This time last year, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney had scored 14 Premiership goals between them, Ronaldo with 8, Rooney with 6.
This season, Rooney has 19 Premiership goals to himself.
This time last year, we had scored 34 Premiership goals.
This season, we we have scored 53 goals.
We had played in 21 Premiership games by this time last season, we have played in 23 Premiership games so far this season. Competing in the World Club Cup explains the difference.
So to look at things more fairly, Rooney has played in 22 Premiership games this season, scoring 19 goals. After 22 Premiership games last season he had scored 9 goals.
During the 08/09 season, Ronaldo scored 18 Premiership goals, which is 1 less than Rooney has scored by January this season.
For all the talk of crisis on the field and frustration about our performances, if we had a defensive record that was anything like last season, when we had a fully fit for defence for large chunks of the season, we would be miles ahead at the top.
As it is, this season Rio has played in 5 Premiership games, Nemanja Vidic has played in 13 league games, Edwin Van der Sar has played in 6 league games.
After 23 Premiership games last season, Rio had played in 17 games, Vidic in 22 and Van der Sar in 22.
We’re top of the league, having played 1 game more than Arsenal, 2 games more than Chelsea. But where would be had we not been crippled by defensive injuries, or if our rivals had suffered anything like the injuries we’ve put up with this season?
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Rooney has always been a natural goalscorer and has done wonderfully for me in my fantasy league this season. However, the injury argument is disingenuous. Arsenal have admittedly got a worse injury record and despite that they have scored many more than you guys have. We are where we are and it makes for one hell of an interesting season.
Nerves and luck more than skill will determine who ends up top this year.
i tell you what. that boy Rooney is stunning. i mean that. take a bow son !
Heyyo and its a world cup summer which history will tell ya big time players where a country could rely on usally take it down a notch plays 80% in games ,so Manchester United is getting 100% Rooney and England will get 100% Rooney. England I can see winning the world cup if they play to there strainghts *couch couch* Rooney and United with our injury blip almost over 19 on the way
Scott, last time I checked United had 53 Premier League goals to their name. Which, incidentally, reinforces your point. Without the defensive crisis, we could be in a much, much stronger position.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09_k6JJrUTg
PG
I would like to see how arsenal had done without gallas, vermaelen and sagna.. like we have been without ferdinand, vidic, o shea and brown.. not to forget rafael and gary neville, fabio, Johnny Evans.. How would Arsenal have done with Song and Diaby in defence ?
Numbers do tell stories, but not entirely. I said it in another thread, but there has been a worrying amount of goalless displays too. 5 to be exact. That’s more than 1/5 of our league games and it’s more than what we have managed in recent seasons.
We score a lot of goals, but after we get the first out of the way. That’s why we have scored 1 goal in a league game only on 2 occasions. The other 16 games consist of 2+ goals on our behalf.
Anyway, hopefully we will get Vidic back soon and build on our clean sheets.
Rooney has been ever present this season, and I think over the next two weeks when we get vidic back I think we’ll go on a long long unbeaten streak. It’s mainly down to Rooney that we’re still in this title race
We are doin great job, it would be nice to trash city next ,and win at arsenal.That would ease the pressure the next couple of games against villa, everton and milan away
Haha I’m just waiting for gallas or vermaelan to get injured now they’ve loaned out senderos. Sol Campbell will be disastrous
@Chrispiano
I didn’t realise how many injuries Arsenal had until recently. Gallas would be a blow but to be honest, I will be just as happy if we get Vidic back for good. He gets injured for a fortnight and we don’t see him for a month!
Arsenal don’t have an easy game this week either.
Costas
You’re right about worrying goalless displays but are they worse than last season? Last season we won 1-0 nine times – and it was based on a brilliant defence. Just remember the games at Bolton, West Ham, at home to Everton, away at Stoke, home to Middlesbrough – these were games which we could have lost if we had conceded the first. Which is infinitely more probably if you have your entire defence out and as a result the midfield is compromised as well.
We need Rooney to shine in the Champions League as well. No goals for him yet…
All points to one directiom with all midfielder playing well especially nani, valencia and scholes especially ando and carrick. We are a better without ronaldo, rooney is on fire.
Slightly off topic, but am I the only one who feels that Nani should start against City? It would mean leaving Giggsy/Valencia on the bench, but if he plays the way he did last night, it wouldn’t be much of a loss, would it?
@Zae
Just did a quick check and the only time we didn’t score 5 times in the league after 23 games was the 04-05 season. Last season we only had 2 blanks, albeit we didn’t score as often overall.
What you are saying, is true. Last season for example, we didn’t score more than 1 goal in 16 games, but we won a lot of them with 1-0 which is just as good as 3 or 4-0.
At the end of the day, the problem is our injury crisis in defence. Because we might have still got 5 goalless games in the league, but they wouldn’t have been defeats. And as Pallister said, if you don’t concede goals, you are always going to nick games.
@dela
I say give Nani a start against City in a 4-4-2 formation and save Giggsy for the Emirates in a 4-5-1 formation.
start nani 0n da ryt. . .valencia thru da midle(didnt fergie 0nce say hes gud thru da midle)? mayb uberhead 0n da left. . .giggs 4 ARSEnal
Anyone looking for the linesman falling over, there is a clip here, but it’s in fast forward motion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqyAo28yqOE
Just bought my green and gold, thought rooney played fantastic yesterday. shame it took us so long to slaughter Hull. Loved the Stretford end all the way through the game. rooney! rooney!
@huzi
he was excellent for wigan so much so that he got signed by United
excellent on the right but they used to play him in cm alot because he was there best in that position and he was highly effective
@ghtt
lol
yea so mayb they can try him out with carrick in the center. . .they do need sum1 with pace n power thru da midle! this cud b der answer. . . MAKE ME ASSISTANT
@Costas
And there’s another thing: we were generally disappointing whenever we went to a goal down last season (few exceptions like the Spurs and Wigan games aside), just as this season. It’s just that this season we concede the first more frequently.
Arsenal fan in peace,firstly congrats on the win rooney has exceeded my expectations.on injuries we have had horrible injuries:nasri(3 mnths) rvp(5 mnts) gibbs(6 months) djorou(6 mnths)rosicky(in and out)bendtner(3 mnths) fabianski(3mnths) clichy(3 months)fab4(hamstring) walcott(started 3 games this season)diaby has also suffered niggles and nasri and ramsey are now out injured for 3 weeks,we have had 3 lbs injured at same time so dont belittle our injuries.hope for a fiery game at weekend just like old days.good luck for the rest of the season.
Hey Huzi, could you set that to music? Nani on the right, Valencia through the middle might be a bit of magic. Big risk first time out against citeh though… Love that ‘Uberhead’. Hope he comes on at some point.
@Red Dave
I loved the fact that the second goal ws on 83rd minute
that was the craziest ive heard the old trafford crowd
it was a high tempo match with emotion bouncing off the walls
hull v united was a physical game and 1 nil could have got united to top spot
the fact that with all that going on Wayne “sarcastically clapping in a refs face to get a second yellow” Rooney showed his maturity and focas is at full strength and he kept going till the final wistle.
Also on the Rooney maturity thing How cool was it to see Rooney getting his yellow card. He walked away
If theres a better forward in the world,please let me know,class
@G O
risk? maybe but it could be worth it. . .if it workz do the same 4 the arsenal game. . .if it doesnt then bak 2 square 1
@Zae
Yeah, that’s true. The last 2 seasons, and apart from a few exceptions, we haven’t witnessed many comebacks from 1-0 down. And that’s why we needed a fit strong defence. To prevent ourselves from conceding first. I think that this season we have gone 1-0 behind 13 times over 35 games whereas last season it was 12 times over 66 games. Ronaldo or no Ronaldo, the rocks of our success have been Rio, Vidic and VDS.
That’s all well and good, but why didn’t you mention how many points we had this time last season compared to this?
As far as Valencia goes. I would like to see him throught he middle, but onle if he has 2 CMs behind him. Not as a central midfielder. As Giles Oakley said, it could be risky.
@Vass
It was 53 points and we had already gone to the Emirates, Wastelands, Goodison Park and Villa Park. But it was a different league then. No one will reach 90 or maybe even 85 points this time.
@ costas
i dont c y not. hes always 1 who traks back. maybe play a 4-4-2 diamond with carrick/ando cdm n valencia cam. . .he cud prove 2 b da spark dat they need with his pace n power 2 get thru defences
By the way, I think it’s safe to say that we have to get 7-9 points in the away games with Arsenal, Villa and Everton over the next month.
@huzi
That could work. I just don’t see him a central midfielder in a 4-4-2 with wingers. I don’t think he is that composed. No doubt about his work ethic and his tracking back.
Scott I have been saying that for the last 2 months : )
What are your thoughts on this whole Vidic out, Chiellini in business?
does this include the 2 months ronaldo missed at the start of the season thru injury.
might be worth playin valencia in the middle if we play 433. IF and thats a massive IF Nani builds on his good display yesterday then maybe have nani right, giggs left with carrick flether and valencia in the middle. Valencia got the pace to get up to rooney and work rate to make a difference in the middle. He played there a few times for Wigan as well just not sure if his passing is good enough
i’m not so sure about playin nani wednesay…i mean he played a blinder last night but its gonna take more than one game to earn him a first team place especially given how poor he’s been throughout the rest of the season..i’m all for giving him his chance i’m not 100% sure a must win game against city is the right moment though
lets not forget we were playin hull & even if i agree with scott when he says you can only beat the opponents you’re playing against i think there’s a diff between playin a blinder vs hull & playin a blinder vs city/arsenal
having said that i hope he makes me eat my words..i’d all for being proven wrong if the team wins
this season,4-5-1=bad result
4-5-1 hasn’t done the job fo’us this season
@Vass
If we are going to lose Vidic, we might as well bring Chiellini in. What annoys me, is the certainity with which many tabloids say that Vidic will be sold in the summer.
And there’s one other highly significant factor that would really have had us miles ahead of the two pretenders this season: We seem to have had the most unfortunate and unlucky decisions from referees – its almost like the FA do not want to see MU win their 4th consecutive title. We have ended up playing against 11+1 more times than not.
we need to keep vidicn nani at least cos they r good player . well done rooney u r class . we dont want to lose him
gr8 2 c ARSEnal lusng with sol campballs lookn worse than shit (n datz aktuly a c0mpliment). . .hope he plays against us. . . UP DA STOKE!!
First of all… Fantastic post scott…..
now we are seeing the real rooney, I feel he is starting to realise he has to up his game and has no other to rely on. I often felt his attitude was a little, its ok we have ronaldo!….
I do feel we have imporved as a team this year without ronaldo but have really suffered with abnormal injuries. We also are in transition between Nev, SCholes & giggs and Nani, Anderson and Fletcher.
It just hasnt clicked for us yet!… But i am sure it will!
The future is bright!!
This time last season we had the debt under control
@huzi:
Arsenal scored and are on level with Stoke. Sorry!
You can bang on about your Fabregas’s , Gerrard’s, Lumpard’s etc. When Scholes plays like he did first half yesterday nobody can touch him. Outstanding.
I hope Arsenal get through today actually as the last thing we want is all the strong teams going out and leaving Citeh a bigger chance of a trophy. Not to mention fixture congestion.
Really pleased with the display yesterday especially first half. Like gotta hate says it was fantastic to see Wazza just walk away. He has matured beyond belief. He is channeling his anger in the right way now. He is fucking unstoppable at the minute. Cue the calls of “one man team” etc. They cannot have it both ways. I thought Wayne was over rated and Ronaldo was the one man!!
Where is the lad on here that said Rooney wasn’t world class the other week prior to the Pompey game? Infact there were quite a few. Feeling confident about Arsenal next week. You saw how the rentboys pummeled them and how we should have battered the chav’s. My only concern as much as I hate the debt is that the anti glazer songs etc may effect the players. I sincerely hope not as they understand the cause. However if it does and we narrowly miss out on number 19 there will be some very unhappy people. Got to say the Stretford End and East Stand were rocking yesterday.
Hurdy Gurdy man – How do you work that out? It was no better then than it is now. Infact having being over subscribed to the tune of 1.1 billion in bonds I could argue it is better now. The difference is that we weren’t losing to Leeds and the like in the Cup. The tabloids have a LOT to answer for.
and people call Torres and Drogba the worlds best?
Where was Diouf yesterday? He isn’t injured from the other night is he? I know he got a slight knock.
I was watching Sunday Supplement with the likes of fucking Neil Ashton and some baby faced cunt from the independent. You should have fucking heard the bastards. Banging on about Wenger and Arsenal. All cockney cunt’s the lot of them on there. They were saying how no other club than Arsenal gives youth a chance! You couldn’t make it up. Disrespectful no nowt idiots. They were saying how if tosic had gone to them he would be in the team now.
I wouldn’t piss on these “experts” if they were on fire.
How would you lot be with Rooney out for the season (see Van Persie) so button it you muppets- mid table
King Eric – well they should ask themselves who has brought home the gold
Bangladeshi Red
How did you get the LUHG at the end of your name. Maybe everyone on here should put it at the end of their name.
Gerry Gooner – oh I forgot didnt you say the same thing with ronaldo, because united have lost ronaldo and tevez add the decline of vds ferdinand vidic brown scholes etc
haha stoke 3 1 arsenal
@Gerry Gooner
Yeah. Just like we would be mid table after Ronaldo left. United are always a “one man team” until that man leaves and then we become another player’s “one man team”. The truth is that we are a “one manager team”.
Apparently Wenger got jealous of the break we will have before the Milan game and decided he wants some of the same.
Well, at least our FA cup record is under threat now! But Chelsea have to win it now! I can’t stomach an other blue side winning it!
*is not under threat* I meant
Costas – I wonder where arsenal would have been without fabregas and thiery henry all those years double standards I say
@gerry go0ner
shame poor boy. crybaby! out of the fa cup n league cup. trophyles again,for 6 yearz n counting. gues wanker wil use da same xcuse. . .WERE IN A BUILDING PHASE! lmao hilarious
Gerry – Get fucked pal. Another trophyless season looms now! Oh dear oh dear. United are hitting form with key players coming back. United will get 4 on the spin. Campbell made Ricardo Fuller look like……………………………………..ROONEY!
RTNK
Exactly. Some players are better than others. Whoopie doo! Like that has never happened in football. Barcelona have stand our performers, so have United, Arsenal, Liverpool(scatch that) and Chelsea. And we have gone for most of the campaign without our regular defence anyway!
So, Arsenal are out. That puts them in the same situation as us now. Lets hope both Bimingham clubs will do us a favor on Wednesday.
All the gooners are now moaning that the chance of a cup has gone! Fucking priceless. Have you ever met a set of more fickle whinging fans? Aside from the bittermen.
Hey calm down guys. Arsenal are not our biggest enemies. Chelsea, City, Liverpool are first and foremost. Arsenal are a very competitive side – only us and Chelsea have won away to Stoke this season.
I predicted that Arsenal would be our biggest threat to the title before the season started, and I maintain that now, but to make comparisons about actual injuries and theoretical injuries is just silly really isn’t it?
In 50 years time, people won’t look back on 2009/2010 and say “Yea, they won the title, but they wouldn’t have if [player x] was injured”.
And I agree with Costa about being a ‘one man team’. That is a ridiculous label. Ronaldo scored a lot of goals, but clearly we havn’t become a mid-table team without him. Similarly, if Rooney was injured until the rest of the season, we can’t simply dismiss the title bid.
GARY COOKS A W@*&KER!!
Costas – ppl forget united are thread bear upfront add the weight of the freeloading owners not giving fergie the funds to get aguero which would give us that edge to win the league and give united more flexibility tactically and give rooney a breather.
- This is by far uniteds weakest squad in terms of striking options under ferguson since the 03/04 season and united may still win 4 in a row. I would say barca are also quiet weak interms if depth upfront but they have a more talented midfield which makes thems a more quality outfit.
@King Eric
I don’t think Wenger cared all that much since he rested some. Obviously his priority is the League.
You said where was the fan who was talking about Rooney. Since United are hot and cold in recent weeks, I had a chance to notice that after a bad result topics get close to 500 responses. After a win they are just over 300. Make of that what you will.
@rooney the new king
It could be. In recent weeks we have seen Owen, Diouf and now Nani stand up and be counted. If these 3 continue on like that, then our striking options will be a bit better. But it’s tough to say how the team will fair without Rooney and with Berbatov carrying the load in attack. Thank God, Wayne has been healthy as a horse and he hasn’t missed many games. I hope he stays like that until the end.
also Costas did you hear radio 5 live watson saying wenger did not treat the FA cup with any disrespect but even tempting to say fergie did, can someone tell motson what was arsenals front 2 and watson along with lawrenson said arsenal have bigger fish to fry yea and arsenal are guarenteed to win the title. what was their reaction when united went out its crisis.
- also talksport are a joke all they did was bash united and called united a club in crisis what was that idiot who said it what a retard, the glazers are a massive problem. its only a club in crisis when the manager and the owners cant stand each other, and the owners are butting in the managers first team affairs thats when it becomes a club in turmoil. what they forget is nothing can happen to the club and the team this season anyway so what is he on about.
“truth is we’re a one man manager” …Brilliant Costas!
Remember the Gooners were also saying that before Ronaldo and Rooney about Rudd!!
Costas – I just feel if united get someone like aguero who for me is stardust would give fergie that option to play a 433 system where he could play valencia rooney and aguero has a front 3, it would give united that purpose infront of goal and it would give rooney a breather which he does need. nani diouf need to see more of them, berbatov and owen dont offer enough impact in games and they blow hot and cold.
Why do any of you still listen to talk sport? I’ve never heard a good word from anyone about it… You all just come on here and complain about their comments. lol! For that reason, I don’t bother listening. I get all my sport discussions from this website.
I still can’t believe people rise to the bait of radio station debates. I all ways listen for the amusement and never take it seriously.
When Adrian Durham of talksport forever slags of players, clubs e.t.c do you actually think he genuinely means it?! He’s a wind up merchant! It’s his job. When he slags of United I wouldn’t take it to heart!
@rooney the new king
I think Motson cares about the cup because it’s the only competition he gets to broadcast now, lol. At the end of the day, it’s a squad game and you rest players whenever you want. It might not work to our benefit, but Wenger probably did the right thing. They are not guaranteed to win the league, but they are in a good spot and they had to make a choice. Wenger knew that he couldn’t play his strong team today, on Wednesday and nexy Sunday.
I haven’t followed talksport. I have just noticed that King Eric bashes them a lot! Unless they are accountants, they can’t talk about the long term financial state of the club. As far as this season goes, I think the only crisis we are in is the injury crisis. It’s easy to pass judgment on a team that went through 3 months without Rio Ferdinand and Edwin Van Der Sar.
Rooney the new king….great point re what costitutes a “crisis” at a club.
I’m worried about a fans revolt coming head to head with Fergie.
While SAF supports the Glazers and they keep our of team matters we’re in good shape. If that ever changes then I’ll be signing my posts LUHG.
Unti then it’s LU – IFIT!!
Another thing I will never understand is people buying newspapers for Sports Stories. The amount of lies in newspapers nowadays is ridiculous! I don’t see how so many sports writers are allowed to make up stories with little or no truth, by simply stating “a source close to the club”.
As far as I’m concerned, if its not reported on Sky Sports News, or BBC News, or an official club’s website – its probably not true…
i think we are missing a left wing……
if we can have david silva or arjen robben that will benifit the team upto a certain extent….
@rooney the new king
Could be a while before we see a 4-3-3 unfortunately. I mean, we will see 4-5-1 at the Emirates, but Valencia and Giggs will probably be rooted to their positions and won’t interchange a lot. At the moment, what Fergie wants to do(on purpose or because he can’t buy anyone else) is to build the attacks around Rooney. That’s why we might not see 4-3-3 with the front men swaping positions anytime soon. Plus, we don’t have the players for that, unless someone like Aguero comes along.
@Costa regarding the financial state of the club
Whenever Sky Sports News interviews anyone in the finance business about Manchester United, they don’t seem worried about the club. That, as far as I am concerned, is enough to say I shouldn’t be concerned. That’s not saying I’m happy with the Glazers – far from it – but I’m not losing sleep over it.
Dave Mack – my stance on the glazers has not changed they are still scum and I have giving them the new nickname like many have now they are freeloaders because thats what they are, the fans revolt is aimed at the glazers fergie will let this slide of his back like water on a ducks back it will not bother him, but dont forget his latest comments really did intrugue me, he wanted everyone to pull together he even hints that he is delighted at the fans anger towards the freeloading owners. But for anyone to say the club are in termoil when trophys are still there to be won is the dumbest and anti united bashing I have ever seen.
@Drabik
It’s like the Carlos Tevez situation. The tabloids have taken a magnifying lense and have blown this out of proportion. The problem is still there. I am not happy with the Glazers either. I just don’t want the rags to dictate how I should feel. Besides, when did these people love United so much to care for the club anyway?
Gary – I know mate but I cannot help listen to talk sport. In a sick way I love getting myself wound up! Of course they are wind up merchants. They do it to gt traffic and calls and it seems to fucking work with me.
RTNK – Hi pal. I honestly think you should forget about Aguero. Fergie ain’t gonna buy him, never. It is like saying if we had Iniesta or Xavi in our midfield. It won’t happen and nor should it. Fergie will ensure he gets the best out of Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, Diouf, Wellbeck and Macheda. That isn’t “threadbare” in my opinion. I am actually happy with that.
King Eric – well for starters fergie only seems to be playing rooney upfront on his own when he changes systems eespecially against the big teams, macheda and welbeck are not playing much and they have not grabbed their chances, owen just does not offer enough impact in games and berbatov is just blowing hot and cold, rooney is the only one hitting form yes united have numbers but not anyone else really steping up to the mark. tacticaly and to get those extra goals someone like aguero would just about give united the edge, rooney needs help bigtime and aguero is playing for atletic not barca hes there for the taken.
@ King Eric, I had a long argument with a poster called Justice For Hysel a month ago, who said he just does not think Rooney is world class, or anywhere near a world class player. Seriously, what more can the lad do than he has already done? Everyone is entitled to think differently but his opinion is bloody strange. I am wondering where he is now.
Fze123 – Hi mate. That was it “Justice for Heysel”. He did say after the hat trick at Fratton that if Rooney continued to do this he will change his stance. I reckon he may now think differently!
Rooney – I am on Berbatov’s side as you will know. I think he offers United alot. It may or may not be coincidence that when he came on yesterday we looked a lot more threatening and kept the ball better.
King Eric – I am not a fan say we need 5 or 6 players but if we get that little gem to play alongside rooney united go from a good side to a great side.
An easy quiz: Does anybody know from which game this picture is and what was the landmark that we accomplished with that goal?
@Fze123
Rooney hasn’t achieved what Cristiano or Messi have, so in some minds that doesn’t make him world class. He is world calss in my mind. Simple as.
By the way, he is 1 goal behind Cristiano and 4 behind Andy Cole now.
King Eric – yea I know well we agree to disagree there. I am not going to destroy berbatov but I am not his biggest fan, when you look at rooney and you loook at berbatov they are worlds apart even universes apart, I call rooney the most complete forward and the cherry on the cake rooney is brittish.
Its good to see Rooney scoring so many goals. I really do hope that he doesnt get injured. In fact i hope none of our players get injured. We need our whole squad fit to win the premier league. I dont think i have commented on his performance yesterday. But wow. He was truly world class. Keep it up. And how good was Nani? He was amazing.
Ha. City 1-1. I dont want to see those bitters winning anything.
Costas – who ever says rooney is not world class because he has not achieved what ronaldo has that is just plain retarded, people call torres the worlds best forward and he has not won a major trophy at club level. rooney if you take away individual awards the roonster has won nearly ever major trophy at club level what rooney is missing is an fa cup winners medal. ask players like ronaldo messi etc I bet they all say rooney is a nightmare to play against.
Costas – Not sure which game . I know the celebration but can’t remember. It is a European game as that is when we wear white shorts and socks?
trevor @ 15:03: “We also are in transition between Nev, SCholes & giggs and Nani, Anderson and Fletcher.
It just hasnt clicked for us yet!… But i am sure it will!”
ME, TOO.
About the main point of Scott’s article – I’m chuffed because it always seemed to me (and I’ve written as much on a number of occasions – you can look it up !) that the season’s success will hinge on getting the most out of WayneRooney. What’s astonishing to me is that WayneRooney has done so well WITHOUT a viable and reliable strike-partner.
King Eric @ 17:11: “Fergie will ensure he gets the best out of Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, Diouf, Wellbeck and Macheda.”
I don’t “quite” agree with that – for sure, SAF is trying to get the best out of WayneRooney but so far he really hasn’t hit on a combination up-front that really works – and yet WayneRooney has scored 19 goals. Just imagine how good he could be IF Dimitar Berbatov was playing at OldTrafford with the skill, determination, and confidence he showed at White Hart Lane. (Yeah, I know, Dimmy made a divine chip -”Zidane-esque” someone wrote on another thread yesterday) for WayneRooney’s fourth but, mostly, he’s been a passenger/floater and it’s been WayneRooney who has done the graft and produced results while Dimmy has been out of position.)
@King Eric
Yeah it’s a European one. They also wear the badge for winning the trophy in Japan. Another clue is that they combined for that goal.
Good stats STR.
I like the fact that you say that if we had not had the defensive injuries we would be miles ahead.
Another way of saying that of course would be, if we had scored more goals than the opposition scored against us then we would have won more games.
I guess we cant argue with that.
My money is still on United and if I really had to bet the house on the league I would still pick United over any other team as things stand.
Roll on Wednesday when Rooney lets loose and someone better pat down Gary Neville on his way into the ground just to be safe.
Inter at home?
@rooney the new king
I know that Cristiano would love to have him over at Real. And as they say, if Real Madrid are interested in you (reports say they are after Rooney), that means you are world class, lol.
@ Costas
For me, after his performance and his hattrick against Fenerbahce he instantly became world class in my eyes. Players shouldn’t only be classified that way only after winning an indiviual award, but some fans are like that. If Rooney keeps up his goal scoring form and stays injury free this season, then he may have a great chance of winning the Ballon d’or, if he does manage to score more goals than Messi and Ronaldo (and I think he is capable of doing so). Since you are the Stats Man, our of interest do you know how many goals Messi and Ronaldo have to their names so far?
denton – Yeah I know what you mean. If Berba can step it up to his Spurs form they would be the deadliest strike force in Europe.
@King Eric
Yep. It was the second goal. The landmark was that it was the first time we scored 2 in a game against a Mourinho team!
To say Rooney is not world class is stupid.
People have an idea that only 5/6 players can be called world class. With thousands and thousands of players in the world, playing for hundreds of clubs, surely more than 20 players can be called world class? Thats my opinion anyway…
Aah . I didn’t know that Costas, I must be honest. First time scored two against Mourinho.
STATOOOOO!!
@Fze123
Through the magic of wikipedia: Ronaldo has 13 goals in 15 games and Messi has 22 in 28. So if he is going to win the golden boot in Europe, I think Messi is his main opponent. Ronaldo’s problem is that there are other players willing to get among the goals at Real.
@King Eric
Can’t take the credit for knowing that hehe. Martin Tyler mentioned it during his commentary. It took us 14 games with Mourinho to get there.
denton davey – the forwards who have all made their names for themselves at united have all settled into the way united have played, most of them are flexible enough to adopt to different systems. I just feel owen berbatov and the other 3 dont really fit into a 433 system and thats the big problem united are having, they no longer have the players in attack to play the fluid system that fergie built and in the big games we are coming up short and quiet a phew in the away games. for me united still need that extra front man to help rooney out.
Costas – what were the odds rooney is blowing ronaldos goas record away, ronaldo has 13 goals while rooney is on 20.
Cheers Costas. I think he has a great chance. If Rooney has scored 20 goals in 5 months in a team ravaged with injuries and inconsistency, then he must be able to score 10+ in the 4 remaining months of this season. Lets just hope he stays injury free and yellow-and-red-cards free.
@rooney the new king
I must admit that I didn’t expect it at first, but there are reasons for that. Ronaldo missed a month out and he is not getting in as many goalscoring positions as he did for us. He should hve expected that when he went there. Noentheless, Rooney has really stepped up this season.
I saw that in the European golden boot competition, only league goals count. If that’s the case, I think Rooney has currently the best record in Europe with 19 goals. Messi has 18.
@Fze123
No problem. As I said, league goals will decide the winner. If Barca secure their title with some games to spare, Messi could get rested and Wayne could put some distance between the two.
Correction. Messi has 15 goals in 19 League games.
i also heard on commentary thar ronaldo is trying to create more chances for his team mates instead of trying to score himself all the time. it is not all about him anymore, so I dont think his goals will be like when he was at united…
Costas – also what I also found intersting was rooneys goals were bread and butter goals very simple and typical goals of a proper goalscorer even though it was hull. I was also intregued nani’s best games have all come from the RW we all may very well know now nani’s best position is RW, they should use valencia on the left since he likes to cut inside.
Wayne’s been brilliant, we all know that. The important thing is the goals from midfield because that was where we were supposed to have problems. Costa, stat man that you are, could you tell me the number of goals from players outside of our forwards?
some peope behind this LUHG campaign are saying fergie should have a sticker on his coat on wednesday, also he is bang out of order for not backing the fans and if roy keane was our manager he would be showing his support for the fans…what do you guys think???
Ulster Red – fergie is trying to help the club win the league the last thing thats on his mind is fighting the owners, fergie i 68 he has not got the energy to be doing all that maybe when he has left the club we may get a different stance on what he thinks of them.
Ulster Red also what kind of idiot would rock the boat by fighting the owners in the most important part of the season, fergie is keeping it together. The glazers are a huge problem does fergie want to give the media more fuel to add to the fire by the possible departure of fergie it will be a disaster for the team. fergie does not want to weaken uniteds hand even more and the last thing the team needs is the possibility of losing the manager, it will destroy the team and delight our rivals think before you post.
rooney the new king
agree totaly mate, but when people on facebook who are behind the campaign are saying things like ” fergie is a liar, sure he wouldnt sell them a virus” also “sir rolex has never been behind us united fans” these people are a bit of a joke
rooney the new king
i didnt see your post at 18.16 as i was posting, what are you on about, im not backing this you header, think before you post????
@ Ulster Red, I think Fergie has a good point, asking the fans to support the team right now and put the financial situation to the back of our minds. This is what he said in his column on the official website:
“This is not about stifling criticism; it’s simply a plea to stand together rather than take action that will damage ourselves more than anyone else. Manchester United is bigger than me, the players, the directors, officials, and the fans, and at this critical stage of our season particularly we need to pull in the same direction. It would be a shame to lose our concentration now because I can really see light at the end of the tunnel as we ready ourselves to push for the championship.”
Yesterday while watching the game on TV it was great to see so many fans putting up anti glazer banners and wearing the gold and green scarves. The purposeness of this could or could not affect the Glazers much, but we as fans shouldn’t neglect the fact that we are competing for the title this season and if anti-glazer chants are continually sang from now on in games, home and away, then it could affect the team’s performances.
As long as Fergie is at Utd, we should be fine. Fergie wouldn’t be urging fans to not take action if he did not have some plan. Maybe this is just wishful thinking but it’s impossible to think that our club will be torn apart because of the debt while our manager is watching. Lets just listen to him now as he is the only one we can put our faith, trust and believe in.
Ulster Red – facebook… why dont you check bebo and youtube to find out those people’s opinions too?
The core United fans will be on these sort of blogs.
We’ve missed Vidic and Rio in the defence this season.Had they been involved for many games this season,we wouldn’t leak as many goals as we have this season.
Ulster Red – well ronaldo wanted to go did they think of that and what they also forget is, its the fans fight against the glazers not fergies. thats why fergusons incharge and they are not. If it was up to them united would not be champions for the past phew seasons, the manager saying anything wont change a thing and fergie knows this.
Ulster Red oopps my apoligys
scott, stats can be manipulated. why not compare the amount of goals ronaldo and rooney had scored between them in 07/08 at this stage?
everyone knows our defense won us the league last year, but even when the likes of vidic have been fit they haven’t performed.
that said, rooney on 20 and berbatov on 7. rooney was cheaper as well. LOL
what the fuck is everyone having a fucking pop at me, Drabik – ive been on this blog for a while now so who the fuck are you to patronise me? also the facebook group was advertised on this blog so you have no backup in your stupid post..rooneythenewking – i hope you see what im on about now
RE: Costas
no that isn’t true about other players willing to get in on the goals. 13 in 15 is just that. only 15 because he was out for two months and missed 10 La Liga games, as well as 2 CL ones
the only other regular scorer for RM is Higuain
Also, I don’t even think Roy Keane would be supporting the fans if he was our manager right now. Any manager would be well reluctant to express his opinion or disapproval on the debt situation too because the Glazers could decide any minute to sell a valuable asset of the club, and the media will be sprouting all sorts of rumours for months. It would be very distracting.
No I wasnt trying to patronise you, sorry if it seemed that way – I know you’ve been here for a while
Just saying you should take people’s opinions from facebook with a pinch of salt – I havnt been there, but from the majority of the facebook groups Ive been on, it just seems that its people that want to argue about anything and everything
Very sorry to have misinterpreted your post.
Ulster Red- No one’s having a pop at you, mate.
RE: Costas
“the rocks of our success have been Rio, Vidic and VDS.”
I don’t agree on Vidic. Yes, he has formed a good partnership with Rio but for me he seems to lose it when up against a striker with any form of pace. this season, he was at times the only fit regular defender in our back four but didn’t seem to spread confidence in the back four like Rio and VDS do. I would have Evra in that list instead of Vidic. I also think Rio>Vidic
Ulster Red – yes I understand what you mean I read it wrong my apologys, there are idiots everywhere who will give opinions that will drive many fans mad. like lawrenson in the mirror saying fergie is to blame for failing to replace ronaldo, or patrick barckley blaming fergie for the glazers leveraged takeover, or one idiot of a fan no offence in that MUST meeting wanting fergie to resign to support them to get the glazers out, or united cant win the league without ronaldo, or shity and chelsea will become the worlds biggest clubs.
Drabik
thanks, but these people were the ones that started the “green & gold ” campagin and it has been shown at our last two games, so clearly they have alot of support, whereas the most important thing for me at the mo is matters on the pitch and how we can get number 19..also sorry for the effing and blinging, im a seriously hungover! cheers
@Spencer
the idea that he loses it when he is up against a pacy striker is a myth which seems to have been formed in the 4-1 loss against Liverpool last season. As far as I can remember, Torres posed him very little problems in any games before that.
roone the new king
totaly, the idea of a united fan wanting fergie to resign is beyond madness
@Ulster Red
To be honest, I didnt know where the Green and Gold campaign started. Facebook seems to be a great place for spreading those sort of things – i.e. xmas number 1 for RATM lol
How long do you think the Green and Gold campaign will last? I know they say ’til Glazers leave or fold’, but I can see a lot people getting bored with it quickly.
spencer – what team and players have you been watching, you could not even say ferdinand was a rock for united last year when he missed a quater of uniteds matches, vidic for uniteds 3 title winning season has been just sensational ferdinand and vidic for 2 straight seasons were brilliant, but ferdinand has been on a decline since last seasons and vidic has followed suit this season. go check vidic have benzama in his pocket against lyon in the CL in 2008.
drabik
i personaly think it will last untill they come up with another “plan” that will definatly work…in my opinion they will only hamper our chances of succsess ON the pitch this season
Drabik – what that spencer also forgets is vidic did a rio against liverpool, he switched off he got so complacement because no team or player was challenging him and it took him completly by suprise. vidic has hardly been beating by forwards with pace and ppl should appriciat what vidic has done he has been twice the player stam has been, but vidic’s big problem his body is physically going into decline because he is losing pace.
I’m not sure – Pompey players seem to be doing alright (performance-wise) despite their much worse troubles. The players are professionals, and although the crowd plays a massive part, the players should get their job done regardless of what’s being sung.
@rtnk
Yes, completely agree. I would much rather have a fully fit Vidic than a fully fit Ferdinand. Obviously, both would be nice too…
I ment ment he is phycially going into decline because of injurys and it does not help vidic is losing pace, look at palli in his last phew years at united.
Good to see the bitters singing “Carlos Tevez is a blue he hates MUNICHS” Fucking disgusting bastards. Do they not know they lost one of their own? We simply must hammer the cunt’s on Wednesday.
@King Eric
I thought I heard that… wasn’t sure.
It’s truly disgusting. I don’t like any fans singing anything about deaths, regardless of the circumstances. And unfortunately, some of our own fans are at fault too. I just wish there wasn’t so much hatred in football to be honest.
Ulster Red – Alright mate. I think you have been reading the posts wrong. Nobody is having a go at you!
@spencer
Well, Vidic hasn’t exactly been a liability has he? Apart from his displays against Liverpool of course. Last season, he played a bigger part in our campaign than Rio. Ferdinand might be an all around better defender, but Vidic has looked on better form for the last 18 months. That being said, I do have to wonder what conditio Vidic will be in after the stop-start season he had.
As far as Ronaldo goes, with players like Kaka, Benzema, Higuain and Raul around, he will have less chances to score. That’s what I am saying. An indication of that is the fact that he is sharing the penalty taking duties with Kaka isn’t he? I think that at United he would have been the focal point of our attacks more often.
@boogeyman
Sorry mate, just saw your question. We have 71 goals in al competitions and I think our strikers have 37 of those. That means 34 for the rest: Defenders, midfielders and own goals.
king eric
alright mate- yeah i see it now! blame it on the stupid amount of alcohol i had last night!! anyone going to watch the milan derby? should be a cracker..ESPN is free this weekend, happy days
is anyone interested in the link to all the sport matches live I have just found best site and it does not freeze
King Eric – are we suprised by shitty fans chanting that I am not or the scousers doing the same, its disgusting but I am no suprised thats how they are, you add the fact they think they are a big club.
@Ulster Red
Yes, definitely
AC Milan have been very impressive recently – this game is sure to be a cracker!
rooney the new king
i use myp2p mate, what have you found?
drabik
ac have found some good form of late, cant wait for our cl tie against them!
Ulster Red – here is the link if you want to watch milan live and madrid later http://www.channelsurfing.net/
Just 1 point. Asking Sir Alex to fight the owners will be like asking him to do a Benitez. Remember the farce Benitez created in public that time? Do we want to put our club through that? Those who even dare to suggest Sir Alex fight the owners, are not real fans, probably wearing blue under their shirt.
There are better ways of letting the owners know they are not welcomed, and if anyone is to be the bad guy, it must never be Sir Alex.
@Ulster Red
Yea. When the CL draw was made, I was fairly confident, as Italian teams haven’t done very well the last two seasons. However, now I am not so sure. Can’t wait … should be a brilliant game either way.
The AC – Inter game is free on ESPN if you have freeview
Drabik – I have sky
i have both lol. i only watch united games on the internet when they arnt live on sky etc..apparently there will be protests at carrington tomorrow morning around 9-10am……
Ulster Red … I hope your wrong about a protest at Carrington tomorrow. How’s that going to get the players to focus? That said …. the guys behind this thing are only interested in their agenda. Fergie, the team, our results …..they come way lower on the lists of priorities.
They’re probably the same guys (or sons) of those who campaigned to get Fergie out after his first couple of years.
dave mack
i know, its stupid that they are taking it to the players faces basically, but unfortunatly they have it planned for tomorrow
Scott here’s one
Rooney scores 4 and is happy ; )
Ronaldo scores 2 and throws a fit at being taken off
Does that mean he’s coming back or is Rooney leaving for a dream
As always – it will be interesting to see where the two go from here and how successful they come – and I can honestly say – Rooney will have the bigger influence since he is the ultimate footballer at United.
Mark thy words in stone : )
still Rooney+Ronaldo is better because if one of them is unlucky that day, the other one can score.. but i can see Valencia getting more goals, so this season it’s like Rooney+Valencia
I got bored reading the comments but the critisim of the guys from MUST and IMUSIA is really irritating. The deluded “fans” who care only about the results on the pitch or the next trophy have no feel for what United stands for. The Green and Gold Campaign have a hugh amount of backing from those who go to the game and will not be going away anytime soon IMHO.
The call for SAF to resign was from 1 (ONE) member not from MUST or IMUSIA so get your facts from somewhere other than The Sun.