Wayne Rooney: Manchester United All Time Top Goalscorer

Should Wayne now be classed as a United legend? Would be interesting to see a poll on this mods?
 
All 3 United said:
Should Wayne now be classed as a United legend? Would be interesting to see a poll on this mods?
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Redcafe is the definition of stupid fans. He already was a legend.

A poll to decide whether our all time goal scorer is a legend or not? are you people not ashamed at all? I hope no mod is standing behind this idea.
 
Personally think he's off this Summer now.

What a fantastic achievement though. Top goalscorer of England and one of the biggest clubs in the world. Massive congratulations.
 
Your all time highest scorer simply has to be a club legend. Of course he is. He's won everything here and he's not been a passenger in any of that success. We might not like him as a person, or the way he has acted sometimes, but he is absolutely a club legend. His contribution to the club's successes in the last 10 years+ is enormous.

Even if he was 10 or 20 goals short, he has still contributed enormously and was a key figure in one of the club's most successful ever periods.

Glad his record breaking goal was an important one, and a very nice one to watch, rather than a tap-in against Wigan or something. Little bit of a shame it wasn't against Liverpool though.
 
Successful said:
Redcafe is the definition of stupid fans. He already was a legend.

A poll to decide whether our all time goal scorer is a legend or not? are you people not ashamed at all? I hope no mod is standing behind this idea.
Click to expand...

Legend is a term too frequently used and clubs should only have a handful of players who come immediately to mind as a true legend. No questioning what he has achieved but the threats to leave, contract negotiations and fall out with saf will certainly be promenent in a lot of fans memories. Also did he ever hit the heights of his full potential?

What is the harm in a poll?
 
He's a legend, it's daft to say anything else. He's got some real blotches on his history here though.
 
Absolute legend. Recently (since SAF departure) I have been one of his biggest critics but the man is a United legend.

Look father time giveth and taketh away. I am by no means a good footballer but into my late twenties, early thirties, after a lot of games, obviously not looking after my body, I could suddenly see in my own game, standards and ability, what I was seeing on a weekend with Rooney.

Suddenly everything seems harder, slower and more difficult. Being a young lad I always thought I'd have my technique at least, my reading of the game but my body started to betray my mind and people who I'd grown up playing with commented that I seemed a totally different player (read off the pace and poor!).

Obviously to draw comparisons between me, some schmuck to Rooney would be obtuse but I can sympathise because regardless of how much he is paid, his body is still subject to the horrors of time.

This tarnishes his legacy somewhat purely because this decline has been made public for neigh on three years. Someone like Neville for example, was rotated more and more in his later years and on his final apperance was comically bad, yet we barely mention his decline, as his removal from the 1st team was swift.

I'm rambling now but Rooney is a legend and should be lauded as what our club can give to young players in terms of career.
 
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Congrats to him; it's been fantastic to watch his career at our club, and despite the relatively recent downturn in quality, he found a great goal to mark the occasion. Definte legend :devil:
 
Sooner or later, it will be time for him to leave, however: LEGEND. Like the commentator said: Not only a great goalscorer, but also a scorer of great goals.
 
Brilliant strike to break the record, a record which will last for many years. Obviously not as effective as he was in his earlier seasons and not a first team regular any more but still a superb squad player.Congratulations Wazza.
 
Yeah not sure how I feel about this game. Great that Rooney got the record but just imagine if that had been the winner in the 94th minute at OT!! The TV images would have been immortalised in history forever...bit like the Aguero moment! Shame for him in that respect but no question about Rooney being a legend!
 
People were slating the prospect of him coming on today, and even when he did actually come on.

Rooney is a United legend - the freekick today was absolute class. Form is indeed temporary, class is permanent.
Mourinho has rejuvenated him no doubt. He came off the bench today to influence the match, and he actually kicked off the chance that led to Ibra scoring against Liverpool last week.

He deserves a whole lot more respect, and the Rooney-haters are going to have to suck it up and accept that he's a Manchester United legend.
 
Happy for him to get the record. Shame it wasnt a winner or under better circumstances to be cheered and celebrated. But still, could be an important point.

I think Joses use of him has been really good. Pretty much phased him out as a starter (esp in big games), moved him closer to the goal (rather than midfield to indulge him) and has seen better output in terms of numbers, even if some are inflated (still better than last season).
 
Good goal, dreadful before it, glad this is down now, and fully expect a parting of the ways in the summer.

Respect, but time to move on.
 
GiddyUp said:
12 years, multiple honors, hat trick on debut, club captain, record goal scorer. Is it even a debate?
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Truly ridiculous. Only Sir Bobby and Ryan Giggs are definitely ahead of him in terms of legend status. After those two, it is a bunch of others and he certainly is among those others. Some had more skill than him (Best and Scholes) some had more influence (Cantona and Keane) but when you count everything he gave to us, he has every right to be considered as high up the list as any of them bar the aforementioned two.
 
To try to make some people understand what Rooney has done - he is close to 200 Premier League goals. Only 2 other players who are still active - have scored morer thann 100 (Defoe and Aguero).

Of course he is a legend - and we should not under any circumstances sell him if he is happy not being a regular
 
C'est Moi Cantona said:
Good goal, dreadful before it, glad this is down now, and fully expect a parting of the ways in the summer.

Respect, but time to move on.
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Exactly my sentiments. A relief this distraction is behind us now. He was pretty tame before that injury time goal, as most our players were, Jones and Tony were pretty decent.
 
Will go down as one of the club's best-ever players, £27 million well spent. Was probably the third-best player in the world in 2010.

Personally find it hard to warm to Rooney as he's openly agitated for a move twice and doesn't appear to have looked after himself as he should have done, given that he's a professional athlete and gets paid a huge amount not to drink and smoke.

It's not Rooney's fault United gave him a five-year contact - that's one of the many timebombs Moyes left us with - but now he's got the record he should go at the end of the season rather than tarnishing his reputation.
 
A true hero of the club. Right up there with the greats. What a strike to save a point today.
 
All 3 United said:
Should Wayne now be classed as a United legend? Would be interesting to see a poll on this mods?
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You really don't need a poll for stuff this obvious. Despite his poor form the last two years, it would probably be the most one sided poll since the ''Who was worse Moyes or Van Gaal?'' poll.
 
Thought this was a good read which was written before today's game.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/history-will-be-kind-to-flawed-rooney-0lvn3sbhc

It would be nice to think that by the time we raise a glass to Wayne Rooney at The Savoy tomorrow evening, he might stand alone as Manchester United’s all-time record goalscorer. A goal away to Stoke City this afternoon would take him to 250, one clear of Sir Bobby Charlton’s longstanding record, but recent history tells us to be patient, even if it comes as a surprise to be reminded that he has scored just twice in the Premier League — and five times in all for United — since February 3 last year.

There has always been a dichotomy in Rooney’s career — lionised for what he is, demonised for what he is not — but even by his standards, these must feel like strange times. He became England’s all-time leading goalscorer last season, breaking another Charlton record, and it has long been only a matter of time before he does likewise at United, but the fanfare has been brief, perhaps even grudging. He is commonly dismissed as a has-been, as yesterday’s man, as a serial disappointment on the big stage for England — out of shape, out of sorts, out of sync with what is required of him in 2017, whether by club or by country. Will he be part of José Mourinho’s plans for United next season or Gareth Southgate’s squad for the 2018 World Cup, assuming England qualify? Right now, you would not be advised to bet on either.

Some might feel it disingenuous or even plain wrong for the Football Writers’ Association to honour Rooney with its annual tribute award tomorrow evening. Beyond question, though, he is a most worthy recipient. He will be toasted with a warmth that might even surprise a player who has usually regarded the media as some hostile force, whether it is the red-top front pages, shining an unwelcome light on his private life, or the never-ending scrutiny on the back pages, whether of his form, his on-pitch conduct, his wage demands at United or, most recently, his questionable use of a night off while on England duty.

There is a sincere belief out there that the media exists to build icons up and to knock them down, particularly young footballers who emerge from poverty to become multimillionaires. On the back pages, at least, that is blatantly untrue. Yes some of his “bad boy” episodes have at times caused hysteria, and yes there has been profound disappointment at his performances at several international tournaments, but there has also been a sincere longing for Rooney to be the footballer that we hoped he would be. Even if, ultimately, he has come up well short of the Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo class, or indeed the Charlton class in all but goalscoring, his career has above all been a source of great joy, satisfaction and pride, rather than frustration.

Sir Alex Ferguson always feared it could go either way with Rooney and that, with the many temptations and pitfalls facing the modern football superstar, he was at risk of following George Best and Paul Gascoigne in falling victim to a self-destructive streak. Some would argue that Rooney has done precisely that, claiming that his lifestyle — a fondness for a pint or a glass of red wine, even a cigarette — stopped him becoming England’s answer to Messi or Ronaldo. It did not. Rooney might have been a more consistent, more reliable player than Ronaldo at 18, but, looking back, it is clear which player had the greater scope, both mentally and physically, for improvement. Whereas Messi and Ronaldo will go down as two of the best to have played the game, Rooney will go down as one of English football’s greats. No doubt some will object to that suggestion, but if the principal case against him is that he flopped on the international stage, he is in good company.

Moreover, Rooney is a good sort. He and Ferguson never saw eye to eye after the forward stunned United by submitting a transfer request in 2010, but the manager’s worst fears were never realised. If Rooney was born with a tendency towards a self-destructive streak, it has largely been kept in check — something that those close to him tend to ascribe to the positive influence of his childhood sweetheart, Coleen, now his wife. Yes there have been some distasteful incidents and headlines down the years, but the Rooney of 2017 is a far more stable, mature, admirable figure than most would have imagined a decade or more ago. Yesterday he announced that his testimonial match in August raised £1.2 million for children’s charities. These include Claire House, the hospice where Coleen’s sister, Rosie, stayed two nights a week while suffering from Rett syndrome before she died, aged 14, in 2013. Rooney’s fundraising target this year is £5 million. According to those close to him, he is determined to find ways to meet it.

Even on the terraces at Old Trafford, though, you might struggle to find deep affection for Rooney. The transfer requests of 2010 and 2013 were not forgotten or forgiven as easily as they would have been had he returned to peak form subsequently. Then again, how many superstars spend 13 seasons at any club these days without using outside interest to shore up their position? Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes never did, but, in football terms at least, they belong to another generation. Steven Gerrard and John Terry, who embodied commitment to the cause at Liverpool and Chelsea respectively, were not afraid to rock the boat in search of a pay rise. Neither was Roy Keane at United. Ronaldo always regarded United as a stepping stone to Real Madrid and, like Messi, has not been afraid to agitate for a better deal since moving to Spain.

As for the bygone heroes, Best twice announced his retirement while he was a United player, in 1972 and 1973, before walking out for good in 1974, midway through a season that ended in their relegation to the old Second Division. Best had his demons, of course, but he is idolised at Old Trafford to this day for what he was, which is one of the greatest players the world has seen. His flaws are not just forgiven but romanticised, as is entirely right. Rooney’s relationship with United has been altogether less thrilling and more businesslike, right down to the unedifying contract negotiations, but history will surely remember his contributions for club and country with more warmth than is extended to him at present.

Rooney’s progress towards the 250 mark has been laboured. Then again, so was Charlton’s towards 249. Charlton was 35 when he scored his final goals for United. For his first 12 years in United’s first team, he averaged 16.75 goals a season. For his final six, he averaged eight goals, a move that cannot be attributed entirely to changes in position. As he put it in My Manchester United Years, there were times, towards the end, when “I chased and chased, but there was nothing there for me, not even one of those sweet moments which had always lifted me. I lost that belief that, for a while at least, I could still be a United player.”

So it has seemed, increasingly, with Rooney. He is only 31, but he is a veteran of 741 appearances and 319 goals for Everton, United and England, a workload that has taken a toll on a player who has been raised as the all-action type, charging here, there and everywhere.

The “sweet moments” that sustained Charlton now seem fewer for Rooney, but it is those that he should be remembered for. It is natural, of course, to think of the irrepressible force he was during those teenage years and into his early 20s and to feel regret that he could not manage a Ronaldo-type surge thereafter, or that he has not illuminated another international tournament since 2004, but English football has not produced anything like enough success stories to be sniffy about a player who has achieved as much as Wayne Rooney.
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Congratulations to Rooney, delighted for him and he did it with a top class goal as well..

But now is the time to say that records are there to be broken. Step up, Marcus.
 
NextSeason said:
Thought this was a good read which was written before today's game.
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That's a good, and fair, summing-up, I reckon.
Congratulations, Wayne.
 
Congratulations to Wayne. Awesome achievement.

Got a lot of stick lately and maybe rightfully so in some cases but the stats speak for themselves. Lets be honest, in this day and age, is his record ever likely to be beaten?

Legend.
 
Of course he is a Legend. Up there with the best. Perhaps you could say that he never fulfilled his potential, same as Georgie. Its been a rocky ride lately, but this guy deserves and merits our thanks, and our respect.
 
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