Allen Hamilton
Almost a year ago, Wayne Rooney was on the verge of leaving Manchester United, desperately seeking to escape a media storm and openly questioning the club’s plans to improve an undermanned squad. All that seems a long time ago now.
Going a step further, it is hard to believe the saga occurred at all, given how Rooney revived himself in the final four months of last season and how unstoppable he has been thus far this term. From having one foot out of the door, he has managed to rebuild his image and win back the United fans.
Admittedly, the 2011/12 campaign remains in its earliest stages – United have played just five league games, after all – but Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have flown out of the blocks with such blistering pace that it feels fully justified to begin drawing conclusions about where this campaign might lead.
And one of these conclusions is that, barring injury, Rooney is on the way to his best season to date. Clearly relishing playing alongside vibrant, younger team-mates – from Phil Jones to Tom Cleverley to Danny Welbeck – the England striker has embraced his new role as one of the senior voices on and off the pitch. Experienced figures like Gary Neville, Edwin van der Sar and Paul Scholes have gone, but Rooney is stepping up to fill the void.
While, by most standards, he is still learning and honing his game at 25, it should be remembered that the striker has been a Premier League regular for more than seven years. He has already won four league titles and played in three Champions League finals.
Nine goals in five games, highlighted by back-to-back hat-tricks against Arsenal and Bolton, have shown the benefits of a full summer break, free of international commitments. Rooney netted United’s third goal against Chelsea on Sunday, but could easily have gone on to add a third hat-trick of the year.
His form drew high praise from Benfica manager Jorge Jesus ahead of the Champions League clash last week and this in turn led Ferguson to compare his talisman to Brazilian legend Pele. “If you look at Pele, he was a very aggressive attacker who could also look after himself and so can Rooney,” the United boss explained. Praise indeed.
On the flanks, Ashley Young and Nani have been electric, providing the type of cutting edge that United have not had since Cristiano Ronaldo bolted for Real Madrid in 2009. Rooney’s partnerships with first Welbeck, before his hamstring injury, and now Javier Hernandez have sizzled. The Rooney-Hernandez duo tore Bolton’s defence to shreds at the Reebok Stadium, a week after humbling Arsenal.
All the signs point to Rooney setting new career highs this year. His flurry of early strikes makes topping 30 league goals a realistic target, particularly given that it is currently impossible to imagine him going a game without finding the net. The 25-year-old must also believe that winning coveted end of season awards is a serious possibility, though Manchester City’s David Silva and Edin Dzeko have made legitimate early cases too. With United primed to compete on all four fronts, it is not unthinkable that Rooney could net 40 – or even 50 – goals in all competitions.
His previous best scoring season came two years ago in 2009/10 when he finished with 26 Premier League goals and 34 in all competitions – but that campaign was affected by an ankle injury that forced Rooney to miss key games down the stretch. Compare that to last term when, struggling to find form and clear his head, he tallied just 16 goals in all competitions.
All the ingredients are there for Rooney. He has youthful defenders and midfielders capable of supporting the attack, wide men with pace and trickery and a manager who loves nothing better than fielding a team that goes for the throat. At present, despite some magical displays since bursting onto the scene at Everton, Rooney remains on the fringes of the ‘world’s best player’ discussion – but this season he is set to throw himself right into the mix.
