Paul Parker says Everton’s potential partnership of Wayne Rooney and Olivier Giroud won’t work.
The arrival of the duo would be a real show of power from the big spending Merseyside club, but whether they will work well together is another matter.
Pundit and former England international Paul Parker believes they are an ill conceived fit, and says that specifically the decision to bring Wayne Rooney back to the club is a mistake, one made out of emotion rather than any football logic.
Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney
Parker told Eurosport: “You saw with Giroud’s performances at Arsenal that you need energy around him. You have to play at a high tempo. We’ve seen for a few years now that a fast tempo isn’t really part of Rooney’s game any more. He is very slow when playing as a No. 10.
“Giroud would expect to be the lead striker so it is a bit of a mystery where Everton expect to use him. Unless someone can tell me a good reason why Koeman is signing Rooney, it doesn’t make sense from a playing perspective to me at all.
“Instead it seems a signing which is based more on emotion than logic or team-building. But sentiment doesn’t work in football – not for the long term anyway. It ends up blowing up in your face. If it is for that reason then Everton have made their first mistake of their summer.”
Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney scores
Rooney has been disappointing in the last two seasons at Manchester United, and Everton should be cautious about the move.
Yet if there is an environment in which to help him recapture his former glory, it is through a return to Goodison Park.
Rooney is still only 31 and has potentially two or three years left in him. If he is not up to scratch, then manager Ronald Koeman will simply use him sparingly, like Manchester United did last season.
Their pursuit of Olivier Giroud is less straightforward, with The Mirror reporting Arsenal won’t let him leave if Alexis Sanchez forces an exit, and Parker’s worries over the compatibility of the duo may never even be tested.
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