An assist doesn't completely absolve Rooney of criticism for yesterday's performance. Just because he pops up with an assist after 92 minutes it doesn't mean that him losing the ball three times in one minute suddenly becomes acceptable from a United player. His first half performance warranted a substitution at half time, and the substitutions in the second half further go to show why Rooney isn't good enough to be a first choice. Look at Rooney when he gets the ball on the edge of the box in comparison to Mkhitaryan and Rashford.
There was a moment in the first half where he got the ball with players ahead of him about 30 yards from the goal and Hull were pushing further and further back. Rooney idled on the ball for several seconds before turning around and passing it back to (you guessed it...) Valencia. Meanwhile Rashford and Mkhitaryan drove forward, tried to take on their man and looked to penetrate every single time they were on the ball. Saying we would have scored more without Rooney yesterday isn't something you can prove right or wrong, but we look like a much more dangerous team when Rooney isn't getting involved as much in the middle.
Rooney's best moments yesterday, including the assist, came when he was played out wide, where he's put under less pressure and his first touch is less of a hindrance. He just doesn't have what it takes to play in crowded areas any more. In the first half it seemed like he'd lose the ball every time he received it within a few yards of a Hull player, and it completely killed the momentum of the team on several occasions. Meanwhile, even if Mkhitaryan and Pogba haven't gotten goals or assists for us yet, they've shown their ability to create and contribute to dangerous attacking moves much more frequently than Rooney does. Even with Rooney's stats so far, based on the general quality of play, I'd put my money on Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Rashford and Zlatan scoring more goals in 90 minutes than if Rooney is brought in for any one of the four, and I think that is the general consensus among the "Rooney bashers" in this thread. Assists are all well and good, but players also need to deliver in the other 89 minutes of the game.
Overall his play yesterday was terrible, and it has been in every game so far this season despite his goals and assists. He still won us two added points by pulling that piece of magic out of the hat and deserves a lot of credit for it, but him doing one thing very well doesn't mean we can't criticise him for the many things he did poorly yesterday. Putting Bohemian Rhapsody at the end of a mixtape with ten Justin Bieber songs on it doesn't make it a good mixtape.
