What Sheffield Wednesday can learn from facing Wayne Rooney ahead of Manchester City visit

On the face of it, he didn’t do anything that spectacular. Not by the standards of Wayne Rooney, anyway.
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There were no 30-yard volleys or defence-splitting runs and Rooney didn’t charge around the field fighting fires as he so famously did in his Premier League pomp.

In fact the former England captain barely broke sweat in his 90-minute stroll around Hillsborough on Saturday, shifting the ball around the pitch with the look of a former pro helping his mates out at five-a-side.

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Though not from a Sheffield Wednesday perspective, it was a pleasure to watch.

The Owls did their best to disrupt his control of proceedings – Steven Fletcher pressed him early in the second half before a recovery-threatening flare up of his knee injury curtailed his involvement – but Rooney was too often too clever.

Football statistics platform Wyscout attempted to pinpoint the position he played in on Saturday and they’ve gone for three different ones, the former Manchester United man settling himself in the defensive midfield positions across all three thirds of the pitch.

His shock transfer to Derby, completed at the turn of the year, was from DC United in the US and his performance was akin to a gridiron quarter-back.

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Earning himself space with movement to unusual places, he’d pick out one of a number of runners ahead of him. Or beside him. Or behind him. The fact is, it didn’t matter, he’d get another chance to set something up soon enough.

Sheffield Wednesday's Barry Bannan came out second best to Derby County's Wayne Rooney on Saturday.Sheffield Wednesday's Barry Bannan came out second best to Derby County's Wayne Rooney on Saturday.
Sheffield Wednesday's Barry Bannan came out second best to Derby County's Wayne Rooney on Saturday.

His 93 per cent pass completion on the day is largely unheard of in the Championship. He picked out a pass to every one of his teammates, including substitutes. He held onto the ball when the game needed slowing and pushed it on when it required impetus.

Up next for Wednesday are Manchester City, who have two dozen players of Rooney’s international-class touch and game-reading ability. Phil Foden is a completely different player at a completely different stage of his career but will seek to put a stamp on the game as Rooney did. Others will be the same.

How Wednesday set about putting the brakes on them is up to Garry Monk.