Wayne Rooney's England Performance Highlights Manchester United Challenge

Wayne Rooney scored England's winner against Slovenia on Sunday. The record books will remember the game as the moment the Manchester United man pulled level with Gary Lineker as his country's joint-second-leading goal-scorer of all time.

However, as is so often the case with United's captain, the story was not of a simple triumph.

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The truth is that, until his well taken and vital goal, Rooney had been terrible. That may seem a tad hyperbolic, but it is backed up by the numbers. He managed to get just two of his five shots on target. He fluffed at least two extremely presentable chances.

His two recorded failures to control the ball, the three instances where he was dispossessed and the 15 percent of his passes he gave away meant he often hurt England's possession of the ball too.

And yet, his contribution was ultimately extremely significant. His goal, when it came, was his first since his stunning strike against Aston Villa on 4 April. If the summer break was not upon us, it would be reasonable to expect Rooney to go on a scoring run now, since he has long been a player whose form comes in bursts.

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Rooney remains an enigma. He is a player whose peers talk about him in glowing terms, who has been appointed captain of his club and who will most likely end his career as all-time top scorer for England and United.

He is also a player who on his bad days—and as we have seen since 4 April, there are plenty of those—does not make a contribution anywhere close to justifying his wages relative to his teammates or his undroppable status in United's side.

Indeed, his performance against Slovenia was a neat encapsulation of the challenge Louis van Gaal faces going into next season. On one hand, Rooney unquestionably produced when it mattered. On the other, he could have made England's passage to victory a lot smoother had he been on his game.

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Can Van Gaal afford to rely on Rooney as his key No. 9? If he does, will Rooney be able to sustain a more consistent level of performance, or will there be more two-month stretches without goals?

Rooney has clearly attempted to adapt to Van Gaal's vision of a No. 9, as he made clear in his interview with Gary Neville for Sky Sports. It is also clear that his transition has only been partially successful, as the goals dried up not just for Rooney, but for United as a collective as the season drew to a close.

Assuming Robin van Persie never gets back to his best, then Van Gaal will have to look to Rooney, James Wilson or an as-yet unsigned replacement. If a top striker does arrive in the summer, then Rooney will presumably be used in attacking midfield.

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Last season, though, it was only after he was moved out of midfield that United began to look truly effective. The generous take on that is that he was more effective than United's other forwards had been. The less generous take is that the midfield was improved without him being a part of it. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.

But just as it becomes tempting to write him off, he scores the winner in a crucial game or scores a goal like he did against Villa. His finish for England's third on Sunday was vintage Rooney—calm and perfectly executed under the pressure of the occasion and his own poor form.

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Van Gaal is now faced with a decision. How much is he prepared to gamble on how often vintage Rooney will show up next season? It will be intriguing to see this one play out.

All advanced statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com.