Comparing Wayne Rooney's 2014/15 Stats to His 2015/16 Numbers
Wayne Rooney has not had the season he was supposed to have at Manchester United.
During the Red Devils' pre-season tour of the U.S., Rooney said, per Sky Sports:
"My best position - and I've always said it - is as a striker, getting into the box.
The two seasons I've really done that as a lone striker are my two best goalscoring seasons. I hope to score 20 or more goals again. If I'm playing as a striker, then I will be disappointed if I can't do that again.
"
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In July 2015, Mark Ogden of the Telegraph wrote, "Wayne Rooney will be restored to a central striking role at Manchester United this season with Louis van Gaal, the manager, accepting that he diminishes the England captain’s goalscoring talents by deploying him in midfield."
In the end, though, Rooney spent a few pretty fruitless months up front, occasionally switching to No. 10 to allow Anthony Martial to take the centre-forward berth. He finally hit form in January before succumbing to injury. Since his return he has played in midfield.
It would take an explosion of form for him to score 20 goals now.
So how do his numbers—and all the numbers below come courtesy of Rooney's page over at WhoScored.com—both in terms of goals and his general contribution, stack up against last season?
The first thing of interest is the number of games he has started in each position he has played. There has definitely been a shift.
Last season he started 14 league games up front, this season it was 17, plus three in the Champions League. He started four league games at No. 10 in each season. Once United were into the group stages of the Champions League, though, No. 10 was Van Gaal's go-to role for Rooney—he started there in three of the four games.
2014/15 saw him make 14 league appearances in deep-lying midfield, compared to just three this time out. It is only in these final stages of the season, following the emergence of Marcus Rashford that Rooney has been sent back into that spot.
All that meant he spent around 42 per cent of the league minutes of Van Gaal's first campaign at centre-forward. This season, that percentage has been much higher, around 70 per cent.
In spite of this his rate of goals in the league has been slower this season—0.3 per 90 minutes versus 0.4 per 90 last time out.
That is a pretty damning statistic for those arguing Rooney's best position remains as a centre-forward. Especially when combined with the fact that he has used his more advanced position to take more shots—2.9 per 90 this season versus 2.5 last.
Some of this lack of efficacy can be attributed not just to England's record international goalscorer, but also to United's style of play. Rooney's rate of shooting from inside the box has in fact decreased, from 1.2 per 90 minutes in the league to one this season.
The number from outside the box has seen a 63 per cent increase from 1.1 per 90 to 1.8 per 90. It is not ideal given how much more time he has had at centre-forward that he should have had fewer shots from inside the box, and so many more from outside.
Of course, it will hardly come as a surprise to anyone who has watched United this season that they have struggled to create presentable chances near their opponents' goal. That has, essentially, been the defining quality of their 2015/16 campaign. It should be added, though, that some of that could be down to Rooney himself.
He is self-evidently not as quick as he used to be. He is also attempting to beat a man slightly less frequently, and succeeding less often than he used to. He has dropped from an average of 1.9 dribble attempts per 90 to 1.8, and his unsuccessful attempts have nudged up from 0.8 to 0.9.
In his defence, his burst of form in January was crucial to United's season. December had been a catastrophic month for Van Gaal, and his captain helped to bail him out.
It was a run of seven goals and three assists in eight games that saw United navigate two rounds of the FA Cup and pick up 11 badly needed points, which meant a push for a Champions League place became a viable option.
It was a better individual burst of form than any he managed last season, though it was condensed into such a short period that his overall contribution has to be considered to be less effective this time around.
After all, he managed 12 league goals, and notched five assists in 2014/15. This time out he has seven goals and four assists in the Premier League, plus four goals in Europe.
His contribution to United's attacking play as a creative force has improved slightly on last season, in terms of his key pass numbers at least. 2014/15 was Rooney's least productive league season on record at United in terms of creating chances. He averaged just 1.4 key passes per 90 minutes of league football. Not since 2011/12 had he dropped below an average of two.
He spent virtually the whole of that season as an out-and-out centre-forward and still managed an average of 1.6 key passes per 90 minutes of league football.
Which is the same number he has hit this season. An interesting detail in those key passes number is the shift in type. In 2014/15 he averaged 0.4 long key passes and one short key pass per 90.
This season fully 1.5 of his 1.6 key passes have been short—again, this will not come as a surprise to those who have watched the Red Devils this season, where their attack has been built around an, at times, interminably patient approach.
Given his more advanced role it is understandable that he has seen less of the ball overall. His average number of passes per game in the Premier League is down from 50.3 to 38.2. That is significant when combined with his increase in key passes—he is making more key passes in total out of fewer total passes, meaning a significant increase in percentage.
And the final key point of comparison comes in the area of overall participation. He has been hit with more serious injury issues this season—so far he has played 2,140 minutes of league football, compared with 2,877 last time out. Even if he plays the full 90 minutes of United's last three games, he will still have played 467 minutes fewer, equivalent to just over five full matches.
That is entirely down to injury. When fit he has been selected for virtually every game he could have been.
With the exception of his key pass numbers, the story in general is one of decline, or at the very least, the story of a failed experiment in recapturing his best seasons as a centre-forward.
There have been moments of hope, of course, the run in January and his recent spell in midfield have been the two high points. But overall, it is not a promising picture.
His damp squib of a season may be a blip. It may be connected to United's lack of effectiveness as an attacking unit. It may just be that Rooney's body is no longer suited to a centre-forward berth. If that is the case then next season might see an improvement in some of the numbers above, assuming he plays in midfield and can find a way to consistently excel there.
Or it may be that Rooney's hugely successful career is petering out. There would be no shame in that. He has achieved what only the very best in his sport ever do. His time at the top will come to an end at some point, as it does for all of those who hit its giddy heights. Time will tell how quickly that moment will arrive. From this season's numbers, it looks like it is well on its way.
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