The only forward who over the course of the season could be even compared to Robin Van Persie. His points total wasn’t anything like RVP’s and he did go 5 consecutive games without a goal or assist. However, he did produce a goal or assist in 22 of 34 games (65%) compared to RVP 24 of 38 games (63%) which are important stats for a potential captain choice. The difference was though that, apart from his early season consecutive hat tricks, he didn’t go on the rampage once he scored as often as RVP did. However, even for Wayne Rooney, a comparison with RVP of 2011-2012 is unfair. He also was subject to the odd rest by Sir Alex and also was played in a midfield position in some games which limited his goal threat. That may change with the purchase of Kagawa but who knows how much playing time Kagawa will get. Overall though, his base shooting and key pass stats were 2nd only to RVP which makes him a worthy part of the team of the season.
Heres his stats:
Points: 230
Games: 34
Points per game: 6.8
Goals: 27
Goals ever game ratio: 1.3
Assists: 8
Bonus: 37
Bonus as a % of total points: 16%
Price range: Start £12.0m. Lowest £11.9m round 25. Highest £13.0m round 35. Finish £12.9m
% owned 35.7%
His prospects for next year depend on similar factors to RVP. The Euro effect and fatigue from carrying Manchester United as an attacking force last year, although not such a burden as RVP had to carry. If the central midfield position could be sorted out so Rooney could maintain his position as a striker then this could really bolster his returns. I don’t think Kagawa will be the answer as a goal scoring midfielder but in the unlikely event they were to sign Modric this would help significantly. One of the main factors in selecting Rooney for your team though is from an attacking perspective he is the only player free from regular rotation. Ironically though when he is rotated it is the juicy games that he misses. I have to confess to not recalling reasons for the 4 games he missed last year but they were:
Stoke (A)
Blackburn (H)
Stoke (H)
Norwich (A)
His substitute appearances were
Liverpool (A)
Wigan (H)
Of those games 4 out of 6 would be games you would be expecting high returns. The Wigan game was especially painful.
Overall though, to me he is not an “undroppable” and therefore his place in my team at the start of the season will probably depend on fixtures.
