Player Profile – Wayne Rooney (Part 1)
When the Manchester United star, Cristiano Ronaldo left the club to fetch after his “dream move” to Real Madrid; of a record 80 million pounds transfer, the English club was definitely going to lack the creativity and the goals that the star had to his name.
With Ronaldo gone, there had to be someone in the team who had to step up and take his place.
Fortunately, for the Red Devils, Wanye Rooney was a part of their squad. The English striker was always overshadowed by the Portuguese captain but luckily, for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, Wayne Rooney actually capitalized on the opportunity that he got after
Ronaldo’s departure and he had a sensational season at the “theatre of dreams,” the Old Trafford.
With United missing out on Ronaldo at some stages, as they were only able to bag themselves a League Cup in the previous season, Rooney still made sure that they don’t miss out on the goals. The former Everton striker was able to score 34 goals in all competitions;
thus being a threat to all of Red Devils’ opponents.
Compared to the previous season 2009-2010; Rooney’s best form of “goal scoring” came in 2006-2007, when he was able to score 23 goals in only 44 appearances.
Everyone saw how Wayne Rooney improved in 12 months, after Cristiano Ronaldo was gone. The 24-year-old English striker got more freedom at the “centre” where he started to play after Ronaldo’s departure and not only he was the focal point at Old Trafford, he
showed vast improvement in other departments as well. People saw how Wayne Rooney’s off-the-ball runs and heading abilities had improved, as he used to utilize his aggression and power to out run his marker while he used to head the ball over the defensive
lines of his opponents.
Wayne Rooney usually played out wide when Ronaldo was part of the team, while Berbatov or Rooney were the players playing in the centre; it was hard for the English striker to adapt to the role of being a centre forward. Of course, it was Sir Alex Ferguson
who totally changed Rooney’s prospective and helped him become a ruthless predator in the 18-yard box. Everyone saw the drastic change in Wayne Rooney as he started to score goals.
The journey from assisting great goals to being a great goal scorer started for the English man, as the season kicked off with a match against Chelsea in the Community Shield. It was Wayne Rooney who took first blood as he scored a vital goal for the Red Devils
and gave a warning to other clubs, before the season started. The goal against Chelsea was then followed by 6 goals in the next 6 Premier League games, including the goal that marked the win for Manchester United against Arsenal.
After being silent in goal scoring, he jumped back to form as he scored a hat-trick against Portsmouth in November and was also able to bag himself all the four goals that United scored against Hull City in January. It was just like “old school” Manchester
United, as they kicked back and picked up pace after Christmas and New Year period, just like their tradition.
Between the months of January and March, Wayne Rooney was able to score 19 goals in only 16 games; the run that his boss Ferguson marks as “fabulous,” as he went on to tell the press about the “importance” of Wayne Rooney for the English club.
As Manchester United are a big club, they have to play in European competitions as well and during their run in the Champions League, the Red Devils were drawn against the Italian club AC Milan, who actually defeated Real Madrid in the group stages. A defence
line that included defensive legends like Alessandro Nesta along with the amazing centre back Thiago Silva, many thought that it is going to be difficult for Manchester United to beat such a defensive wall. Even though it looked to be tough, Wayne Rooney was
out there to win it for his team and he scored 2 vital goals in the second half of the first leg, as Manchester United won the match 3-2 at the Italian club’s home ground, the San Siro.
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