Rooney equals Charlton’s record – a lookback at his world-class career

On Saturday against Reading in FA Cup, Wayne Rooney’s performance was reminiscent his old destructive self. Rooney inarguably is the most talented Englishman to grace the field since Paul Gascoigne. All it took him was 7 minutes on the field to equal Sir Bobby Charlton’s long-standing record, as the United skipper kneed in a ball to equal the magical number – 249.

The match, against a poor opposition one must grant, saw the Rooney of old. Other than the goal, there were all the hallmarks of a classic number 10 – creating chances for his teammates, flicking on balls with élan and even trying an audacious chip. All in all, it was a good day for United who stamped their authority with a second-string squad missing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David De Gea, Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba.

Sitting in the stands, both Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Alex Ferguson, looked absolutely delighted and Rooney needs one more strike to get ahead of Sir Bobby and stand in his own stead as Manchester United’s top scorer of all time.

Given all the great forwards that have played at United over the years – including Cantona, Ruud Van Nistlerooy, Teddy Sherringham, Dennis Law and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – that’s no mean feat.

Sadly, much like Gazza, the ‘What if’ question will forever hang over Rooney’s career, even though he did join Manchester United and has won everything there’s to win at club level. Personal gongs eluded him, but to be fair, they’ve eluded almost everyone thanks to Messrs Messi and Ronaldo who’ve made the World Player of the Year and Ballon D’or awards their personal fiefdom.

Whether Wayne Rooney is or was a world-class player will remain one of modern football’s most enigmatic questions. Did he become world class or did he fail to touch the heights? Did his selfless drive to play for the team dull his striking skills and prevented him from sharing the stage with the likes of Messi or Ronaldo? Could he have looked himself better?

No modern footballer’s career has been put under the microscope as thoroughly as Wayne Rooney’s from the moment he burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old man-child who terrified grown men. His breakout moment came in 2002, when they brought Arsenal’s 30-match unbeaten run to an end with a strike that had the commentator screaming “Remember the name – Wayne Rooney”.

Since then there have been some other remarkable goals – that volley against Newcastle, an audacious Beckham-like lob from the halfway line, a surging counter-attacking goal against Arsenal, that chip against Middlesbrough.

To be fair, Rooney’s career can be broken into three separate categories – the Boy Wonder, the post-Ronaldo renaissance and almost-there years afterwards.

Rooney – The Boy Wonder (2002-2009)

Rooney in Everton colours in 2002 (Getty Images)

A nine-year-old Wayne joined Everton and even then, Manchester United scouts had their eyes on the boy who was head and shoulders above everyone else. A poor boy growing up in a council house (meant for the poor), Rooney lit up English football unlike any other and was perhaps the last Englishman to have a decent tournament (Euro 2004).

 Seeing a prized horse, Ferguson beat all comers to sign up the explosive youngster who was also joined by another wiry kid with braces from Portugal.  However, another Portuguese manager had arrived at Chelsea at that moment, a man who called himself the Special One and his Chelsea side simply steamrolled through winning titles in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.

In fact, Rooney wrote in his autobiography that he wondered if he’d ever win the league. But that boy from Portugal turned out all right and as the likes of Nistlerooy left, Ferguson forged a new team around Rooney and Ronaldo with old guards like Gary Neville, Scholes and Giggs, a rock-solid defence with Van Der Saar, Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra. Manchester United with Rooney and Ronaldo dominated England, winning three titles in a row. United also did well in Europe reaching 3 finals in four year. While they beat Chelsea in 2007-08, they were outshone by Pep Guardiola’s tiki-taka maestros led by Messi, Iniesta and Xavi in the 2009-10 and 2011-12 final. In 2009, Ronaldo left for Real to put the focus firmly on Wayne to create a legacy at United.

The Rooney Masterclass – 2009-2010

Rooney with the 2009-10 League Cup (Getty Images)

The 2009-10 season saw Ronaldo fulfilling his lifelong dream to become a Madrista which meant that the spotlight was firmly on Rooney and he began the season in breath-taking fashion. During the Ronaldo years, Rooney was often shunted all over the field and there’s a school of thought that Rooney’s ability to play all over the field might have hurt his overall game. A selfless team player who’d play wherever his team needed him, Rooney was often sacrificed for Ronaldo and lacked his teammate’s selfish streak and the doggone desire to be on the score-sheet.

But 2009-10 saw Rooney play often as a sole number 9, and he struck up a prolific partnership with Antonio Valencia who had almost a robotic ability to move to the byline and cross the ball unlike Ronaldo who’d often cut in and shoot himself.

Rooney was devastating in the number 9 role and United looked on course for another Premier League and European title before he got injured in a quarter-final against Bayern Munich which United lost 2-1. Missing Rooney, United lost a crunch match to Chelsea which helped them edge ahead in the Premier League race and the return leg against Bayern saw Rooney return but he had to be substituted again after getting injured. United, led 3-0 at one point but let Bayern back into the match and lost on overall aggregate.

The amost-there years – 2010- present

Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Getty Images)

Things started unravelling for Wayne in the 2010-11 season and the striker expressed a desire to leave Old Trafford citing lack of ambition. Ferguson likened him to a ‘cow’ who thinks the grass is greener on the other side, and though Rooney signed a new five-year deal, there was a breakdown of relationship with the club’s fans who felt Rooney had let him down. At the same time, trouble in his personal life spilled over as news emerged that he had slept with hookers.

Even though he returned and scored what is considered the best goal ever seen in the Premier League, an audacious bicycle kick against Man City, it seemed like the old love was gone.

In 2013, as Sir Alex called time on his remarkable career, he claimed that Rooney had handed in a transfer request but Rooney’s old Everton manager David Moyes handed him a new contract and made him his main man.

In 2014-15, Van Gaal arrived to make Rooney his captain, and even though he played reasonably well the magic of old was gone. The young Rooney, a man who did audacious things on the pitch was replaced by a seasoned veteran who had trouble justifying his presence on the pitch. Mourinho, Van Gaal’s successor dropped him from squad, preferring the 35-year-young Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a lone forward and choosing Mata, Martial, Rashford, Mkhitaryan or Lingard in the attacking line-up.

But like Rooney reminded us on Saturday, he is still alive and kicking, and willing to play a part in the post-Fergie renaissance under Jose Mourinho. And certainly, on his way to number 250 which will make the highest scoring Manchester United player of all time. And no matter how much ink and space is wasted on decrying him, there’s no denying that Wayne Rooney has had a stellar career. And numbers clearly show that.