who United should have built around. In 2014, Wayne Rooney remains a very good Premier League footballer. Cristiano Ronaldo now belongs to a different stratosphere altogether and has done for years. The gap between the two continues to accelerate at a high speed.

Following Ronaldo’s protracted defection to Madrid during the summer of 2009, a new incarnation of Rooney emerged and flourished. He took his place as the spearhead of United’s attack and scored 26 league goals playing as a striker in just 32 appearances. One must acknowledge that his numbers have always been impressive. Goals and assists have never been in short supply during his career but, as early as that successful 2009/10 season, it was apparent that the Rooney we were witnessing was a different beast to the teenager who had defenders in a perpetual state of panic. Statistics were, and remain, enduring evidence of his undoubted quality, but the fantasy footballer who got people off their seats and had England fans dreaming of a bright future was no more. At this point he was ‘just’ an excellent striker, not the ‘White Pele’ United fans expectantly sang about upon his arrival.

There are many theories as to why this came to pass. A lack of professionalism off the pitch has regularly been cited. Rooney’s fluctuating weight, for example, has often been a source of ridicule for his detractors and frustration for his supporters. Injuries have been quite a regular occurrence also, and there is little doubt that they have taken a toll on a player has never resembled the finely tuned athlete he probably should have been. Whatever it was along the way that took the spark from Rooney’s game, it left him devoid of the one thing that made him truly special. The ability to beat a man with raw power or pace has been absent for a long time now. If you can’t beat players the chances are you won’t be perceived as an elite forward in modern day football. People gawp at the likes of Messi, Ibrahimovic, Suarez and Ronaldo because they effortlessly leave defenders trailing either by way of excessive skill, pace or power. Their status isn't what it is because they simply put up decent numbers. Like the defenders they torment every week, those elite players have left Rooney in their rear view mirrors.

So what of the present and the future? Wayne Rooney currently captains Manchester United yet there are plenty of Mancunian supporters who don’t even want him starting for their team. Robin van Persie usurped him, like Ronaldo, as United’s main attacking threat when he at the club arrived two seasons ago.

The Rooney of today works best as an out and out striker and, with the recent acquisition of Radamel Falcao, he’s probably the third best man in the United squad equipped to fill such a role. This puts Louis van Gaal in a tough position. The Dutch manager has made Rooney his captain. The idea of being able to sell the Scouse forward should he have a change of heart and prefer to marginalise his skipper and instead partner Van Persie and Falcao doesn’t appear to be realistic. No top club in the world is likely to come calling for Wayne these days. Certainly not when you add those £300,000 wage slips into the equation. He simply isn't worth it anymore.

Rooney remains a world class player only in the minds of marketers who know that, despite the progressive dwindling of his star, his name still resonates around the world. Van Gaal will have to find a solution to the Rooney problem and quickly or a storm could well be brewing in the Manchester skies before long.

On the international stage, a similar conundrum exists. Daniel Sturridge is undoubtedly the best out and out striker the country can field these days and has taken the number 9 shirt as his own. Rooney was deployed out wide in the first game of the World Cup against Italy and, despite an assist (he always has put up the numbers, remember) he looked poor and came in for criticism. Fortunately, with a press clamouring for the national side to still be built around him and a manager more than willing to oblige, Rooney was moved back in field for England’s crucial game against Uruguay. The man that switched roles with him was Raheem Sterling who was England’s best player in that opening match. Predictably, despite being indulged and allowed to play where he feels most comfortable at the expense of others, Rooney failed to galvanise his team and England were defeated by Uruguay.

Today, in the immediate aftermath of a drab 1-0 friendly win over Norway in Rooney’s first official match as his country’s new captain, even the English press appear to be waking up to the fact that their golden boy isn’t what he once was. There is a clamour for Sterling - as irony would have it, a teenage prodigy playing on Merseyside - to finally take Rooney’s central role behind Sturridge.

Wayne Rooney was a once in a generation talent. My personal prediction ten years ago was that he would either become one of the greatest players of his time or at least burn out in a blaze of glory a la George Best, giving us a handful of wonderful years before something went wrong and curtailed his progress. Neither really happened.

What came to pass was far less romantic than either scenario. Rooney never did conquer the footballing world, nor did he hit previously unscaled heights before prematurely self destructing like a shooting star. Instead, he just became a very good footballer who had peaked by his early twenties and has been slowly, gradually, fading in front of our eyes ever since.

Enough about Balo, Brendan

Brendan Rodgers likes to talk.

He loves reciting a story with a happy ending, especially if he stars in it.

It’s safe to say that right now the Liverpool manager has built up plenty of goodwill within the club’s fanbase and the media at large. He deserves it, too. He’s done a cracking job with this football club and has obviously improved certain individual players within the squad significantly. If he wishes to chat away to journalists about how he helped Daniel Sturridge finally realise his previously untapped potential or bang on about how he reinstilled confidence into Jordan Henderson’s game then I have no problem with that. Some may see it as self indulgent and categorise such musings as shameless self promotion or David Brent style riffing but, frankly, he’s earned the right to some self congratulation from time to time. He has an ego, like all of us, and if he wants it stroked for some of his achievements then that’s fine by me.

One thing has concerned me lately though when it comes to the topic of Rodgers’ rhetoric. It’s nothing too serious (yet), but the way he has been talking about Mario Balotelli has grated on me. I’ve tried to ignore it and most of the time it’s admittedly been fairly harmless stuff, but after Liverpool’s victory at Spurs it became downright patronising in my eyes.

Saying that Balotelli’s time at Liverpool could be his ‘last chance at a big club’ was justified. He made the same type of public assertion when Daniel Sturridge came to Anfield and frankly, it was fair assessment in both instances. His joke that Balotelli would add ‘Trouble’ to the squad when he was asked about his new signing on live television may have been slightly misguided but it was obviously just a rib. An off the cuff joke not to be taken seriously. Still nothing to see here.

Then came the post-match press conference at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

‘For the first time in his life he marked at a corner. Serious. International player, won three titles in Italy, cups, Champions League. And we were doing corners and he went ‘I don’t mark at corners’. Well you do now...’

Sorry. What?

First of all, the notion that Balotelli has never picked a man up at a corner before is just a complete fabrication. You don’t even need to go and re watch old games from the Italian’s career to know that it’s pure fantasy. The idea of a big centre forward never having been directed to defend a corner under the tutelage of the likes of Jose Mourinho, Roberto Mancini or Cesare Prandelli is, for want of a better phrase, complete bollocks. Even if Balotelli did say that in training (and if he did I’d assume he was kidding) why bring it up in front of the press? What purpose did it serve?

It’s a fairly inconsequential quote on the face of it and, coming off the back of an outstanding 3-0 win, it was unlikely to be scrutinised too much, but that doesn’t make it okay. It was completely patronising and disrespectful towards the player and his former coaches. Worse, it also feeds into the notion that Mario Balotelli is some kind of lazy primadona aimlessly floating along in need of Brendan Rodgers to bring him back down to earth.

Predictably, some people lapped it up. ‘Look at what Brendan said. Mario never even used to bother marking players he was that much of a lad! Brendan will sort him out though. Won’t get away with that here.’ That sort of stuff. It was a line that made people chuckle, no doubt. But it was completely unnecessary of the manager to make that conversation public.

Put yourself in the striker’s shoes for a minute. You’ve just helped your team to a 3-0 victory on your debut. You’ve played pretty damn well given the circumstances and gone off to a standing ovation from the away fans. Then you hear your manager talking about you as if you are some spoilt ten year old who has belatedly found a proper role model who will finally insist that you eat your greens whether you want to or not. If I were Mario and I read those quotes I’d feel like a bit of an idiot.

Balotelli famously dislikes the rumours, half truths and apocryphal tales that surround him. He’s not too fond of the media and their desire to paint him as some immature, detached nincompoop. No wonder. He’s a complicated young man with a few mistakes in his past but he isn’t merely the bumbling comedy act that many would have you believe. Those quotes from Rodgers were worthless. They only served to underline this perception of Mario the class clown who desperately requires a guiding hand from his new headmaster.

I’m sure there was no malice intended from Rodgers and his mouth just got a little carried away in the aftermath of an impressive day’s work, but he needs to rein it in. He’s been quoted as saying Liverpool aren’t going to become ‘The Mario Balotelli Show’, so maybe it would be better if he didn’t add fuel to those particular flames with silly quotes that immediately write headlines for opportunistic journalists out to promote the myth of ‘Mario the Maverick’.

The amount of surprise on show in the aftermath of Balotelli’s debut illustrated just how difficult a task it will be for the player to alter the general perception of him. People we’re apparently amazed that he’d actually worked hard for Liverpool against Spurs! Some have even dared to use it as proof that Rodgers can ‘turn the player around’. It was as if Balotelli was a changed man in their eyes. He’d apparently gone from a lazy git into a workaholic after six days on Merseyside.

Again, this is just pure fiction.

A work shy player unwilling or unable to contribute defensively to his team simply doesn’t play in a Jose Mourinho side no matter how talented he may be (ask Juan Mata). A complete lay about doesn’t lead the line for Italy and destroy one of the best centre halves in world football during a Euro 2012 semi final the way Mario did to Mats Hummels. Preening, uncommitted individuals aren’t usually popular with their peers at any football club for long and yet one need only look to the reaction of Man City’s players to Balotelli’s presence at the Eithad last Monday for confirmation that he was a well liked figure there.

There is no doubt that, when his head drops, Balotelli can lose motivation. While other players will run around more when they’re frustrated, he can sulk and withdraw from a game if things aren’t going his way. Liverpool and Rodgers will no doubt have to cross that bridge when they come to it sooner or later. But this idea that Mario Balotelli is just some rebel without a cause who simply does whatever the hell he feels like every time he steps onto a football pitch is completely unfounded. It needs to be knocked on the head, not propagated further by irresponsible quotes from the player’s new manager.

If Mario Balotelli does succeed and improve at Liverpool Football Club then I will quite happily listen for hours on end to Brendan Rodgers reminiscing and eulogising about the work that went into making that happen. Until then though, I’d rather he keep schtum and let Mario’s football do the talking for him. After all, as Brendan said himself, Liverpool don’t need to become ‘The Mario Balotelli Show’.