Making the most of Rooney

[Neoptolemus]

Hi all,

I recently bought FM2005 and because it was my first ever time playing a management game I decided to start off with Manchester United, since obviously that would be easier than a low-down club. I'm having a dilemma with Rooney though, he recently recovered from his broken foot (which you get at the start) and now I have trouble fitting him into the squad.

I currently play 4-4-2 attacking, with a diamond shaped midfield, Scholes up just behind the strikers, Giggs and Ronaldo on the wings and Keane back in DM C. Rooney just doesn't seem to sit comfortably, no matter where I play him. If I put him in Scholes' position, he plays ok but not brilliantly, and of course Scholes is left on the bench doing nothing. If I put Rooney as a striker, he just doesn't seem to score or do very much.

Does anyone have a better formation that I could try? One that perhaps allows for Scholes and Rooney to play at the same time. Like I said I'm new to all this, I'm used to Pro Evo 4 where Rooney is an awesome striker.

Apart from my Rooney dilemma, I'm loving this game. I signed Pasquale Constanzo as a long-term replacement for Giggs and he scored twice on his debut. It's been a while since I smiled that much while playing a game

 

[PSVFOREVER]

Bring him in gradually. First give him 20 minutes, than 40 and so on. He won't be immediatly top just after an injury. (look at Van Nistelrooy's current form)

If you feel he doesnt play well enough anyway, then play the others (ruud, smith etc.) you can get a nice sum of money for him. When I managed England though, he formed an awesome couple with Michael Owen, so I wouldnt sell him.

Maybe play him as a lone striker? Although then you have a problem with Ruud van Nistelrooy.

 

[Neoptolemus]

Yeah, it seems like there are too many good players in Man U, making it hard to fit Rooney in. I will do as you suggest and perservere though. He is fully match fit though, and has played a couple of matches all the way through since Van Nistelrooy is currently injured. I guess I should just keep plugging. I don't want to bring Saha off for Rooney yet because he is in blazing form, in 4 matches he has got 2 hat-tricks

 

[Szadou]

What are his playing instructions? Maybe you should give him a higher attacking mentality and/or free role?

 

[Tom]

good to see a new user to the FM circle.

Mentality = high (very attacking)
Forward Runs = yes
Run with Ball = yes
Long Shots = yes

try messing around with his playing instructions, or get your wingers to cross the ball towards him

TROD.

 

[Neoptolemus]

I currently use either the preset "attacking midfield" mentality or the "striker" one from the drop-down menu, depending on which position I play him in. I will have a tweak though to see if I can bring out Rooney's strengths a bit more (e.g Creativity). Where would you suggest I place him as a permanent position? I don't like switching him about all over the place to be honest :P

Thanks for the advice Shifty*rod, I will be trying that. Seems logical really... If he isn't scoring he obviously hasn't been told to get right in there.

 

[Daz]

I use this formation with Rooney in the AMC position, he's amazing

i used it with the original squad as well

i uploaded the tactic to another thread, if ya want it i'll give you a link

 

[Rocky]

i say i got the most results out of rooney when i played him in a supporting striker role behind RVN

 

[Neoptolemus]

i say i got the most results out of rooney when i played him in a supporting striker role behind RVN

How do you assign him to the supporting striker role? If I shift my positions around I only seem to get Attacking Midfield.

 

[ngyc]

i play his as striker and he score 55 goals for me in a season

 

[Zlatan]

How do you assign him to the supporting striker role? If I shift my positions around I only seem to get Attacking Midfield.

Perhaps you can play him as striker but with an arrow pointing to an AMC spot. Then set his free role and possibly his creative freedom on high...