Manchester United vs. Sunderland: Breaking Down Wayne Rooney's Performance

Wayne Rooney has returned to Manchester United's front-line attack, and against Sunderland, his was the telling contribution. His two goals will be what history remembers, and indeed his performance was good enough for Bleacher Report's Manchester United correspondent Rob Dawson to suggest that Louis van Gaal should retain Rooney in his attack. 

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However, goals aside, how effective was Rooney's overall performance during the game? In order to break down his performance, we need to assess first of all exactly what his role was.

He certainly did not start the game as United's No. 9, as United's actual No. 9 fulfilled that role. Rooney was deeper, playing at No. 10.

Whether that was as part of a 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 is open to debate, although my take is that it is best described as a 4-2-3-1 with Ashley Young, Rooney and first Angel Di Maria, then Adnan Januzaj, behind Radamel Falcao.

Rooney's role, when United were in possession, was to contribute to the build-up play in Sunderland's final third and get himself into the box when he was able.

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His heat map, per Squawka, shows how much time he spent just outside the box, slightly toward the left of play. Where Ander Herrera, Antonio Valencia and first Di Maria and then Januzaj tended to combine on the right, Rooney tended to combine with Ashley Young and Marcos Rojo on the left.

When Falcao was replaced by Marouane Fellaini, Rooney moved further forward, with the Belgian filling what had previously been Rooney's role.

It was from then on that Rooney made his biggest impact on the game. Falcao was still on the pitch when Rooney converted the penalty El Tigre had brilliantly won but went off before play recommenced.

From then on, Rooney really came to life, managing a fine shot on target from outside of the area and scoring a tap-in, having put himself in just the right place at just the right time after some good work by Januzaj.

Interestingly, it was also his most creative spell in terms of chances created. In the 68 minutes before Falcao's removal, Rooney had created just a single chance, but he managed an additional two in the 18 minutes before he himself was replaced.

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This may have been impacted by Sunderland being reduced to 10 men after Wes Brown's dismissal, but Rooney looked to be playing with more freedom after his first goal and change of role.

Before that point, Rooney's primary role had been to involve himself in United's patient possession. The maps of his passing, per Squawka again, before and after the 65th minute show just how dramatically his responsibilities shifted.

Rooney was relatively tidy in possession when playing at No. 10, but it was hardly inspiring stuff. Much of his passing was quite safe, with the exception of his traditional raking passes out to the flanks—which were much needed on this occasion, as Sunderland looked to pack central areas.

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Rooney's overall statistics for this game look decent. He made three key passes and hit four of his five shots on target. His passing was reasonably tidy, and while 82.5 per cent pass completion may not look like a particularly high percentage, he only actually misplaced six passes, per WhoScored.com.

The most telling statistic is, of course, the two goals he scored. His penalty was superbly taken—it needed to be, given Costel Pantilimon dived the right way. His second may have been the headed equivalent of a tap in, but his positioning displayed the necessary striker's instinct and his execution the necessary composure.

Rooney was far from his brilliant best in this game, but he got the job done and certainly enough to suggest he should be kept away from midfield for the time being. A purple patch of Wayne Rooney goalscoring would go a long way to helping United secure one of those hotly contested Champions League places.

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His performance in this game, particularly after moving to No. 9, suggests that is a definite possibility.