Gifted Roo a natural 10
Most of the listeners who responded disagreed with Giles. If the notion of specialist positions in football has any relevance at all, then itâs hard to accept the idea that a forward, even a particularly gifted one like Rooney, could simply slot into midfield and immediately outshine rivals who have spent their whole lives learning how to play that position.
One response to this is that perhaps the whole idea of specialist positions is a bit of a con. Tactics arenât that complicated, good players should be able to play anywhere, and footballers only complain about being played âout of positionâ when theyâre looking for an excuse for playing badly.
Another view is that Giles is right, not because Rooney really is an instant world class central midfielder but because the quality of central midfield play in the Premier League is nothing special.
The league has lost outstanding central midfielders in Xabi Alonso and Cesc Fabregas, while others like Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Steven Gerrard are past their prime. Who of those that remain might be better than Rooney? None of his team-mates. Michael Carrick hasnât started a league game this season, Darren Fletcher is a reduced figure since his illness, and Anderson lacks consistency. Nobody at Liverpool. Nobody at Arsenal. Nobody these days at Chelsea. At Manchester City, Yaya Toure and Nigel de Jong impress in different ways, but neither of those has Rooneyâs all-round game. Cheikh Tiote has been excellent since he arrived at Newcastle, but still has a lot to prove.
The only man in the league who immediately stands out as a better central midfielder than Rooney is Luka Modric, who is the closest thing the Premier League has to Xavi.
Like Xavi he doesnât score much, but playing in central midfield isnât about scoring goals, itâs about making your team-mates look good.
Some people may be wondering why David Silva hasnât been mentioned yet. The reason is that Silva is not a central midfielder. Heâs an attacking playmaker, a trequartista, a number 10. This is the position that Rooney usually plays for Manchester United. Itâs also where most of the greatest players in the history of football have played. When you look at the roll of honour for the Ballon DâOr, you see how the attacking playmaker dominates the popular imagination. Since France Football established the prize in 1956 it has been awarded 55 times, and on 23 of those occasions it has gone to a man who played as a 10, a second striker, a fantasista, whatever you want to call it: the creative attacking brief that everyone recognises as the most exciting position in the game: the likes of Cruyff, Platini, Baggio, Ronaldinho.
Had Pele and Maradona been eligible for the award when they played, itâs likely that more than half the Ballon DâOrs awarded in history would have been won by number 10s.
The next most common position among the Ballon DâOr winners is centre-forward, with 14 wins, players like Eusebio, Muller, Van Basten and Ronaldo. Seven times itâs been won by a central midfielder, six times by a winger, four times by a central defender, once by a goalkeeper, and never by a full-back.
We reward the great 10s with the highest individual prizes because we understand that what they do is the hardest thing in the game.
This is not to say that a great central midfielder isnât possessed of an extraordinary talent, but the mechanics of the game mean that central midfielders have more time and space to work in than 10s. Football intelligence can take a central midfielder a long way, but itâs not enough for a 10, who must also have supernatural physical and technical gifts.
A great creative forward has the ability to impose his imagination where other players barely have the time and space to breathe. Their moments of genius are what we remember when weâve forgotten everything else. Wayne Rooney is one of those players, a natural 10, the best English one of his generation, one of the best in the world. To play him anywhere else is a waste of talent.
