Rooney will deliver

Say the name Wayne Rooney to a typical football fan, and you will evoke all sorts of reactions. Rooney, in truth, is a character that divides opinions. He is either adored to the core or loathed in the same fashion. Following the summer departures of Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao, it is looking more and more likely that the goal-scoring burden of the team will fall upon the 29 year old once again. Nonetheless, it seems many United fans seem to doubt his capabilities to lead the lines efficiently. This issue seem to be generating a whole lot of debate on social media especially as to whether Rooney can break the 20 goal barrier this season. The reservations are quite understandable considering the fact Rooney has a few glaring flaws. Of head, you can speak about his scoring record, positional indiscipline and hold up play. This article will look to assess some of these flaws.

Critics say as a striker Rooney has been grossly over-rated that in 10 full season’s at Manchester United he has hit 20 goals just twice in the Premier League. In that regard it is very hard to describe him as a world class striker. But what they forget is that Rooney has played 335 premier league matches in those 10 seasons and racked up an impressive 170 goals and 94 assists. Directly contributing to goal every 114 minutes during those times. 

This stats even looks more impressive considering that since he joined Manchester United, only twice has the English captain been handed the chance to consistently spearhead the United attack. Those were the 2009/2010 (26 league goals) and 2011/2012 seasons (27 goals).  In the 2009/2010 season, 22 non-penalty goals coupled with 3 assists made for a scoring contribution of 82% per 90 minutes which was an excellent total. The 2011/2012 season proved to be even better, the then 26-year-old put together 27 goals over a 31.5 game run. Even though this figure is inflated by 6 penalties, it was still an impressive achievement. Add in 4 assists and you get a scoring contribution of 80% per game.

Having said that, there are a few glaring flaws Rooney needs to work on. Age, injuries and being shunted all over the place has had a toll on his pace. He is no more powerful or explosive enough. Therefore he has to maintain his positional discipline to conserve some more energy for attacking. Too often as a no.9, he easily gets frustrated without the ball and starts dropping deeper and deeper. This might seem like he is 'hardworking' or 'helping his team' but adhering to tactical instructions is key. Rooney dropping too deep crowds the midfield and leaves the attack without a target man. This normally makes our attack sterile.

Another weakness of Rooney's games is his first touch. He has never displayed the first touch of a world-class player. This has had grave consequences on our attack. A typical example was at Burnley last season, when his dreadful first touch broke down a classic counter attack led by Di Maria. Now more than ever, he has to improve his first touch in order stretch the opposition especially at a time that he has lost a yard of pace.

All in all, I think Rooney can flourish as an attacker this season, his performances as the lead marksman suggest he is more than capable of shouldering the responsibility. 74 of the 105 league goals, Rooney has scored in the last six seasons have come when he has started out as a centre forward. He can be that 30 goal striker a season that the United faithful desperately want, all he needs is a little bit of faith.