Rooney: A Tale of Two Halves

I never saw Wayne Rooney when I was a kid. Back then, when Wayne was in his prime, I thought soccer (football for the UK blokes) was stupid. Now obviously I have seen the light and emerged from the darkness, but I did miss out on a lot of the good times for Manchester United. The way I can know that Rooney was that good is to watch Youtube highlights with awful electronic music in the background such as the one below.

My first season that I truly followed the Red Devils was 2014-15, Louis van Gaal's first year in charge. The Man United that I know has struggled in comparison to the monumental successes of Sir Alex Ferguson. The Europa League is starting to become an annual outing for the Reds, despite our best squad since Sir Alex left the club almost four years ago.

Wayne Rooney is the epitome of this team. He has quite clearly seen better times, with his goal output dropping drastically under LvG and now Jose Mourinho. The only greatness I have seen from Rooney is the occasional free kick (the point-saver against Stoke City for example) or thunderbolt from 35 yards out (Fenerbache anyone?).

That doesn't mean that he does not deserve a spot in this team. Despite the talks of him leaving United for his boyhood club Everton or one of the Chinese clubs that could pay him millions, he stayed put for at least the rest of this season.

Rooney is the all-time leading goalscorer for Manchester United. The club will put up a statute of him outside of Old Trafford one day, in the same way that they have a statute of Sir Bobby Charlton, Dennis Law, and George Best. Yet now he struggles to keep a place in the starting eleven. That is just fine because Jose is using him the right way.

Rooney coming on as a sub is better for the team overall. His experience can be crucial late in matches when United need to create a goal. Even if he has lost his pace, his knowledge of the game can more than make up for that. He has by himself given United at least four points. He scored that free kick against Stoke and assisted Marcus Rashford in stoppage time to give United a 1-0 victory over Hull City early in the season.

The new Rooney won't give United 90 minutes every week in the Premier League. He simply isn't that good anymore. But what he does offer in 45, 30 or even 15 minutes could be the difference between United playing in the Champions League or Europa League next season.