Rooney overtakes Lampard and Cantona with Premier League goals and assists record
As Wayne Rooney put through a defence
splitting pass for his Manchester United team-mate Danny Welbeck
against West Brom on Saturday afternoon, he became the first player in Premier League history to record double figures for both goals and assists in five different seasons.
Rooney's
man of the match performance during United's 3-0 against West Brom saw
the striker score his eleventh goal and grab his tenth assist of the
season.
The raw
figures, if nothing else, prove that United are still in desperate need
of Rooney's mercurial talents and England will certainly rely on such
performances during the 2014 World Cup.
The fact that no other player in
Premier League history has achieved such figures is testament to the
28-year-old's eye for goal and ability to pick out a colleague.
With
his performance at the Hawthorns, Rooney overtook the likes of Frank
Lampard, Eric Cantona and Didier Drogba for number of goals and assists
across different seasons.
These
are Premier League legends that Rooney has surpassed and he still has
years left to play at the top level. Is it really any wonder that the
United hierarchy decided to bite the bullet and meet his excessive wage
demands?
Even Red
Devils fans were quick to snigger at the thought of offering one of
their stars a £300,000 a week contract, but it means Rooney remains a
red for at least another five-and-a-half years, which could be a
priceless amount of time if his form continues at such a rate.
Ten years into his Old Trafford career, it's clear that Rooney deserves to be lauded as a legend of the historic club.
Moving
to United from Everton at the tender age of 18 in 2004 wasn't an easy
move on paper, but 'Wazza' has now scored an astonishing 210 goals for
the Manchester club.
He's
just 27 goals away from becoming the club's all-time top scorer ahead of
club legend Denis Law and will surely break the club appearance record
as he needs just 16 more selections from manager David Moyes to leapfrog
Rio Ferdinand, who has made 448 appearances.
It's
no wonder that Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho pursued Rooney so
aggressively last summer as he smelt that the England star was ready for
a change.
Can you imagine the United team, in
their current crisis, without such a talismanic figure? Not to mention
how far ahead Chelsea would be in the league if Rooney was spearheading
their attack.
If the fans
can't accept that Rooney's wages are outside of the usual way United go
about their business, then it's time to look at the performances the
striker has been putting in for the past 10 years at the club.
He's helped the team win almost everything there is to win including the Champions League in 2008 and if Moyes is to have any chance at
turning the current struggling United outfit into Premier League title
challengers once again, he will need Rooney by his side, fighting every
battle.
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