Wayne Rooney Signing Would Improve Arsenal 'Overnight,' Says Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp believes Wayne Rooney could improve Arsenal "overnight" if he signed for the Gunners and that his leadership would be "invaluable" to them.
The former Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth and Queens Park Rangers boss wrote as much in his column for the Evening Standard, and he thinks Arsenal should take a gamble on the Manchester United man.
"He would improve that team overnight because they have an issue with attitude, and he is a winner," the 69-year-old said.
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Redknapp added there was no one in Arsenal's team to marshall their younger players during Monday's FA Cup win over Sutton United or motivate them if they made mistakes: "Rooney would be someone out there on his team-mates' case, digging them out if they aren't at it. That would be invaluable for Arsenal."
The 31-year-old's Old Trafford career seems to be drawing to a close after losing his place in the side under manager Jose Mourinho. Rooney remains United's captain, though, and is also England skipper, so he's accustomed to being in a leadership position.
A lack of on-field leadership has been a problem at Arsenal since Patrick Vieira left in 2005—it's no coincidence they've failed to win the Premier League title in the intervening years—and that is also routinely embodied during their yearly UEFA Champions League exit in the round of 16.
The Gunners look set to do so again after being humiliated 5-1 at the hands of Bayern Munich, and as sports writer Ewan MacKenna noted, such defeats are now routine at Arsenal:
Rooney possesses the winning mentality many Arsenal players lack, having won five Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the Champions League during his time at Old Trafford, but he's perhaps not the player they truly need to solve their woes.
His decline in quality in recent years—even if he has produced five goals and 10 assists in all competitions this season without being a regular starter—has been fairly significant, and he'd no longer be good enough to hold down a place at Arsenal either.
If he did join, he'd be more worthy of the captain's armband than the likes of Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs—who respectively captained the club against Sutton and for some of the match with Bayern—but he doesn't appear to be the natural leader Arsenal need.
His captaincy with the Three Lions was perhaps awarded more because of his status and a lack of other senior outfield players when Steven Gerrard retired from international football, while at United, he doesn't convince as a skipper in the same way as predecessors Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Nemanja Vidic did.
That's not to say he entirely lacks leadership qualities. His status would command some respect, but Arsenal's problems run deeper than the solutions Rooney can provide. His decline in performance might also be a hindrance on the pitch, which the Gunners can hardly afford in their most important games.
