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If you had told any Manchester United fan in the summer that, at the turn of the New Year, the man who apparently wanted away would be the team’s main man, they wouldn’t have taken your word for it. After all, the whole transfer saga was one that went on for longer than anybody at the club would have wanted. Many thought that the relationship between the two, was beyond all repair. But, that was precisely when, the man who handed him his League debut, took over at United, and ever since then it has been a bed of roses.
Rooney has been at the epicentre of anything good Manchester United have done so far this season and it has emerged as a win-win scenario for both the player and the club. Like so often in the past few years, Rooney has emerged in 2013 as well as Manchester United’s saviour. It was a year that saw him not reach the dizzying heights of a few years ago, when he scored bucket loads of goals, playing as the main striker, instead, has showcased the tremendous versatility that he possesses.
What made Rooney one of the best players of the years was not his goals or his assists, but his contribution for the team and his willingness to sacrifice himself for the sake of his team. There aren’t many players in world football, who are capable of playing in multiple positions with consummate ease, but Rooney is one of the few. Not only does he play a multitude of positions, his ability to play in each role as if he had been playing there all his life, is one idiosyncratic characteristic of his play.
Rooney’s start to the calendar year was nothing short of exemplary. As he was getting used to life with Robin Van Persie, his return wasn’t what it usually is, at the last of last season. But as 2013 started, he came into his own and started showing just why he is one of the main men for his country in Brazil, this summer. Although he scored just 12 League goals last season, 9 of them came in 2013 and most of them, came when his team needed him the most.
On the back of a fabulous end to last season, he started this one like a house on fire. One of Rooney’s greatest strengths has always been his ability to pick out a team-mate irrespective of where he is on the pitch. There are those who claim that his passing range is akin to that of United Legend Paul Scholes, and whilst that comparison is certainly flattering, that might just be a little far away from the truth. But, the fact is, that his passing range is one of the best of any forwards, anywhere in the world.
His statistics are a testament to just that. And whilst he already has 11 goals so far, what has been more astonishing is the fact that he already has 12 assists to his name, the most by any player in Europe. That continued an amazing streak of hitting double figures in both goals and assists in each of the past five years, a record only Totti can match in the major European leagues.
Whilst his numbers are undoubtedly great, it is his commitment to the cause that makes him one of the best. So far this season, he has already played as not just the No.10, but as the No.9 and the No.8 as well. At times, he has even done this over the course of a single game. And that truly is something that most players can only even dream about. Wherever he has played so far this season, he has been crucial to the team, whether it is tracking back runners and contributing on the defensive end or spraying 70 yard diagonal balls to the right wing or just being in the right place, at the right time, to score a goal, Rooney has done it all.
In one of his best performances of the year, Rooney showcased just that. In both games against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, Rooney was instrumental in keeping the team moving forward. In the away leg, he was the one who was pulling the strings and was the orchestrator of United’s biggest away win in the Champions League era. And although he didn’t score, he did probably everything else. And over the two games, not only did he score 2 goals, but had 3 assists as well and that speaks volumes for his ability.
It is his ability to play in every position that the manager has asked him to, with no difficulty that makes Wayne Rooney, not just one of the best players in 2013, but perhaps one of the most versatile attacking players the world has ever seen.
