Wayne Rooney: Manchester United Legend

With Wayne Rooney’s transfer back to his boyhood club Everton now confirmed, here are my thoughts on his 13 year association with Manchester United.

The Beginning

From his spectacular debut against Fenerbahce to his cameo off the bench against Ajax in the Europa League final last season, Rooney has achieved almost everything at Manchester United. He’s won nearly every club trophy and last season he broke Sir Bobby Charlton’s long-standing record as the club’s highest goalscorer.

His early years at the club showcased a young, headstrong player whose skills, strength, speed, and tenacity hinted at a world class player in the making. His temper sometimes got him in trouble, with some needless yellow and red cards a feature of those early years, but also ignited some spectacular moments like this volley against Newcastle in 2005.

In truth, Rooney probably never quite made it into the ‘world class’ bracket occupied by the likes of his former running mate Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Part of the reason why may be him sacrificing individual glory to allow Ronaldo to thrive following the Portuguese’s breakout season in 2006/07. Rooney selflessly played Robin to Ronaldo’s Batman, often taking on more of the grunt work to let Ronaldo concentrate on scoring goals. The pair combined brilliantly at times, and won three consecutive league titles between 2006/07 and 2008/09, as well as the Champions League in 2007/08.

When Ronaldo left for Madrid ahead of the 2009/10 season, Rooney finally got his chance as the main man and responded with his best scoring season to date with 34 goals. Sadly his 26 league goals were in vain as United finished second behind Chelsea, bringing an end to their streak of three straight titles.

The Transfer Request

The following season saw Rooney underwhelmed by the club’s new signings and led to his infamous transfer request. In his defence, he had seen Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez depart and be replaced by a collection of less talented players like Antonio Valencia (whom I’m a huge fan of), Javier Hernandez (also a fan), Michael Owen (rubbish pundit but he did score that winner against City), Gabriel Obertan (meh), and Bebe (LOL). He ended up signing a lucrative new contract however, and went on to score the famous overhead kick winner vs City, the title-clinching penalty vs Blackburn that sealed United’s 19th league title, and in the Champions League final defeat against Barcelona that season. Despite having a hand (or foot) in those iconic moments, his transfer request had alienated many United fans and would make him a polarising figure for the rest of his time at Old Trafford.

Rooney matched his personal best of 34 goals in the 2011/12 season, with 27 of those in the league (his highest tally so far). Once again however, his league goals didn’t result in league success as United lost their title to rivals City in heartbreaking fashion – goal difference, last minute of injury time, last match of the season, Aguero.

United responded by signing Robin van Persie the following season and while he may be named Robin, he was definitely Batman that season, leaving Rooney to once more play the role of sidekick. United reclaimed the league, but manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that Rooney had once again asked to leave the club. Rooney still refutes that claim but whatever the truth may be, perhaps Ferguson had sensed that Rooney’s time at the club had run its natural course.

Post-Fergie Era

David Moyes’ appointment as Fergie’s successor in 2013 reunited Rooney with the manager who had given him his professional debut at Everton. Despite constant transfer speculation around his future, Rooney was one of the few bright points of Moyes’ ill-fated season at Old Trafford, scoring 19 goals. However, it was still a clear mistake by Moyes and Ed Woodward to hand Rooney an improved 5 year contract considering he was entering the latter years of his career.

When Louis van Gaal made Rooney his captain ahead of the 2014/15 season, it made sense as he was the club’s longest serving player and one of its most decorated. However, the new manager’s insistence on playing Rooney, van Persie, and Radamel Falcao together meant that the captain was often deployed as a midfielder. The positional change seemed to blunt Rooney’s attacking instincts, although in my opinion the captaincy also had an effect. Rooney’s maturity had come at the expense of the fire that once made him an unpredictable, unstoppable player. The stifling tactics employed by van Gaal further accelerated Rooney’s decline as an attacking force.

Record Breaker

When Jose Mourinho took over in 2016/17, he declared that Rooney was a striker and would only play him as one. That sounded promising, but it soon became clear that Mourinho couldn’t play both Rooney and new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic together. Both men lacked pace and tended to occupy similar areas on the pitch. Zlatan’s goalscoring form and Rooney’s lack of form meant the Englishman was eventually demoted to the bench. To his credit, he took the demotion in his stride and never once complained about his role. He still made some vital contributions as a substitute though, notably his injury time free kick to equalise against Stoke. That goal made him Manchester United’s record goalscorer, which is an outstanding achievement. He ended the season with only eight goals, but by winning the Europa League he ticked yet another trophy off his checklist. Only the UEFA Super Cup is missing from his collection of club honours.

Return to Everton

Today Rooney rejoins an Everton team that is on the rise. New investment has made them big spenders this transfer window, and it looks like Rooney won’t be their last addition. Many see him moving there merely to mentor the younger players as his best playing days are behind him. That may well be true, but I predict this move will rejuvenate him and we’ll see a sharper and happier Rooney than we did in his limited playing time last season. He’ll be determined to prove his doubters wrong and make the England squad for next year’s World Cup. He’ll also be motivated to win a trophy with his boyhood club before he retires. Maybe that will be the Europa League, which will give him another shot at the Super Cup to complete his collection.

No matter how his move pans out, no one can deny that Wayne Rooney has had an amazing, successful career at Manchester United. As someone who has watched his first and last matches in a United shirt, as well as countless others in between, I can truly say that Wazza is a club legend and that it’s been a privilege watching him play for the Red Devils.

Featured image by kivnl / shutterstock.com