One year ago Wayne Rooney was over half way through completing a season filled to the rim with goals. He was on his way to banging in a grand total of 34 vital goals for Manchester United with the hope of lifting the Premier League trophy for the fourth time in his successful on-field career. Alas, the coveted trophy was not placed in his hands to raise aloft to the Old Trafford faithful and scream with overwhelming delight, and since the end of that prolific goalscoring season, his form has taken an almighty nosedive to the depths of obscurity.When will he surface? It is hard to tell. The 25 year-old United striker has scored only three goals this season, and despite creating and linking up well with his currently on-form colleagues of Dimitar Berbatov and Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez, he has not been as sharp or anywhere near as prolific as he and everyone else associated with the club would have hoped. The saying goes, "Form is Temporary Class is Permanent", and this is one thing that everyone must remember, because if there is one thing that Rooney proved last season that he has in abundance, it is on the field quality - class.
This is the man who was given the job of stepping into Cristiano Ronaldo's boots after he left, with the burden of scoring goals heaped onto the England strikers more than capable shoulders. He delivered that season, and perhaps even grew out of the boots he was supposed to replace, with him handing in a transfer request during the summer. His reasons were because he did not think the club had the ambition for further success. This is the club who is probably the most successful in English football and one of the biggest names in the world whilst being managed by the most competitive of men on the planet, Sir Alex Ferguson.
The hopes were, that Rooney would redeem himself by proving his worth on the pitch with some more goals. By deciding to stay, he accepted a hefty pay rise, one that is quite extraordinary, even for the modern footballer. £250,000 a week isn't so bad is it? But this wage has only caused problems. His supposed worth each week has not been lived up to with his performances on the pitch often being pretty dire, especially in front of goal.
United can thank the one formerly nicknamed by the tabloids "Berbaflop", Dimitar Berbatov for the unbeaten season remaining in tact. The Bulgarian has covered for Rooney's lack of goals with his surge of them, and the former Tottenham striker just can't stop scoring at the moment with 18 goals to his name, and currently holds first place in the Premier League's top scoring rank.
Rooney's other competition, and perhaps the more threatening to Rooney's first team place is the "Little Pea", Hernandez. The Mexican 22 year-old is adored by Manchester United fans thanks to his "head down - job done" attitude which has earned him 8 goals, all at very important times.
At Blackpool on Tuesday, United were 2 - 0 down, and playing shockingly poor. Rooney included. The game changed when Giggs and Hernandez came on, with Rooney departing. The final score? Manchester United beat the Tangerines 2 - 3, in which both Berbatov and Hernandez scored. I think that very game summed up Rooney's season.
But why has Rooney been so disappointing? His ankle issues obviously disrupted his progress, and in time, affected his confidence and form. The allegations and troubled private life also proved a punch in the gut for Rooney, who we'd all thought had grown out of this stage of his life while the abysmal World Cup performance drained every ones energy. Then there was asking to leave Manchester United. When you do that, you know there are serious problems, and the problems are not with the club, but with the player.
The very thing that can revive Rooney's season is the same thing that made last season so very special for him. Goals. A couple of lucky ones in a game, a few truly world class moments in 90 minutes, even just a few exquisite touches and passes, any of these things could be the trigger, the spark that could set off Rooney's season one again. Does Sir Alex play him in his bad form, and wait patiently on the touchline to see the transformation, or does he replace Rooney with the deserving Javier Hernandez while Rooney has (more) time to sort his head out.
Form is temporary. Class is permanent. Lets see the class player change his form for the better, and fast.
