There are few men in world football who come under more scrutiny than Wayne Rooney. Every week an immense pressure is heaped on his shoulders. Is it any wonder that he’s started to offer diminishing returns over the last couple of years? In fact, when you factor in all the extenuating factors, it’s a wonder he’s been as good as he had been.
For a start, he’s had to put up with getting played out of position on a regular basis. The arrival of Robin Van Persie meant that Rooney was often forced into the midfield. The natural result of this was the curtailing of his goal-scoring form. Even now that he’s playing upfront on a regular basis again, I think it’s fair to say that he’s still lacking his old killer instinct.
But there’s no real need to panic. In 4 games this season, he’s found the back of the net twice. What’s more, even as United struggled last year, he still managed to score 19 goals in 40 games. That’s not a bad return by any means. His overall record for The Red Devils is excellent: 218 goals in 446 games is nothing to turn your nose up at.
It looks like goals will always be a part of his game.
Fans seem to be getting a little antsy because he’s not doing as much pressing, or harrying as he used to. Back in the day, Wayne Rooney was a defender’s nightmare. Because he’s such an active presence, he’d often win the ball back and force errors. But now that he’s 28-years-old, this quality seems to be disappearing from his game.
Perhaps he’s just trying to conserve his energy? As the years go by, he’s going to have to do this more and more. As long as he keeps getting into dangerous areas and applying the finish, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. One thing’s for sure, if he loses the ball, he’ll chase back until United win possession once again. You can’t say that of every striker.
Louis Van Gaal has got behind Wayne Rooney in a major way, so we should too. The constant questions marks surrounding the England striker (likely due to the huge pay-packet he’s picking up each week) aren’t healthy. It’s time to move on.
What’s your take? Does Wayne Rooney still need to prove himself?
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