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2014-15 Performances


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5.9 Season Average Rating
Appearances
37
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14
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6
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Pogue Mahone

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Was just looking up Rooney's Manchester United goalscoring stats compared to some other great strikers of modern football and it makes for pleasant reading :

Wayne Rooney : 0.49 goals per match in all competitions.
Raul Gonzalez : 0.44 goals per match match in all competitions for Real Madrid.
Andriy Shevchenko : 0.49 goals per match in all competitions for AC Milan.
Thierry Henry : 0.56 goals per game in all competitions for Arsenal and Barcelona.
Filippo Inzaghi : 0.46 goals per game in all competitions for Juventus and AC Milan.
David Villa : 0.50 goals per game in all competitions for Real Zaragoza, Valencia and Barcelona.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic : 0.48 goals per game in all competitions for Juventus, Internazionale, Barcelona, AC Milan and PSG.
Samuel Eto'o : 0.50 goals per game in all competitions for Barcelona and Internazionale.
Ruud van Nistelrooy : 0.68 goals per game for Manchester United and Real Madrid.

There are only two strikers who are substantially better in terms of goal efficiency from that list - van Nistelrooy with 0.68 and Henry with 0.56. And from that list, almost no other player has been more of a utility man or been played out of position more frequently or contributed more to the team's overall playing style both offensively and defensively. Which makes Rooney's tally all the more impressive when compared to strikers who were more classical finishers in the mold of Inzaghi.

Short term - Rooney is currently on 227 goals for Manchester United and 46 for England; and should be able to surpass Sir Bobby's total of 249 and 49 sometime next season. Plus, he is on 168 league goals for Manchester United and should eclipse Henry's record of 174 goals for a single Premier League club this season considering that there are still 9 games left to play.

More longer term - There is Alan Shearer's record of 260 Premier League goals plus Raul's benchmark of goals for a single club at 323 in all competitions. Surpassing both of them would be an incredible achievement and should finally put a stamp on Rooney's legendary career.

The solitary knock on him would be the relative lack of Champions League goals with just 29. Decent figures but considering how someone like Benzema has 41 and Drogba 44, Rooney should be better placed after almost a decade of playing in the competition. He still has time to make up for it and would do well to get somewhere around 50 by the time he hangs up his boots.
And some people still try to claim he's not a top striker.

Figures like that and he's making three great headed clearances out our box in the 84th minute of a three nil win. Special player. We should be very glad we have him.
 
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Brightonian

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Haven't been a fan of Rooneys performances this season, but really liked what I seen today. His best game of the season IMO. Reminded me of another brilliant lead the line game he had against Spurs away circa 2010.
What's been wrong with his performances this season? He's been at least good all the time, despite having to play in CM half the season.

Does the man never just deserve some unconditional praise? For me, he's been a good player and captain all season and he was excellent today.
 

Ixion

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He's only three behind Andy Cole now in all-time Premier League goals.
 

SirAF

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I've been critical of him in the past, but he's easily our best forward. He shall play up front.
 

Jed I. Knight

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I'm glad we're playing him up front again, should take care of all this nonsense about Kane being the best English striker these days :nono:

Hopefully we'll continue with him up top for the foreseeable future as well. He makes shit happen, and he scores goals. It's basically all you need from your main man up top.
 

Amar__

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I think today's performance was his probably best of the season, I really like what I saw from him today. Waaay better than any of his recent ones which were bit overrated because he was scoring goals even though his all around play was very average. Still, even those were better than most of van Persie's and Falcao's this season, so there's really no reason to start any of those two ahead of him up front.
 

Adam-Utd

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A little while in his career I thought he was finished as a lead striker, I really thought his touch pace had left him for good. It's great to see him looking settled and happy again, and I think that coincides with how good his form has been recently. He's definitely relishing playing upfront again, and is making those runs in the channel we have desperately lacked recently. I wish we stuck him upfront months earlier as we would comfortably be in 2nd/3rd place by now!.
 

LazyRed-Ninja

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A nostalgic aura around that solo goal from Wazza. As Benjamin Franklin once said :

‘’ Hide not your talents, they for use were made,What's a sundial in the shade?”

The decision to play Rooney in midfield was only limiting him in his strengths. 246 competition goals ( including Everton) , what makes people think that Rooney lost his edge ? He should be nowhere near a midfield position, perhaps in a later stage of his career. He thrives on his energy and finishing abilities and where best to do that around/in the 16 yard area.
 

mazhar13

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I'm glad to see Rooney regain that sharpness and speed of thought that he used to have when playing up front during the 2009/10 season. I used to think that his best performances nowadays would come with a strike partner, but he's done very well when leading the line in the past few matches. This is the sort of striker we needed for so much of this season, and it's refreshing to see Rooney perform like this. His touches may still be a tad heavy, but he's really improved in controlling the ball in tight spaces, so much so that he's been very good at creating spaces all by himself.

This is a striker who's perfect for van Gaal's system (the ideal one). van Persie and Falcao have shown their potential up front here and there, but Rooney's been the only one who's consistently done it for several matches (since his last time up front against Southampton away when he was quite poor). He has to be our main leading striker from here on in with either van Persie or some attacking midfielder behind him. Either that or him playing with a strike/goalscoring partner.
 

Crashoutcassius

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Rooney was really good today and honestly has looked sharp for weeks. His mental game seems to have improved quite a bit imo. We have an exciting future if we play him as lone striker imo
 

devil in me

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His performance today shows why a new striker in the summer shouldn't be anywhere near a priority. Rooney as a lone striker up top in a 4-3-3 can score 30 a season.
 

Cutch

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What's been wrong with his performances this season? He's been at least good all the time, despite having to play in CM half the season.

Does the man never just deserve some unconditional praise? For me, he's been a good player and captain all season and he was excellent today.
Just an opinion. I said he was excellent today, just havn't enjoyed his performances this season in midfield or as a support striker. Been saying it for years but for me he's a number 9 all day long. Looked very dynamic today and was running at players which i havn't seen him do much this season.
 

Dante

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Some people think he's best as a striker. Some think he's best in the hole. Some think he's destined to be a midfielder. I think they're all right to some extent. The way you get the most out of Rooney is to play him as a false 9, the way he was against Tottenham.
 

NoPace

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He's been a 9 for the last 5 years or so, at least. And he's very good at basically everything a 9 has to do. I wish the club thought of him like a Lewandowski or Benzema type. #NoMoreCentralAttackers
 

ZDwyr

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Great performance. Great response to that silly video. Spoke really well after the match too I thought. Really impressed with Rooney's attitude this season and is showing that he was right choice for captain. Should have been playing as the striker a lot earlier but glad van Gaal got it right before it is too late. Hopefully RvP doesn't come straight back in because he doesn't deserve it.
 

Jed I. Knight

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Dare I say it, watch out Shearer?
All depends on where he'll played in the future. If we keep playing him up top, he has a decent chance of catching Shearer, but he will likely need at least three more seasons as our first choice striker. Not sure I see it.

He should catch both of Charlton's club records, 249 overall and 199 league goals, within two seasons though. He's currently 229 (20 off) and 169 (thirty off). And he's off course just three goals off his England record, so he'll have that within the year.
 

jb8521

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So I just saw this video, now I know what his celebration was about :lol:

Am I the only one who thinks it looks more like he slips because hes wearing socks on a hard floor rather than actually being put down by the slap?
 

OldTrevil

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Shades of old Rooney with his runs and touch on point. He should stay up top with that form and we should definitely keep playing with one striker. I've always been of the idea that him, RVP, and Falcoa should fight for the position.

That pass to Fellaini with the outside of his foot:drool:
I tried to pull a similar pass once to disastrous proportions. Mind you I'm stronger on my right foot but I attempted the pass from the right side of the pitch with my left :D. I'm obviously a top player in my head :wenger:.
 

Isotope

Ten Years a Cafite
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I think today's performance was his probably best of the season, I really like what I saw from him today. Waaay better than any of his recent ones which were bit overrated because he was scoring goals even though his all around play was very average. Still, even those were better than most of van Persie's and Falcao's this season, so there's really no reason to start any of those two ahead of him up front.
His game against Arsenal in the league was as good as this one, imho. Although in terms of the quality of the goal, this is his best.
 

Eric'sCollar

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Great to see him leading the team the way he is. His goals will drive us to the top 4.
 

beergod

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Impressive performance. Managed to strike a good balance of playing off the last man with dropping deeper to pick up possession. I think he works well with Fellaini because they rarely look to occupy the same spaces. I just hope LVG leaves him as the #9 when RVP becomes available.
 

Sammyjunn

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Was just looking up Rooney's Manchester United goalscoring stats compared to some other great strikers of modern football and it makes for pleasant reading :

Wayne Rooney : 0.49 goals per match in all competitions.
Raul Gonzalez : 0.44 goals per match match in all competitions for Real Madrid.
Andriy Shevchenko : 0.49 goals per match in all competitions for AC Milan.
Thierry Henry : 0.56 goals per game in all competitions for Arsenal and Barcelona.
Filippo Inzaghi : 0.46 goals per game in all competitions for Juventus and AC Milan.
David Villa : 0.50 goals per game in all competitions for Real Zaragoza, Valencia and Barcelona.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic : 0.48 goals per game in all competitions for Juventus, Internazionale, Barcelona, AC Milan and PSG.
Samuel Eto'o : 0.50 goals per game in all competitions for Barcelona and Internazionale.
Ruud van Nistelrooy : 0.68 goals per game for Manchester United and Real Madrid.

There are only two strikers who are substantially better in terms of goal efficiency from that list - van Nistelrooy with 0.68 and Henry with 0.56. And from that list, almost no other player has been more of a utility man or been played out of position more frequently or contributed more to the team's overall playing style both offensively and defensively. Which makes Rooney's tally all the more impressive when compared to strikers who were more classical finishers in the mold of Inzaghi.

Short term - Rooney is currently on 227 goals for Manchester United and 46 for England; and should be able to surpass Sir Bobby's total of 249 and 49 sometime next season. Plus, he is on 168 league goals for Manchester United and should eclipse Henry's record of 174 goals for a single Premier League club this season considering that there are still 9 games left to play.

More longer term - There is Alan Shearer's record of 260 Premier League goals plus Raul's benchmark of goals for a single club at 323 in all competitions. Surpassing both of them would be an incredible achievement and should finally put a stamp on Rooney's legendary career.

The solitary knock on him would be the relative lack of Champions League goals with just 29. Decent figures but considering how someone like Benzema has 41 and Drogba 44, Rooney should be better placed after almost a decade of playing in the competition. He still has time to make up for it and would do well to get somewhere around 50 by the time he hangs up his boots.
God I miss Ruud, one of the best goalscorers in the last decade.
 

Brightonian

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Just an opinion. I said he was excellent today, just havn't enjoyed his performances this season in midfield or as a support striker. Been saying it for years but for me he's a number 9 all day long. Looked very dynamic today and was running at players which i havn't seen him do much this season.
Ok fair enough. I personally felt he actually did pretty well in midfield given that it's far from his ideal position. He dominated the Newcastle game from the middle and still found time to score a brace, just for starters! Not many players can put in performances like that when out of position, so it seems a bit harsh to use that period as a reason to be disappointed with him this season.

There tends to be a bit of a trend on here that after a great performance we act as if it's the first one of the whole season. There have been a number of good games from us this year, especially recently - it's been our inability to produce more than one in a row that's cost us. And the same is true of Rooney. This was a good game from him but by no means an unusually good one or necessarily his best this season.
 
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