The saying - “there are lies, damned lies and statistics” has never been more apt than when comparing Rashford, Rooney and Ronaldo solely on their goalscoring records at 23
First and foremost, Rooney started playing PL football at 16 and had racked up over 50 PL appearances for Everton by the time he turned 18. Many of these games he would have featured for a handful of minutes only. Unsurprisingly, his goalscoring record during this period wasn’t spectacular, if you take his age out of the equation.
It’s also important to remember that Rooney was more of a scorer of great goals than a great goalscorer in his younger years. He was more likely to be making a sliding challenge at fullback or knocking a 50yard pass from centre midfield than he was to score a tap-in at the back post. It wasn’t really his game. It sounds strange to say it given he is Utd and England’s all-time top scorer but his game wasn’t really about goals until his mid-20s
Also, if you look solely at Rooney’s first 100 games for Utd vs Rashford’s first 100 (they started at a similar age), Rooney is well ahead.
Similarly, comparing any goalscoring record to Ronaldo at 23 is ridiculous. Ronaldo was an out-and-out old fashioned winger for the majority of his time at United. I think I am right in saying Ronaldo didn’t even score a goal in the CL until he had made some crazy number of appearances and now he is the all-time record goalscorer. What Ronaldo did have in his early years was unbelievable feet, pace, trickery and a better delivery than he was often given credit for. He only turned into the absolute goalscoring machine that he was known as later in his career at about 23/24. Any comparisons before that are deliberately misleading.
So, I don’t really like doing this because a PL goal is a PL goal, and who is to say one is more important than another...but let’s take a look at Rashford’s 8 goals in 24 this season, if we’re analysing this stuff in detail. Four of those eight goals have come in three games against Sheffield Utd, Brighton and Newcastle - teams in the bottom 5. One of those goals came in a 9-0 victory against a horribly demoralised, 10-man Southampton team. One was almost certainly an own-goal, albeit a very important one, against Wolves. I’m fairly certain that shot was headed well wide but we won’t really know for sure because of the short trajectory from Rashford’s foot to the Wolves defender.
Last season was his best season in PL history, scoring 17 goals in 31 games, which coincided with him being virtually the sole penalty taker in a season we won (I think) a record number of penalties. Yes, before anybody starts, this is relevant because the point is, Rashford has consistently posted a solid but unspectacular record of roughly one goal every 3 games and the only time he has performed above this was when he was on penalty duty. This year, take away the penalties and lo and behold...back to the one in three - in the PL in any case, since that’s what counts.
Now above and beyond all this, I actually find it slightly insulting to two of our greatest ever players to be compared with Marcus Rashford. No amount of massaged statistics or flawed comparisons is going to convince me of what I have sat and watched in OT week-in, week-out.
I was lucky enough to attend virtually every home game (and the odd away game) that Rooney and Ronaldo played for United. I have also seen the majority of Rashford’s home games live, although I stopped going the year of Jose’s meltdown. I have, of course, continued to watch on TV.
Some things in football can’t be quantified by numbers. For example, can you compare Scholes vs Gerrard vs Lampard by looking at goals and assists? Can you compare Ferdinand vs Terry vs Sol Campbell vs Maguire based on headers won, tackles made or blocks? Can you compare Wan-Bissaka with Ashley Cole or Gary Neville by comparing % of tackles won? I’d say “absolutely not” to all of the above. Football isn’t played on Excel, things happen on a football pitch that will always only be apparent to a good judge. Yes, I would include myself in that - but you don’t need to be a good judge to know Rooney and Ronaldo where far better than Rashford. You just need to have watched the three of them play on a regular basis.
And this for me is the crux of the issue. Why do die-hard Utd fans like me line up to knock Rashford? In my case, I’d say its certainly not because I’m negative, in fact, I would generally say in percentage terms my posts have been overwhelmingly positive and supportive over the last three years, with a few exceptions.
The reason I knock Rashford and get so wound up by it is the hyperbole and the hype around a player I think is effectively no more than a solid PL footballer who is now approaching his peak years and shows little to no signs of every really kicking on and being the special player we hoped he could become when he burst onto the scene.
It wouldn’t bother me but compare the treatment of Rashford with Martial and you see how media bias is conning our fanbase. Their records are almost identical in professional football. Never mind comparing Rashford with Ronaldo and Rooney...why not compare him with a teammate who has basically had an identical career to date? Because it doesn’t suit the agenda or the narrative that’s why. One is (perhaps rightly) roundly written off whilst the other is a “world class talent” who is supposedly on par with our best ever players.
See, that’s how statistics work. If you’re going to frame them to pretend Rashford is amazing, then why not point out his PL goals per game record is identical to Callum Wilson, who has been playing for Bournemouth and Newcastle in that time?
I’d love Rashford to prove me wrong. I think the work he does off the pitch is great but unfortunately I can’t factor that in when judging his footballing contribution. I would like to see improved decision making, better ball retention, more intelligent movement, more defensive efforts, better passing in tight areas against low-blocks. All stuff that is difficult to assess based solely on stats, but stuff my eyes and experiences tell me he is miles away from world-class at. That’s before we even get down to brass tax and say that even if we’re solely going to judge him on his goals and assists, he needs to start delivering more as he hits his peak to stay on the so-called Rooney/Ronaldo trajectories
First and foremost, Rooney started playing PL football at 16 and had racked up over 50 PL appearances for Everton by the time he turned 18. Many of these games he would have featured for a handful of minutes only. Unsurprisingly, his goalscoring record during this period wasn’t spectacular, if you take his age out of the equation.
It’s also important to remember that Rooney was more of a scorer of great goals than a great goalscorer in his younger years. He was more likely to be making a sliding challenge at fullback or knocking a 50yard pass from centre midfield than he was to score a tap-in at the back post. It wasn’t really his game. It sounds strange to say it given he is Utd and England’s all-time top scorer but his game wasn’t really about goals until his mid-20s
Also, if you look solely at Rooney’s first 100 games for Utd vs Rashford’s first 100 (they started at a similar age), Rooney is well ahead.
Similarly, comparing any goalscoring record to Ronaldo at 23 is ridiculous. Ronaldo was an out-and-out old fashioned winger for the majority of his time at United. I think I am right in saying Ronaldo didn’t even score a goal in the CL until he had made some crazy number of appearances and now he is the all-time record goalscorer. What Ronaldo did have in his early years was unbelievable feet, pace, trickery and a better delivery than he was often given credit for. He only turned into the absolute goalscoring machine that he was known as later in his career at about 23/24. Any comparisons before that are deliberately misleading.
So, I don’t really like doing this because a PL goal is a PL goal, and who is to say one is more important than another...but let’s take a look at Rashford’s 8 goals in 24 this season, if we’re analysing this stuff in detail. Four of those eight goals have come in three games against Sheffield Utd, Brighton and Newcastle - teams in the bottom 5. One of those goals came in a 9-0 victory against a horribly demoralised, 10-man Southampton team. One was almost certainly an own-goal, albeit a very important one, against Wolves. I’m fairly certain that shot was headed well wide but we won’t really know for sure because of the short trajectory from Rashford’s foot to the Wolves defender.
Last season was his best season in PL history, scoring 17 goals in 31 games, which coincided with him being virtually the sole penalty taker in a season we won (I think) a record number of penalties. Yes, before anybody starts, this is relevant because the point is, Rashford has consistently posted a solid but unspectacular record of roughly one goal every 3 games and the only time he has performed above this was when he was on penalty duty. This year, take away the penalties and lo and behold...back to the one in three - in the PL in any case, since that’s what counts.
Now above and beyond all this, I actually find it slightly insulting to two of our greatest ever players to be compared with Marcus Rashford. No amount of massaged statistics or flawed comparisons is going to convince me of what I have sat and watched in OT week-in, week-out.
I was lucky enough to attend virtually every home game (and the odd away game) that Rooney and Ronaldo played for United. I have also seen the majority of Rashford’s home games live, although I stopped going the year of Jose’s meltdown. I have, of course, continued to watch on TV.
Some things in football can’t be quantified by numbers. For example, can you compare Scholes vs Gerrard vs Lampard by looking at goals and assists? Can you compare Ferdinand vs Terry vs Sol Campbell vs Maguire based on headers won, tackles made or blocks? Can you compare Wan-Bissaka with Ashley Cole or Gary Neville by comparing % of tackles won? I’d say “absolutely not” to all of the above. Football isn’t played on Excel, things happen on a football pitch that will always only be apparent to a good judge. Yes, I would include myself in that - but you don’t need to be a good judge to know Rooney and Ronaldo where far better than Rashford. You just need to have watched the three of them play on a regular basis.
And this for me is the crux of the issue. Why do die-hard Utd fans like me line up to knock Rashford? In my case, I’d say its certainly not because I’m negative, in fact, I would generally say in percentage terms my posts have been overwhelmingly positive and supportive over the last three years, with a few exceptions.
The reason I knock Rashford and get so wound up by it is the hyperbole and the hype around a player I think is effectively no more than a solid PL footballer who is now approaching his peak years and shows little to no signs of every really kicking on and being the special player we hoped he could become when he burst onto the scene.
It wouldn’t bother me but compare the treatment of Rashford with Martial and you see how media bias is conning our fanbase. Their records are almost identical in professional football. Never mind comparing Rashford with Ronaldo and Rooney...why not compare him with a teammate who has basically had an identical career to date? Because it doesn’t suit the agenda or the narrative that’s why. One is (perhaps rightly) roundly written off whilst the other is a “world class talent” who is supposedly on par with our best ever players.
See, that’s how statistics work. If you’re going to frame them to pretend Rashford is amazing, then why not point out his PL goals per game record is identical to Callum Wilson, who has been playing for Bournemouth and Newcastle in that time?
I’d love Rashford to prove me wrong. I think the work he does off the pitch is great but unfortunately I can’t factor that in when judging his footballing contribution. I would like to see improved decision making, better ball retention, more intelligent movement, more defensive efforts, better passing in tight areas against low-blocks. All stuff that is difficult to assess based solely on stats, but stuff my eyes and experiences tell me he is miles away from world-class at. That’s before we even get down to brass tax and say that even if we’re solely going to judge him on his goals and assists, he needs to start delivering more as he hits his peak to stay on the so-called Rooney/Ronaldo trajectories
