'Remembering Wayne Rooney's Amazing 2009/10 Season For Manchester United

News 3:16 AM

By Mike Parrott

Wayne Rooney is still remembered as an incredible player throughout his playing career. However, one season stands out by far that went under-the-radar even though it was arguably his best season ever for Manchester United.

Wayne Rooney is one of the all-time greats in English and Premier League football.

The only player ever with over 300 goal involvements in the Premier League, Rooney was unstoppable in his prime and was the closest to a true complete forward that Manchester United and England have had for many years.

However, his best season was easily the 2009/10 season when he was tasked to become the focal goalscorer for the time in his United career.

When Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez departed in the summer of 2009, a ready-made solution was obvious to all. "Losing those two took a lot of goals away from the team," reflected Rooney. "I knew I'd have to score. We just knew that we had to work hard and find a new way of playing."

With Nani on the left-wing and newcomer Antonio Valencia on the right, that fresh approach was simple but usually unplayable. Rooney would drop deep to start attacks, work the ball wide and motor into the area to meet the return cross from either side.

By the turn of the year, Rooney had reached 15 goals from 23 appearances in all competitions, but it was in January that he truly kicked into overdrive. A four-goal haul against Hull City sparked a run of scoring in 10 out of 12 games, yielding a total of 18 goals, half of which were headers.

Rooney went on to score 34 goals and create seven assists in all competitions, with 26 goals coming in the Premier League, and five added in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages.

Though United narrowly missed out on a fourth straight Premier League and were undeservedly ousted from Europe by Bayern, Rooney's contribution earned the PFA and FWA Player of the Year awards.

"This has been the best goalscoring period of my career," he surmised. "You just feel like every time you run out on the pitch, or every time you've got the ball near goal, you're going to score. It's a feeling every striker strives for."

Rooney's best-ever season though didn't even see him make the 2010 Ballon D'Or shortlist with players such as Asamoah Gyan, Cesc Fabregas, and Miroslav Klose making it over him somehow.

What do you think of Rooney's 2009/10 season?

Let us know in the comments below.



source https://www.sportbible.com/football/classic-legends-remembering-wayne-rooneys-amazing-200910-season-for-man-united-20200806

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