In the wake of England's 4-0 win over Bulgaria at Wembley last night, Jermain Defoe has been grabbing the headlines following a well taken hat-trick. However, while the Tottenham striker deserves to be applauded for what was an impressive display, the man who was at the heart of England's attacking play was Wayne Rooney. The United striker was deployed as the second striker, just behind Defoe; unlike at the South Africa World Cup this summer the tactic worked a treat and Rooney looked sharp and more often than not he picked the right pass. Rooney played a major part in all of England's goals.
Against Bulgaria, Rooney showed signs that he's well and truly on his way back to something like his best; such a pity for England that clearly Rooney was nowhere near 100% match-fit in South Africa.
Ferguson was no doubt watching England take on Bulgaria in that Euro 2012 qualifier and it will have served as a timely reminder that Rooney is among the world's finest second strikers on his day.
Unlike last season, the United manager now has several potent looking striker combination options, which include the current man-in-form Dimitar Berbatov with Rooney as the main striker; alternatively, Fergie could play Rooney as the second-striker with Hernandez leading the attack in a combination that would be very similar to the Rooney and Defoe partnership. The biggest problem for Fergie will be keeping all of his strikers happy.
While it was an excellent night for Rooney, the same cannot be said for United's latest signing Bébé, who made his international debut for Portugal's U21s against England U21s in a vital Euro qualifier. Ironically, it was another recent United signing who was largely responsible for keeping Bébé in check; by all accounts it was an easy night for Chris Smalling at the heart of the England defence. England won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Danny Sturridge.
Hi i havent commented on this blog for several months. mate i have to say your so negative its unreal. recently i have not read your blogs. your title says it all. 'bebe disappoints on international debut' mate the whole portugal team was shocking. dreadful. they couldnt string a few passes together. to make things worse on bebe he was playing as a lone striker. he was given zero service. when he was dropped deeper in the second half we seen him on the ball more frequentley and he was their biggest threat.
ReplyDeleteOK well, that's one vote of confidence for Bebe. I'm not negative all of the time and you have conveniently ignored my praise for Rooney.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Tony. The team was crap but he did so some great speed. I think he will be good pickup by Ferguson. Give him time.
ReplyDeleteBebe was disappointing while he played as a frontman but he was livelier once he was switched to the flanks. To be fair, he had no service while he was up-front, and there was one very impressive run when he took the ball past three defenders with ease, but that was about it. The lad has ability alright, but his movement off the ball and his decision-making were terrible and I'm not too sure how much of that can be taught.
ReplyDeleteOn the brighter side, Cleverley was byfar the best player on the pitch. I really hope the lad does well for Wigan.
Pete,
ReplyDeleteIF you look at the comments that I've written about Bebe I think you will find that I haven't commented on his ability. I have been commenting on the news that has been reported which has been negative. I'm going to reserve judgement on Bebe until I see more of him. I've barely seen anything of him.
Dela,
ReplyDeleteApparently, Bebe is more of a wide player than a striker so the fact he looked better on the wing isn't too much of a surprise.
Fergie has made plenty of enemies down the years in the media and so accordingly some of them will be itching to get one over him. In this instance, the revelation that the manager had never seen the lad play prior to signing him appears to be an open goal.
If Bebe comes good, then great, but if he doesn't then we can expect more sniping, but it won't change much.
Even though £7.4m is a lot of money, in the big scheme of things this transfer will soon be forgotten about even if it goes wrong, it will be a minor blemish on his record.
I reckon Bebe wasn't that bad.. I had a look at his run against England U-21.. It was alright, it was promising.. u can have a look here if u want.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theredevilspot.com/2010/09/bebe-and-hargreaves-omitted-from.html