I can’t believe the discussion about Wayne Rooney breaking Thierry Henry’s record has gone on for so long and has been made so complicated. It’s simple. Yes Wayne Rooney holds the Premier League record of having scored the most goals for one club and just like any record deserves plaudits. So well done to the Manchester United captain. He broke Henry’s record on Sunday in their 1-0 win over Liverpool. Rooney scored his 176th goal for Manchester United and it only took him 358 games to do it! But there is no ignoring the fact that Thierry Henry took 100 games less to get to 175 and four seasons less, although he added one during his 2012 MLS break at Emirates.
The Red Devils will argue that Rooney hasn’t always played as an out and out striker and they’re right, so I’ll let you be the judge of who is the better player. I will stress though, to humour the Red Devils that the record is now being held by Rooney. That’s all fun and games but what Manchester United supporters should really be worrying about is that lack of goals this season. When Rooney scored his hat-trick against lowly Club Brugge back in August, he hadn’t scored in ten matches!
And the golden boy has just six league goals this season. Fans should be concerned about how long it has taken Rooney to break his various records. As The Telegraph’s Jason Burt said: “Wayne Rooney is on course to smash many records; but he should have done it sooner.” The steam with which the former Everton player entered Manchester United was unbelievable. He impressed even the harshest of United critics and I would have thought he would have broken records like Henry’s season’s ago. But there’s not denying that he’s had a tough couple of years; particularly after Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure.
While he is a work-horse every time he takes to the pitch, there seems to be some spice missing in his step, something that only an inspirational manager can give him. Talent-wise, Rooney lacks nothing. Mentally? He needs a little help. Instead of fans dwelling on him holding records, they should rally their club owners to inspire the guy a little. Away from Rooney and to the fact that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger seems to be on a mission to see us lose top spot in the standings.
I don’t know why Wenger makes substitutions before a game even starts instead of observing play and reacting to it. Despite the fact other big teams have dropped maximum points at the Britannia Stadium, it wasn’t excuse enough for Arsenal to be happy with a draw. As much as I respect The Ox; it wasn’t a good game for him and Wenger should have experimented with new boy Mohamed el Nenny. Shock the opposition and try something new sometimes Mr Wenger.
Even my pal Theo Walcott wasn’t on point and even though our sick room was still full, there were options Wenger could have taken that would have changed the game. Arsenal needed very little additional input to beat Stoke and take advantage of Leicester’s draw but as usual we blew it! I still have some faith in Le Prof but he’ll have to be smarter against Chelsea this weekend to keep us “top of the league.”