Rooney Onyango has been one of the country’s best right-backs this season, earning him national team call-ups and appearances.His consistency throughout the season has put him in prime position to be named in the FKF Premier League team of the season.He is also a crucial player in coach Engin Firat’s Harambee Stars. Rooney is a naturally skilled footballer with the ball at his feet! Something he has seemed to develop well at Gor Mahia is the ability to invert – come inside and be comfortable playing in midfield.Kenya 🇰🇪 1-1🇧🇮 Burundi FT⚽️ Duke Abuya⚽️ Abdallah SudiI’m counting this as a loss. Harambee Stars created enough chances to win the game. The missed chances came to haunt us at the end. Hate him or love him Engin Firat’s subs were 👌🏾. Shout out to Rooney Onyango, top talent. pic.twitter.com/9bkJzHL4XK— Elijah Ouko (@elijah_ouko) June 7, 2024 He’s become a competent ball carrier, constantly pushing Gor up the pitch with long switches and powerful driving runs from deep, performing the modern role of an inverted full-back and being able to hold the width.It is vital to note that Rooney has maintained levels of consistency and quality even in the national teamAnother aspect of this game we have seen from his time at Kogalo was his versatility – adding depth to the midfield occasionally coming into the central midfield position.In terms of passing, Rooney has shown that he can execute an array of passes in many different sanctions with the capability to use his left foot and open up passing angles and opportunities. A common tendency in his passing is his special ability to have the awareness to switch the play specifically at the right times.This move has created so many chances and goal-scoring opportunities for Kogalo.FKFPL: Knock, knock….Mara Sugar is hereHe can make long diagonal passes into the open space usually making these passes a lot deeper to assist with ball progression. His passes are carefully weighted to pick out the far side winger thus stretching an opponent’s backline and opening up spaces that Gor can use to attack.It’s also important to mention that Rooney does not stay back once he makes the pass. He tends to join the attacks, often running into the half-space channels and anticipating the ball to drop for him.From the half-spaces, he is good at delivering half-space crosses mostly to the back post. The growing expectation for full-backs to be excellent creators and this pressure has been intensified with the likes of Reece James, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and João Cancelo setting the standard week in and week out in the English Premier League.Very few right-backs meet these standards consistently but Rooney’s skillset meets the requirements.Defensively, Rooney has been superb this season and his defensive record as part of the Gor Mahia backline is there to see, with the team being the best in the league defensively. He has great quality when facing wingers 1v1.Junior Starlets’ Captain Ochoka confident ahead of Women’s Under 17 World Cup Qualifier against BurundiHis positioning especially when defending crosses from the far side is superb and so is his aerial dueling ability. He is a proactive fullback looking to knit attacks in the bud, winning balls higher up the field and looking to dominate the opposing winger early enough before they get settledEven though Rooney doesn’t strike the normal football fan as an unorthodox dribbler, he lacks a progressive carrying to his game, especially from deep. Although he is quite progressive in his passing as mentioned before but this does not translate to his carrying.His tendency to take on a player and try to use his body has become predictable and has led to opponents knowing where to position themselves and when to intercept when he is progressing the ball up the field through carries.
