13 years ago I wrote
a blog asking, no, begging Manchester United to buy Wayne Rooney. And on August
31st without about 15 minutes left in the transfer window, they finally did. It
was a road that I had travelled a little longer than most; from the first time
Wayne Rooney scored a goal in the EPL, I was hooked.
Our story starts in
the fall of 2002 when I was really starting to fall in love with this new sport
of soccer. Growing up, I hated it. My friends and I never played it, and my
parents certainly wouldn't think to sign me up for it. First, because I didn't
care for it, and second, they didn't either. I would play it casually at sports
camps that I went to while wasting away the summers, but I never embraced it as
my sport, and it was just a way to stay active, while I waited for my more
favorable classes like basketball and tennis.
I had told a soccer
player from high school, that I thought soccer was "a waste of perfectly
good time" when he asked if I was interested in coming out to watch the
team play. We were going up against the number one team in the state, and the players
were trying to ask other students if they would come out and show support.
Eventually he talked me into it, and while it was fun, and we ended up winning
the game, it was my last interaction with a soccer match until my exchange
program in Germany after high school.
Germany succeeded. I
was a soccer fan. Manchester United became my favorite team as I thought it was
fair that they won the first European match I had ever watched (5-0 against
Newcastle). I'm glad they won, because I can only imagine what life would be like
as a Newcastle supporter. I still hadn't found my favorite player, but I knew
who my favorite team would be, and I did the best I could to watch as many
games as possible. From a distance, I also enjoyed the football of Everton and
Galatasaray (Everton because they weren't Liverpool, and Gala because all my
Turkish friends in Germany supported them.) Dortmund was also interesting to
me; they were my host town and the fans were unlike anything I had ever seen
before in my life. They were also heading towards bankruptcy and had a lot of
problems that stemmed off the pitch. (This was before Europe embraced the
naming rights of stadiums for boat loads of money). 1 team I obsessed over, 3
teams that I liked, but no favorite player. Cue music.
2002: A 16 year old is
coming into a game against Arsenal in which they are tied with about 15 minutes
remaining? An Arsenal team that had been unbeaten for months? Is David Moyes
smoking some serious drugs? United needs some help at the top of the table, I
can't imagine that this kid is going to be able to help. He got a little
involved and I remember my early shock was starting to wear off. Well, he isn't
bad. And wait, he's got the ball outside the box against Sol Campbell. And
takes a shot…
"A Star is
Born". So said the cover of FourFourTwo when I went to buy one at the
Barnes and Noble the following month. It was a whirlwind of a storm. After his
goal to beat Arsenal, end their unbeaten run, and help Manchester United get
back in the title race, England had fallen in love with Wayne Rooney. And so
had I! I pursued as many Everton games as possible just so I could see him
again. That couldn't have been a one-off right? I think he's going to be really
good. I bought a Wayne Rooney Everton jersey, which was significant because it
was the first non-Manchester United jersey I ever purchased. I started to think
about the future from a Manchester United perspective. Dwight Yorke is old.
Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham were leaving. Ole Gunnar started to get injured
more. There might be a place for Wayne in our lineup. Ruud Van Nistelrooy had
arrived the year before, but he needed some support. Sir Alex had started
playing a 4-5-1, which I thought unfathomable with all the attacking talent on
the roster. Could it happen? Should it?
2004 Euros. I was
starting to get frustrated. Louis Saha was now a member of Manchester United,
but Wayne Rooney wasn't. There were rumors that Sir Alex was going to buy Alan
Smith, but not Rooney who had really become the focal point of the Everton attack,
and was appearing for England as well. What isn't he seeing? Here is a kid that
can score from 30 yards out, but is willing to defend all the way back at his
own team's goal. I remember thinking what 17 year old can track back like
that!? Then the rumors started to form. He had a pretty good tournament and
talks were that either Chelsea, Newcastle or Manchester United might be
interested. I didn't think Chelsea had room for him and I certainly didn't
think Newcastle was big enough for his talents. Why wasn't this happening!
The cute little kid
with the sign "Please Buy Rooney" took the nation by storm. I
remember the pressure of that entire window and even after Manchester United
came to Chicago for a friendly against Bayern, that Wayne was still with
Everton. Every day was different. He would stay. He would go to Chelsea. He
would sign with United. Maybe he would consider Liverpool. I just wanted it
done, I needed it done, I've never had this experience in the NFL (my favorite
player was Keyshawn Johnson at the time, and prior to that, my favorite player
had never been a Green Bay Packer). I sat in my mother's office on the 31st of
August and when there was 30 minutes left in the transfer window, I asked her
to refresh her browser.
4 strikers! In 1999
when United won Europe, they did it on the backs of Cole, Yorke, Sheringham and
Solskjaer. I thought this foursome was better! Ruud, Saha, Alan Smith and now
Wayne Rooney! We can play any formation at any time. Need a goal? Sub on Saha
to play with Ruud and Wayne. I thought Europe was going to be conquered.
The debut: And what
a debut it was! 3 goals against a formidable opponent in a Champions League
match. All of them beauties! I knew it, I just knew it and he transformed the
way the team played. While we went 3 seasons without winning a Premier League
title, I knew that Sir Alex was building something new from the Roy Keane/David
Beckham Manchester United, and it would just be a matter of time before the new
team would do special things.
Fucking this and
fucking that! Wayne Rooney looked like he was going to cost us a crucial game
against Arsenal, and I don't know why he keeps badgering the ref. My Arsenal
friends thought he should've been sent off, the TV analysts were saying the
same, and I thought for a minute that they were probably right. My favorite
player needs to go. He needs to control those emotions, because every game from
now on is important. Well, those same emotions turned the game around, and
after John O'Shea's greatest goal a 4-2 win was sending us on our way. That
passion was vital.
I knew I married a
good person when I was allowed to watch the Manchester United-Chelsea match on
my honeymoon in Mexico. She didn't put up a stink, and I told her I loved her
so much for letting me watch the game that would decide our season (a win would
make it interesting, a draw or loss would end it). It was bad. We got
absolutely destroyed, the final score was 3-0, and Chelsea's final goal was
still one of the best sequences of play that I've ever seen. I felt the bridge
between our two clubs was widening, and it was probably going to get worse when
Michael Ballack and Andrei Shevchenko came to town. Then, on top of it all,
(Carvalho? Terry?) breaks Rooney's foot, and he's likely to miss the 2006 World
Cup. And this is the story of how I cried on my Honeymoon.
That goal against
Portsmouth is still my favorite Rooney goal. The Newcastle goal was great and
he caught it perfectly. The Manchester City goal is insane, it shows the
precision of his timing and the power of his shot. The West Ham goal was
audacious, and showed that he was more aware than most forwards of his time.
But that chip against Pompey holds a lot of meaning for me. At the time, there
were rumblings that he was falling off as a striker for United and Tevez and
Ronaldo were more important. Those things may have been true, but United still
couldn't afford to lose him in my opinion. He can't play with Tevez. That
pissed me off the most, because besides Robin Van Persie, I thought that Carlos
was his best partner. Federico Macheda might take his spot. That really fired
me up. Kid scored a great goal, but he doesn't work nearly as hard as Wayne.
Wayne does more than just score goals, get off his back. 5 minutes later, he
scores one of the most beautiful chips I'd ever seen.
Rooney wants to
leave Manchester United, he can no longer work with Sir Alex Ferguson. These
rumors were killing me, because part of me thought that they might be true.
Abramovich has oil money, now Manchester City has oil money. A whole group of
clubs can now offer Wayne Rooney above market value to take him from our squad.
I sweated bullets for a couple of months, and breathed a huge sigh of relief
when he finally signed the deal that made him United's most expensive ever
player. I thought it was worth every penny.
Most of the time,
I'm quite the introvert. When I go to the pub to watch matches, I prefer to
watch in peace. But I could hear the rumblings again. Wayne has peaked. He'll
never score 30 goals again. Ronaldo has passed him as the best scorer on United
(That was probably true). But when Rooney scored his 100th goal for the club, I
took off my United top and ran around the pub revealing an undershirt that only
said, "100. Shhhhhhhh." And the haters went away again.
Moyes is going to
sell Rooney. RVP is here, and he is the #9. Kagawa is the #10, so Rooney will
be the 2nd striker or come off the bench. And here they came again. Haters in
full force saying that his time with Manchester United was up. This time I
didn't say anything. I just watched. Watched as Kagawa got sold back to
Borussia Dortmund. Watched as RVP got shipped off to Turkey (I love him and
miss him immensely). I watched as Wayne Rooney, my favorite player, was named
captain of Manchester United, my favorite club. And he persevered.
Chicago on the
Summer Tour. Wayne Rooney is warming up nearby taking long shots on goal. I was
about 6 rows away, admiring the power behind them. A kid, probably no older
than 17 or 18 is snapping photos of these blasts. And one hits his camera, I
shit you not, square on the lens. Surprised the hell out of the kid. I glance
over at Wayne, and he's just smirking until the next ball came. I would never
say that he knew exactly where to put it and hit that shot on purpose, but I
left the moment smiling. And knowing that I liked him even more.
Every year since
2001 I have created a team consisting of my 25 favorite players in the world of
football. Starting in 2003, Wayne Rooney made the roster every single season
including and up to the year 2017. Of the 15 years that I had him in my
"Favorite team", he was in the starting eleven 14 times. Even more
rewarding may be the "11 of 15" team that I also had him a part of. I
made a formation of my favorite players of all time starting when I first saw a
soccer game on the TV (1997-2012). The first name I put into that team was
Wayne Rooney, and besides Roy Keane the only two players I had no doubt about. I imagine when I do the
"11 of 30" team in the year 2027, the spot will continue to be his.
I love the trophies
that Wayne Rooney won at the great Manchester United. They used to be the most important thing in
my eyes as to what I want the players to achieve at a club. Individual
accolades weren't anything, if the team wasn't the best at the end of the year.
I've been rather blessed. Since 2005, my two favorite players in my two
favorite sports in the entire world, have been paid by my two favorite
franchises. (Aaron Rodgers). I told myself that if it was going to happen with
Wayne, that I would appreciate every game as if it would be the last, and I
feel like I did a great job of doing that. I remember a lot of the goals (Stoke
for 250, Burnley at the end, Liverpool for a derby win, are also 3 more of my
favorites). But what I've learned in these last 13 years as a fan of Wayne goes
way beyond the trophies that he won, the goals that he scored, the players that
he led out. I've learned that the same sport that I used to believe was a waste
of perfectly good time, has now become the sport that is a time I consider to
be perfectly good.
Thanks 10.
"11 of 15"
GK Peter Schmeichel
LB Roberto Carlos
CB Rio Ferdinand
CB Marcel Desailly
RB Lilian Thuram
LM Ryan Giggs
RM Zidane
CM Roy Keane
CM Patrick Vieira
ST Wayne Rooney
ST Fat Ronaldo
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