Have you seen Hernandez play at all in the last year? Berba - maybe, Hernandez - no.

RVP won't get his fitness up if he does not play

I actually agree, Rooney's first touch hasn't been getting any better.

Rooney is our most consistant goal scorer and clearly needs games to get match fit

If we started with Rooney and RVP on the bench and RVP came on instead of Rooney I can tell you Rooney will be wondering wtf.

I realise no one should be a guarenteed starter but seeing two new boys playing ahead of our star striker of last season after just one game will not go down well

Managing this will be tough for Sir Alex but I doubt he will drop Rooney for the new boys already

Berbatov will be off soon anyway and out of our 4 main strikers I dont see 3 of them being on the bench and as someone has said Rooney needs to get match fit and the likes of Scholes, Carrick etc havent played for 2 months so can understand if they were a little rusty at Everton.

Rooney's problem is he tries too hard sometimes. The natural instinct seems to have disappeared from his play which was one of the things that made him so effective. I think he just needs to relax and have faith in those behind him to do their job and create chances for him.

I think everyone's being overly critical of the team after just one game. It will take time and Everton away has notoriously been a difficult fixture for us!

I have no doubt however that we will score lots of goals this season and that Hernandez and Berba won't feature in the tallies in the league. Maybe in the CC.

Can we stop the criticism? Not many of the top clubs will get a result at Goodison this season.

I would like to see Hernandez play, he won't get his confidence back if he doesn't play, just like RVP's match sharpness.

Rooney needs to get match fit?? Does he, why? He has had pre-season like everyone else, he had 2 games in the Euro's - well he was on the pitch apparently.

I feel the ship has sailed for Berba, but I can see what you are saying and I like the idea.

My more reasonable side does make me think the players need a chance to make amends for Monday.

However the team should not be without changes.

Scholes should need a rest so Carrick, Cleverley, and Andesron (much thinner than Anderson) should play. Wooton or Brown to have a go at centre back, Rafael back in his position, as I hate this square pegs in round holes thing.

*Wootton sorry

Rooney is our most consistant goal scorer and clearly needs games to get match fit

If we started with Rooney and RVP on the bench and RVP came on instead of Rooney I can tell you Rooney will be wondering wtf.

I realise no one should be a guarenteed starter but seeing two new boys playing ahead of our star striker of last season after just one game will not go down well

Managing this will be tough for Sir Alex but I doubt he will drop Rooney for the new boys already

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So the motto is when Rooney is playing awful, 'play him till he finds his feet regardless of how it hinders the team'

But when Nani is playing awful, 'Drop him right away'!!!Ever heard the words 'Double standards' eh??!!

Rooney has been a best goalscorer because we always create chances and there were no better options up front

Now we have RVP and Kagawa. RVP is a better lone striker than Rooney and Kags is miles ahead of Rooney as a No 10

Therefore Rooney should be on the bench till he can go back to the basics and greatly improve his all round game (touch, technique, short passing, anticipation, outside shooting, dribbling) which has been pretty woeful for some years now

NO NO NO

Ole u certainly are championing the demise of rooney. Thank god ur not manager..but u are entitled to urn opinion.

Therefore Rooney should be on the bench till he can go back to the basics and greatly improve his all round game (touch, technique, short passing, anticipation, outside shooting, dribbling) which has been pretty woeful for some years now

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Utter tripe

If a striker is scoring 30plus goals a season, I don't care what else he does.

And if a second stiker is scoring 30plus goals a season (20 more than our his playing partner who played ahead of him last season) then I'm sorry but you're expecting too much

Rooney's first touch has become a tad suspect for some reason but apart from that the guy is World Class.

Oh, quit the juvenile signs just because someone has a different viewpoint to you. It instantly labels you as a child

Guys some perspective! This was the FIRST game of the season. A makeshift CB, a new AM, a young Cleverley and a rejuvenated Anderson (aka Andesron) in the squad, our most creative right winger playing right back not to mention 15 minutes for a new striker coming into the team.

All of the above at a very tough place to go in Goodison Park.

We will come good. Have trust and faith in the team!

Kagawa playing off RVP for Fulham match.

I think we have an awesome squad don't get me wrong but united just don't punish there players for putting in a bad performance. And I'm talking about basics like controlling the ball!

RE: My Rooney comment is not a reaction to the Everton game. He has been like that for a year now.

And if a second stiker is scoring 30plus goals a season (20 more than our his playing partner who played ahead of him last season) then I'm sorry but you're expecting too much

Sorry I missed 'if you want an awful lot more from him' off that paragraph

The guy scores for fun and covers a hell of a lot of work, link up play to boot

If you think dropping him for two new signing already after a brilliant (for the most part) season last season, then you clearly don't have much of a clue about managing your players.

Oh, when have I said drop Nani?

People, the word is 'consistent' not 'consistant'.

That word is one of the most misspelt words here.

Anyhow, Hernandez to start? No, Thanks.

Yep, makes sense.

Lets put 76 goals on the bench.

I'd like to see some sort of stat which shows the number of goalscoring chances created by United when Welbeck is on the pitch compared to Hernandez/Berba. For all this talk of him being wasteful, i'll bet the former figure would be a fair bit higher.

No disrespect to the other two who are good players in their own right, but Welbeck offers us so much more.

I disagree bloodred, i am a fan of Welbeck but he is wasteful at least when compared with Berba (not sure about Chica).

Not as wasteful as Rooney though but Rooney contributes more.

Welbeck might very well develop into a fine player but atm he is not in RVP/Berba's class - despite SAF's thoughts.

My point is he was always going to get goals for us regardless. I mean even Chica got 20+ goals for us in the 10/11 season with an extended run in the team. That does not mean his all-round game isn't pretty average.

Of course Rooney's all round ability is better than Chica's but Chica should not be Rooney's bench mark. His all-round game rivaled Ronaldo's in 06/07 (never taught it was better though). But ever since then it has gotten worse and worse while his goal scoring has improved

People saying they don't care about his all round game as long as he score 30 goals, fail to properly comprehend team dynamics. How many goals do you think we as a team have failed to score (leading to loss of games) because our so called best attacking player can't:

-comfortably beat his man
-cant pull a rabbit out the hat and score an amazing solo effort when we most need it
-Consistently control a pass in tight spaces
-Consistently pick out a pass in tight spaces
-Consistently pick up play in the final 3rd

I never complained about RVN lack of all round play because he has never been that type of player. He was strictly a goal poacher. I will never complain about Chica's lack of all round pay because he as well has never had that ability

I will continue to complain about Rooney's because he had that ability btw 04-07 with us. He was suppose to come here and improve overall as a player yet while his goal scoring has greatly improved, his all round game has gone the opposite way. It is completely unacceptable given he is just 27

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ole_20_legend (U14722)
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Agreed, he has been turned from a player that could excite into a good goal scorer, can't remember the last time he beat a man or showed a bit of sublime skill, I blame his coaching for this, we can always go out and buy (or even nurture) a 20+ goals a season striker but what Rooney had in his early days was priceless, I feel that he has had that unpredictability coached out of him, much to his detriment of being a future world class player in the top 5 bracket, he really was that good as a kid!

Agreed, he has been turned from a player that could excite into a good goal scorer, can't remember the last time he beat a man or showed a bit of sublime skill, I blame his coaching for this, we can always go out and buy (or even nurture) a 20+ goals a season striker but what Rooney had in his early days was priceless, I feel that he has had that unpredictability coached out of him, much to his detriment of being a future world class player in the top 5 bracket, he really was that good as a kid!

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Dont see how it is SAF fault. Scholes never had his flair coached out of him. Neither did Giggs, Ronaldo or Nani (obviously still a hot/cold player but supremely talented)

I believe it is down to Rooney and his lack of his dedication to his craft with all the boozing, smoking, eating junk food plus failure to consistently work on his game

Ole we will have to disagree

Goals win games, not dribbles