It has been heavily suggested this pre-season that Manchester United are happy to rely on Wayne Rooney to lead the line for the Red Devils, opposed to Louis Van Gaal going out to sign a new striker in his place.
So it does look as though the Wayne Rooney midfield experiment is finally over. Louis van Gaal deployed the England captain in a unfamiliar deeper role for much of last term, but now it looks likely the striker will return to his natural position, and history suggests that it would be a smart decision to do that.
The departure of Rooney’s main competition has cleared the way for him to have a big impact, both Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao leaving has meant Rooney will be getting his first opportunity to lead the line for United since the 2011/12 season, despite closing in on United’s all time goal scoring record.
And if Rooney had to make a case for van Gaal to trust him in the main striking role, a look back to the 2009/10 season is a good place to start.
It was the first real season where the former Everton man first flourished as United’s main man, despite making the switch from Merseyside to Manchester five years previous.
A certain Cristiano Ronaldo left for Real Madrid that summer, meaning Rooney was granted the task of leading the line for United, and he very much grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
He scored 26 goals that year, and although it wasn’t enough to help United win the title, Rooney nonetheless proved he is a main striker, and unsurprisingly his form that year helped him secure the PFA and Football Writers; Player of the Year awards.
The stage was then set for the England man to dominate as United’s leading man, but it didn’t work out. After a poor World Cup, Rooney was overshadowed by Dimitar Berbatov and scored just 11 goals as the Bulgarian netted 20 in 2010/11.
He became a provider for the Bulgarian, though, notching 11 assists compared to just three when he was the main man the year before, and indeed there is further evidence that he is far more effective when leading the line.
His shots on goal dropped from 3.9 a game to just 2.7, and he averaged less touches (56.75 a game compared to 60.8 according to Opta) as Rooney dropped deeper to accommodate Berbatov.
However, the following season, Rooney established himself as the main striker again and he had a stellar campaign, scoring a career high 27 Premier League goals, which of course leant further weight to the argument Rooney is better as the main man up top.
But it was another false dawn as another classy striker came in in the shape of Robin van Persie, which then caused Rooney to play a deeper role to accommodate the Dutchman.
And it is Rooney’s versatility that is the problem, as he often is made to adapt to accommodate his team mates which led to his presence in van Gaal’s midfield last season.
But despite van Gaal’s best attempts to justify his decision by stating that Rooney can create more for his team mates in a deeper midfield role, the stats show Rooney in a deeper role makes him far less effective.
So there’s no wonder why van Gaal is ready to unleash Rooney as the leading striker again, as the opportunity to be United’s main man gets the best out of him.
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