After Wayne Rooney was dropped by Sir Alex Ferguson for their crucial Champions League tie with Real Madrid on Tuesday, rumours started circulating that Rooney could find himself leaving Old Trafford in the summer.
Although, Sir Alex has come out today saying that the England international will still be a Manchester United player next season, we still thought it would be interesting to take a look at Wayne Rooney’s contribution to the side since the start of the 2008/2009 season.
Rooney has been a key player in the United set up since he joined from Everton both in terms of goals and assists. But with the arrival of Robin van Persie some of the pressure to deliver goals for his team has been taken off his shoulders.
Wayne Rooney created 74 chances for United in the 2008/2009 season at a rate of a chance every 31 minutes, which is best return in the last five seasons in the Premier League (that’s all we have on EPLIndex). He has created a chance every 40 minutes this season, which is marginally better than his average over the last five seasons (41 minutes).
Rooney has also created 9 clear-cut chances this season which is a clear-cut chance every 167 minutes. This is 21 minutes more often than his average over the last three seasons, but 19 minutes less frequent than his best season (2010/2011). N.B. Opta only started recording clear-cut chances in the 2010/2011 season.
It has been Wayne Rooney’s best season in terms of assists, as he already has 9 assists which is only 2 fewer than his best assists tally of 11 in the 2010/2011 season. Rooney has an assist every 167 minutes this season, which is more often than any other season and is 173 minutes more often than his average over the last 5 seasons.
Rooney has scored 87 goals over the last 5 seasons, which averages out at 17 goals a season, with his highest goal tally coming last season when he netted 27 times. Wayne has managed 11 goals this season, which is joint lowest total, but with 10 games left and the change of role in the team since the arrival of Robin Van Persie this is expected.
Wayne Rooney has scored a goal every 133 minutes in the last 5 seasons, which is a pretty impressive record considering teammate Robin Van Persie has scored a goal every 124 minutes in the last 5 seasons. Rooney has averaged a goal every 137 minutes this season, which is 4 minutes longer than his average, but is still impressive especially considering the arrival of RVP.
The England international has converted 19% of his chances over the last 5 seasons, with his best season coming in the 2010/2011 season when he converted 23% of his chances, which is 2% better than this season.
Wayne Rooney has scored 22% and assisted 12% of Manchester United’s Premier League goals over the last five seasons, scoring 16% and assisting 18% of their goals this season. Rooney has contributed to 31% of United’s goals over the last five seasons and 29% of their goals this season. The contribution stats are worked out by dividing Rooney’s total goals and assists by Manchester United’s goal total.
These stats show just how important Rooney has been for Manchester United over the last five seasons. Even with the introduction of Robin Van Persie, Rooney has still contributed a high amount of United’s goals and assists this season.
So after establishing that Rooney is still an important part of the Manchester United set up, we now take a look at how he compared to Robin Van Persie over the last five seasons.
Wayne Rooney vs Robin Van Persie
Wayne Rooney has averaged more minutes than Robin Van Persie over the last five seasons, but Robin Van Persie has 7 more assists than his new teammate. Van Persie has an assist every 263 minutes in the last five seasons, which is 77 minutes more often than Rooney.
Both players have scored 87 goals in the last 5 seasons, but it has taken Robin Van Persie 9 minutes less to score these goals. Robin Van Persie has also contributed to 24% of Arsenal and Manchester United’s goals since the 2008/2009 season, which is 2% more than Wayne Rooney has contributed to Manchester United.
Van Persie has also contributed to 35% of his sides overall goals, while Rooney has contributed to 31% of Manchester United’s goals since the start of the 2008/2009 season.
What this does show is that Manchester United would be crazy to let Wayne Rooney go and if both players can keep these records up then Manchester United may take some stopping in years to come.
Rooney next club Odds via bwin Bets
£20 Wins You:
Rooney to Join Chelsea: £260
Rooney to Join PSG: £80
Rooney to Join Real Madrid: £140
Rooney to Join CITY: £140
Rooney to Join Barca: £340
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