Written by Nathon Woodhead for RedFlagFlyingHigh.com: In the season of 2009/10 Wayne Rooney really was head and shoulders above every other United player in terms of performance levels and consistency.
For the duration of the domestic and European campaigns he lead the line and struck fear through defenders in the premiership week in week out; in fact it isn’t too far fetched to say he was ahead of every other player in Europe in terms of delivering impressive displays and to top it off he bagged himself a season record of 34 goals. He was much deserving of his Player of the Year accolade.
Despite Rooney being a shining light, United missed out on silverware and were criticised by fans and media alike for being heavily reliant on Wayne. In for criticism came the rest of the strike force and in particular, Dimitar Berbatov, who was failing to live him up to his £30m pricetag that had been splashed out on him a year previous.
Also on the naughty list fell Michael Owen – not many people expected him to play a massive role for United but after his last minute winner against Manchester City, he set himself up and we expected to see the Owen from World Cup 98 – it did not materialise. Nani and Valencia, although fans favourites and not out-an-out strikers, were also expected to weigh in with more goals than they delivered.
One year on and what a contrast – Wayne Rooney has 14 goals and although has not hit the goal scoring heights of 09/10, is still Sir Alex Ferguson’s main man and when he ticks, United tick.
Dimitar Berbatov has netted 21 goals season and is the premier leagues leading scorer; Young Mexican Javier Hernandez who was relatively unknown when Ferguson signed him before the World Cup, has been a huge success and having struck 20 goals so far in his debut season has without a doubt been a great asset to the side.
Michael Owen, although struggled with injuries this season has still made an impact – not necessarily in the goals department but by offering alternative dimensions to Uniteds attacking play when available – sometimes the reputation of Owen is enough to scare a defender into a mistake.
Then there are the strikers on loan – Danny Welbeck has been inspirational at Steve Bruce’s Sunderland and earned himself an International call up (for England not Ghana). Kiko Macheda has been a regular in the Italian Serie A side Sampdoria and Mame Biram Diouf has regularly impressed at Blackburn.
So the question that needs to be asked before we go into the 2011/12 campaign, possibly defending a premier league title and champions league triumph is, with four top strikers at the club, and three on loan who all have the capability to make a name for themselves on the biggest stage, who will be the odd man, or odd men out?
Roony and Hernandez obviously will not go anywhere, Berba will stay for another Season as the 3rd choice. Owen will be released, Welbeck will stay and Macheda will probly be sent out on loan. So United will be left with 4 really good, and different options up front and Macheda getting more valuable experience at a high level.
I think Kiko will be sold to an italian team,Owen will be released. Welbeck will return, his versatility in being able to play in a 4-4-2 & 4-3-3 is a key for offering a differant dimension to the team. If an offer for Berbatov comes in at or around the £20m mark it should be accepted and the moey spent on the rest of the team. Diouf looks a good prospect, he offers a strength to the forward line. We musnt also forget about Bebe, hopefully with a good pre season behind him he can finally show what he can do and prove all the doubters wrong.