Is Harry Kane better than Rooney?

[footballistic orgasm]

People underrate Rooney because of how badly he faded so early but prime Rooney is above Kane by a distance and thats no slight on Kane. Rooney was among the best of the best of his generation.

I doubt we can find any stat suggesting he was better "by a distance" (except for number of trophies won).
Rooney was a great player but is also overrated here IMO and this reminds me of that Rooney vs Benzema thread.
Kane is also one of the best of his generation if we're being honest here.

 

[footballistic orgasm]

I think Harry Kane is an absolutely brilliant footballer but he doesn't touch Rooney.

Wayne Rooney was a force of Nature at his peak, he willed his team to Victory and sacrificed his own game to make sure that the team won.

Some people will excuse Kane's lack of silverware due to the fact that he stayed at Tottenham but I think it's much worse than that, I think Kane lacks the "win at all costs" mentality that someone like Rooney has (Which is why he moved from his Boyhood club, to win) or even someone like Gerrard (who dragged worse Liverpool teams than Pochettinos Spurs to silverware) had.

I actually agree about the bold part.

But i strongly disagree that Gerrard's Liverpool team was worse than Tottenham.

 

[padr81]

I doubt we can find any stat suggesting he was better "by a distance" (except for number of trophies won).
Rooney was a great player but is also overrated here IMO and this reminds me of that Rooney vs Benzema thread.
Kane is also one of the best of his generation if we're being honest here.

He is but football has changed. Talent for talent its closer than by a distance but in terms of greatness and their respective levels for their time Rooney was sniffing around the top 5 players in the world, Kane has never been in that discussion. There are certain things I think Kane is far better at, his composure is above Rooney's and his finishing, maybe even his long passing but Rooney was superior defensively, more creative, more unpredictable and never kept shackled (in his prime).

Mentality is where I think the real gap is, Kane lets games pass him by that prime Rooney never would. There's a fire in Rooney, the kind of fire that separates the really good with the greats. That said I'd love to see Kane get a bash for a season or two at a top club to see if he could put up Lewandowski numbers.

 

[RacingClub]

I actually agree about the bold part.

But i strongly disagree that Gerrard's Liverpool team was worse than Tottenham.

The team that Gerrard won the champs league with was worse than the best version of the Poch team.

It's the worst team to ever win the champions league.

 

[footballistic orgasm]

He is but football has changed. Talent for talent its closer than by a distance but in terms of greatness and their respective levels for their time Rooney was sniffing around the top 5 players in the world, Kane has never been in that discussion. There are certain things I think Kane is far better at, his composure is above Rooney's and his finishing, maybe even his long passing but Rooney was superior defensively, more creative, more unpredictable and never kept shackled (in his prime).

Mentality is where I think the real gap is, Kane lets games pass him by that prime Rooney never would. There's a fire in Rooney, the kind of fire that separates the really good with the greats. That said I'd love to see Kane get a bash for a season or two at a top club to see if he could put up Lewandowski numbers.

I may be wrong but how many times did Rooney get in the top 10 ballon d'or list ? He wasn't constantly sniffing around the top 5 players in the world list, doesn't change the fact that he was still a great player.

I don't see how Kane lets games pass him by anymore than Rooney did, except when his team is being absolutely dominated.

 

[Tarrou]

yeah

 

[tenpoless]

Recency bias is strong here. Go watch Rooneys highlights since he was a 19 y.o not just his last 2 years with United.

 

[Bondi77]

Recency bias is strong here. Go watch Rooneys highlights since he was a 19 y.o not just his last 2 years with United.

You are not going to see how good and a valuable member of the team Rooney was by watching him on Youtube which some people on here seem to struggle with.
When Rooney was at his peak he was a complete footballer and that is why players would queue up to play with him.
I like Harry but he is a few notches below peak Rooney.

 

[Ali Dia]

Rooney is much better as an all rounder and could have been one of the best of all time.

Kane looks after himself a lot better and is a much better pure striker.

There’s not a huge distance between them. Rooney more often than not disappointed internationally and physically declined so drastically over his final years. He really was miles off it. Which is a pity as it actually gives Kane a legitimate shout in this particular conversation. Rooney at his peak was something else.

 

[Scroto Baggins]

Depends on how you are defining "better", Kane has won absolutely nothing, sure he has a lot of personal accolades but his trophy haul is zero. Compare that to Rooney, 5 titles, a CL, FA cup, 4 or 5 League Cups, if the game isn't about winning things then, what is it about?

Stats wise there is no real comparison imo, Kane is simply better, Rooney only scored above 20 goals a season, kinda the bench mark for elite strikers, twice in his whole career, stats wise Kane is closer to Henry and Aguero for goal scoring exploits. He is destined to end up second on the all time goal scorers list behind Shearer. And much like Shearer will have won very little.

I'd extend this same argument to Drogba somewhat, stats wise I don't think he is anywhere near Kane, Drogba had two phenomenal seasons and a lot of average to good outside that. But look at his achievements in the game compared to Kane. 4 prem titles, 4 FA cups, 3 league cups, and a CL.

 

[Pintu]

This could never be Rooney.

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Are we seriously comparing the legendary player of the greatest team in the PL history with trophyless Kane?

 

[njred]

Rooney was collecting a paycheck at the end. Kane just seems to take care of himself better even as he ages. At their best Rooney was better. Overall career it has to be Kane.

 

[NewYorkRed]

A better striker? Yup.

A better player? Not at all.

Edit: didn’t even see a couple of posts above mine saying the exact same thing.

 

[Redfrog]

People just forget how good Rooney was.

Beside that and I know some will say it doesn’t matter (but that’s all that matters !) Rooney’s trophy cabinet is full and the guy is the top scorer of one of the best team in the world.

It’s all well and good to rack up the numbers but at the end, only trophies matter and Rooney was an expert at winning them.

Don’t care how good is a player, you need a strong winning mentality first, we above all should know that after 10 years of misery, and Rooney was a winner. He went to challenge himself at 18.
Kane stayed all his career at Spurs…it should be enough to know who is the better player. The one who choose home above trophies or the one who wanted to win at all cost.

 

[Redfrog]

Rooney was collecting a paycheck at the end. Kane just seems to take care of himself better even as he ages. At their best Rooney was better. Overall career it has to be Kane.

Haha, that’s a good one. Rooney has a big trophy cabinet to show about his overall career. Kane has just Spurs cheese room. I don’t know how the latter can have a better career !

 

[Redfrog]

Rooney for me.

Difference between Kane and Rooney is that Rooney had the lot and could play pretty much anywhere you asked him to play. More importantly he had that nasty bastard streak in him when the chips were down he would step up.

Above being talented, above being a footballer, Rooney was a pure winner, he simply hated to lose. That what matters at this level.

 

[Redfrog]

There is a reason when it comes to Wayne fecking Rooney lad. He’s not just a decent player he’s the epitome of a club legend. I just find it ridiculous how many anti-Rooney takes pop up on here. Look at how precious people got about OgS being a fan favourite but being called out for his managerial ineptitude then talk to me about people being allowed to discuss things on here.

I’m all for debate, this isn’t one.


You’d think that watching the dross we have recently would make people step back & take note of what we once had but no the faux outrage overtakes calmer heads. I like Kane a lot but better than Rooney? Feck off.

Kane just last season had the most assists and most goals in the league, in fact Kane is far more than a poacher and closer to the likes of Benzema RVP who drop deep and play the number 10 role, Rooneys dynamism allowed him to play more positions but I think we’re underrating Kane’s all round game here maybe because he is a slow oaf who doesn’t look to special doing what he does, but he can pass with the best of them in this league has a wonderful touch as well as score goals.

I would take Rooney as well I think most would but can’t agree with the claims Kane is either a level below or for example Rooney is the greatest pl player after Ronaldo or ‘carries’ United, none of this never really happened, and to be a level above Kane you’ll probably looking at Messi and CR7 levels.

This is so true.

People prefers some talented nothing players, as Martial, then true winners who changed the history of this club. This is crazy. The guy was a major part of one of our most successful spell, if not the most, and he is discussed with a guy who never won a trophy. Kane would have been destroyed by the dressing room we had when Rooney was here, it was full of sharks. Being a good player is not enough, you have to be a winner. After 9 years of misery, we should know that.[/QUOTE]

 

[njred]

Haha, that’s a good one. Rooney has a big trophy cabinet to show about his overall career. Kane has just Spurs cheese room. I don’t know how the latter can have a better career !

Maybe. I’m also looking how he was a burden for united at the last few years as was pointed out many times on here. I just think when all is said and done Kane will have been player career wise. Rooney left his boyhood team and fell into united who were a very good team at the time so naturally he was going to win trophies. This is why I’m not counting trophies as the main criteria. He didn’t carry the team like Kane has, he didn’t have to. On the other hand Kane has never had a team like united in their heyday. I like Rooney, always did and I think at his peak he might have been unplayable but he fell off dramatically. Kane won’t.

 

[Redfrog]

Maybe. I’m also looking how he was a burden for united at the last few years as was pointed out many times on here. I just think when all is said and done Kane will have been player career wise. Rooney left his boyhood team and fell into united who were a very good team at the time so naturally he was going to win trophies. This is why I’m not counting trophies as the main criteria. He didn’t carry the team like Kane has, he didn’t have to. On the other hand Kane has never had a team like united in their heyday. I like Rooney, always did and I think at his peak he might have been unplayable but he fell off dramatically. Kane won’t.

It’s like saying Messi was not the best because he seems completely burned at PSG.

Rooney left because he wanted to win trophies. And he was a big part of a team in reconstruction being behind Chelsea at the time. He had ambitions, he wanted to win and went to a team he could do that. And in that team he wasn’t a passenger, he was one of the biggest part of the winning mentality. United showed for the last 9 years that there is nothing natural about winning trophies : you need that mentality.

Kane made his choice by staying at Spurs, he choose home, confort, the place he would be loved above trophies.
I think Rooney hade much more in him and what he did was much more courageous and ambitious. When you are a big player you chose a big club with a lot of pressure, you go and test yourself. Don’t think that all the Real Madrid stars chose the easy way by going there…

 

[Bebestation]

One is a CL winner and a major important factor of that team.

Kane is more on the Shearer level, made his love for certain clubs stop him testing himself regularly at the highest level.

 

[frostbite]

If Rooney had stayed at Everton and won nothing at all, then we could compare him to Harry Kane. Maybe.

 

[balaks]

You think Kane is a top 10 PL player?
Giggs, Scholes, Keane, Gerrard, Lampard, Henry, Shearer, Viera, Ferdinand, Vidic, RVP, Ronaldo, Berkamp, Salah, Aguero, Kompany, Cole, Terry, Hazard - and thats just thinking off the top of my head for about 30 seconds.

You seriously think Kane's PL career is better than most of those names, and is comparable to what Rooney has accomplished?
He's a top 30 player, closer to 30.

Without a doubt yes and when his career is over he will rightly be seen as an all time premiership and England great.

 

[arnie_ni]

Maybe. I’m also looking how he was a burden for united at the last few years as was pointed out many times on here. I just think when all is said and done Kane will have been player career wise. Rooney left his boyhood team and fell into united who were a very good team at the time so naturally he was going to win trophies. This is why I’m not counting trophies as the main criteria. He didn’t carry the team like Kane has, he didn’t have to. On the other hand Kane has never had a team like united in their heyday. I like Rooney, always did and I think at his peak he might have been unplayable but he fell off dramatically. Kane won’t.

Rooney fell into unites?

Ffs he was arguably our most important player during that 2004 to 2012 period

 

[MUFC OK]

Kane no way near as good. Rooney was such a great all round player, a street footballer and as such he covered every blade of grass and was at times, sacrificed for the team. He had 2 seasons where he played at number 9 and scored 34 goals in each. He could do everything Kane does and a lot more.

Kane is this generations Shearer.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

That he was very good that season.

I doubt we can find any stat suggesting he was better "by a distance" (except for number of trophies won).
Rooney was a great player but is also overrated here IMO and this reminds me of that Rooney vs Benzema thread.
Kane is also one of the best of his generation if we're being honest here.

You’re on a United forum with fans who will have watched him far more than you did trying to explain why he’s good & you keep parroting how ‘on here’ he’s overrated. How disingenuous you’re being in this debate is tedious. First he didn’t get enough player of the year nominations now it’s stats, I look forward to the next whimsical reason.

This forum is well known for overrating dross, check a Fred thread after a good appearance but I repeat, a point multiple have made & you continue to ignore. Rooney was one of, if not the best player, in one of the most dominant domestic teams for a sustained period of time. Had you watched him play enough you’d have seen he wasn’t simply a good goal threat with nice link up play but so much more.

Saying Rooney is better than Kane isn’t a slight to the latter, so how about instead of debunking what you believe are false claims you make an argument to assert Kane is better. . .

Kane is indeed one of the best strikers of his generation but Rooney was better.

 

[footballistic orgasm]

You’re on a United forum with fans who will have watched him far more than you did trying to explain why he’s good & you keep parroting how ‘on here’ he’s overrated. How disingenuous you’re being in this debate is tedious. First he didn’t get enough player of the year nominations now it’s stats, I look forward to the next whimsical reason.

This forum is well known for overrating dross, check a Fred thread after a good appearance but I repeat, a point multiple have made & you continue to ignore. Rooney was one of, if not the best player, in one of the most dominant domestic teams for a sustained period of time. Had you watched him play enough you’d have seen he wasn’t simply a good goal threat with nice link up play but so much more.

Saying Rooney is better than Kane isn’t a slight to the latter, so how about instead of debunking what you believe are false claims you make an argument to assert Kane is better. . .

Kane is indeed one of the best strikers of his generation but Rooney was better.

You're being way too emotional over this.
I stated clearly in my first post in this thread why I think Kane is better but i guess you missed it.
And i also watched Rooney and United a lot.

And because an argument doesn't fit your narrative doesn't mean it's whimsical, those arguments were just facts.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

I really like Kane and admire how he's made the most of his talent, but it's Rooney quite easily for me.

I also think the clubs they have played for should be factored in when assessing their career - not only trophies, because it's not only due to them, but in general the fact Rooney played such a defining role in one of the biggest clubs in the world's most successful period, being under the spotlight and intense scrutiny on a daily basis, under one of the most demanding managers ever, can't be compared to Kane's choices up to now, staying at a club where success is not really expected, and where pressure is definitely weaker. That Rooney managed to perform in the circumstances he was playing in definitely goes in his favour in this debate, I think we tend to forget how much pressure was put on him week in, week out.

As for their England careers, Kane's will look better, but as much talent as there was in Rooney's squads when he first broke through (it tailed off massively after that, from 2010 onwards I'd say it was relatively meh), England team back then was just a mess and it's a testament to Southgate's work to see how much harmony there seems to be in the squad now. And even with that in mind, I don't feel Kane has been particularly special in the big games for England, he's flattered to deceive more often than not.

 

[Gavinb33]

Kane's form is a lot more steady than Rooney's wild fluctuations game to game and week to week in some cases.

Rooney's brilliance was a lot a higher than Kane's.

 

[Donaldo]

I really like Kane and admire how he's made the most of his talent, but it's Rooney quite easily for me.

I also think the clubs they have played for should be factored in when assessing their career - not only trophies, because it's not only due to them, but in general the fact Rooney played such a defining role in one of the biggest clubs in the world's most successful period, being under the spotlight and intense scrutiny on a daily basis, under one of the most demanding managers ever, can't be compared to Kane's choices up to now, staying at a club where success is not really expected, and where pressure is definitely weaker. That Rooney managed to perform in the circumstances he was playing in definitely goes in his favour in this debate, I think we tend to forget how much pressure was put on him week in, week out.

As for their England careers, Kane's will look better, but as much talent as there was in Rooney's squads when he first broke through (it tailed off massively after that, from 2010 onwards I'd say it was relatively meh), England team back then was just a mess and it's a testament to Southgate's work to see how much harmony there seems to be in the squad now. And even with that in mind, I don't feel Kane has been particularly special in the big games for England, he's flattered to deceive more often than not.

Of course you'd say this, "Rooney in Paris".

 

[11101]

Maybe. I’m also looking how he was a burden for united at the last few years as was pointed out many times on here. I just think when all is said and done Kane will have been player career wise. Rooney left his boyhood team and fell into united who were a very good team at the time so naturally he was going to win trophies. This is why I’m not counting trophies as the main criteria. He didn’t carry the team like Kane has, he didn’t have to. On the other hand Kane has never had a team like united in their heyday. I like Rooney, always did and I think at his peak he might have been unplayable but he fell off dramatically. Kane won’t.

Actually he did, from 2009 when Ronaldo left to 2012 when Van Persie arrived Rooney was our go to player to get results. He was declining by then and we put him in an unfamiliar role but he still got us to a league title and a CL final.

I don't think Kane has the mentality to be either a cog or a star in a winning team. He's got the arrogance to insist on being the main man but not the determination to be a winner.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

Of course you'd say this, "Rooney in Paris".

It's a lie. I'm in Madrid now.

 

[Donaldo]

It's a lie. I'm in Madrid now.

Mods, kindly action as requested.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

Mods, kindly action as requested.

The mods have been aware of my whereabouts, it's been over 3 years now, but have decided to not take action. To protect me most likely.

 

[SilentWitness]

I think Kanes performances in big games will count against him too. He’s been rubbish in every final he’s played in and hasn’t excelled really in semi-finals either. That can come down a little bit to the team but at some point a player has to take responsibility too. Rooney doesn’t have an exemplary record either in finals but he at least has the trophies to back him up and he was obviously instrumental in the games leading up to them / in title wins.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

Kane's form is a lot more steady than Rooney's wild fluctuations game to game and week to week in some cases.

Rooney's brilliance was a lot a higher than Kane's.

Rooney could have the touch of a bulldozer in the spells he was off form, spectacularly inconsistent touch at times, just had to play him through it. Absolutely phenomenal in the run ins though

 

[The Corinthian]

I think I’d rank them as follows…

Rooney 2004-2010
Kane
Rooney 2010-2018

 

[mjstokes85]

He's a better finisher that's for sure.

 

[footyfan019]

Even though we can compare them talent wise and based on stats, but Rooney had an elite mentality and a true winner.

 

[balaks]

I think Kanes performances in big games will count against him too. He’s been rubbish in every final he’s played in and hasn’t excelled really in semi-finals either. That can come down a little bit to the team but at some point a player has to take responsibility too. Rooney doesn’t have an exemplary record either in finals but he at least has the trophies to back him up and he was obviously instrumental in the games leading up to them / in title wins.

This is a very strange argument to try and make - you are basically acknowledging neither player (in your opinion) has a good record in finals or semi's yet you give Rooney more credit simply because he was in a better team who won things - football is a team game and it's always a bit weak to focus on team results when looking at individuals. I would add that Kane has helped to get England to a semi final and a final of two major international tournaments which Rooney never did - with a much weaker England side than Rooney played in. You can look at things in all sorts of ways if you want.

 

[marktan]

I rate Kane highly and in general both their overall play and finishing is of the highest level.

I'd only give it to Rooney because in his early years he scored some incredible goals and had a touch that contributed to some phenomenal goals.

I still sometimes think of that chip over David James against Portsmouth and think, who the feck attempts that? And there were quite a few other great goals, a couple of chips over Middlesbrough, the Collet against Newcastle. Hell even some of his early Everton goals show outstanding skill for any player let alone a 17 year old.