Speaking on the Rest Is Football podcast, Gary Lineker and Micah Richards have addressed criticisms about Wayne Rooney’s legacy amid an “underrated” statement.
Wayne Rooney is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in football history, let alone in Manchester United’s history.
Not only is he United’s top goal scorer ever with 253 goals, but alongside Michael Carrick, he is the only player to win every trophy available to him for Manchester United in the Premier League era.
What makes his goal-scoring tally even more impressive is the fact that he was not even the main centre-forward for the majority of his career, playing across the frontline and midfield.
However, despite his clear success, there is constant debate surrounding his legacy as to where he ranks in the hall of fame of best footballers ever.
Lineker and Richards claim Rooney is “underrated”
On the Rest Is Football podcast, Gary Lineker posed an interesting statement as a question. He said: “Do you think… it seems a bit ridiculous, slightly underrated?”
To which Michah Richards replied: “Yeah. Just longegivity [is what he lacks]. I think, without being disrespectful, you know, if he would have looked after himself like [Cristiano] Ronaldo, I think he could have got more years out of him.”
Rooney left the club at 31 in 2017, which does seem premature; however, when you place the context that he had been at the club since he was 18, that is 13 years at the top of football, which is something some footballers only dream of.
While it is fair to say what Richards said about what would have happened if Rooney were as physically fit as Cristiano Ronaldo, it makes it even more exceptional that the Englishman reached the pinnacle of club football in the manner he did.
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Richards doubles down
Richards went on to reinforce his opinion that Rooney could be as good as Ronaldo or at least in that echelon of footballers.
He said: “The United team changed, didn’t it? And it didn’t really have the same players around him, which would have been very frustrating. That’s why he was running around and trying to get on the ball where he shouldn’t really be.
“But it’s just, if he would have gone a couple more years, I think he would have been right up there with the Ronaldos of the world. That’s how much ability I think he had.”
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After Ronaldo left, you could argue that until Robin Van Persie arrived, Rooney was single-handedly carrying an ageing and declining United side on his own.
It is a shame that the perceived ‘unprofessional’ way in which he kept his body in shape is what is preventing people from giving the flowers he deserved, as ultimately he is one of, if not the greatest, footballer England has ever produced.
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