Wayne Rooney - Manchester United Legend

Do you consider Rooney to be a United legend?

  • Total voters
    1,610
Of course he shaded off a bit in his last few seasons, but it's the ones in between when he signed and the last 3 he made his name as an OT legend. Even then, in the last few seasons he did have his moments, just not enough of them. A piece on Sky Sports News about him going back to Everton showed a montage of the highlights of his United career and provided a timely reminder of just how good he actually was.
All the best, Wayne, and hopefully he gets a great welcome when he comes back to play at OT, he deserves it.
 
Fracture90 said:
Nah it's cool, we're having a friendly discussion.

Point is ofc I don't hate Rooney, I loved old angry Rooney and always valued him (I still do and will probably watch every Everton game), but those 2 transfer request just won't let me call him a legend atm, maybe in future things will change but atm I just can't.

That's just my opinion and I'm not forcing it on anyone else. Everyone's free to make up their own mind on the matter.
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Fair enough mate if you didn't appreciate him wanting to leave twice and don't consider him a Legend. People can consider whoever they like to be a legend.

My only gripe is people repeating the same old bullshit myths that surround Rooneys contract sagas which i don't believe are true.
 
0161_UNITED said:
You said 25 years, mate. Not me, and King Eric, Peter Schmeichel and more fall into that. Bryan Robson falls into that. Just saying, it's probably more of than Scholesy and Giggsy
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In truth I should have said 20 years and clarified that I meant players whose careers at United has spanned that time (rather than someone like Robson whose peak was in the 80's).
 
Rooneys top 10 goals of all time are better than most of the great world class strikers bar Messi and Ronaldo and a couple of others. But I'd have Rooneys top 10 goals as more spectacular than the likes of Pele's and Cryuff's for example.

Rooney scored a special goal for every type of goal you can score. The famous bicycle, the famous volley, the famous half-way line goal, the famous chip/lob of the keeper from outside the box, the famous top corner free kick etc.
 
stevoc said:
And largely through no fault of his own.
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He asked to leave - twice. In what world could a player possibly think that would be kept private?

If it was just a tactic to get a new contract and he would rather it was all kept private until his contract was signed, then he misjudged the situation and shouldn't have asked to leave.
 
Alex99 said:
Mate, no one agrees with your assessment. No one.

As I said, you can have special level of respect for those who have done it all at one club, but that doesn't mean that other players can't be club legends.

Just because you've got some anally retentive definition of a club legend doesn't meant that anyone else is going to accept it as anything other than daft. There are all sorts of things that can make someone a club legend. Your little checklist of weirdly specific criteria isn't all it has to be.
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I think a lot more people will agree with what I'm saying than you think and to be honest, whether the majority or minority agree with it is irrelevant, the fact is, it's what I believe a Legend should be and anything less is a cheap knock off.

It just comes down to us setting different bench marks. Good luck to Rooney anyway and I'm sure he will end up a Everton Legend in a few years. :p
 
golden_blunder said:
Those other players didn't break the scoring legend. It's really this simple;

Rooney - broke scoring records - legend
Giggs - broke competitive appearances record - legend

All the others; scholes, beckham, rio etc are greats but not legends

Personality and off the field issues don't come into it otherwise George best isn't a legend
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Ferdinand or Evra are never going to break scoring or appareance records regardless of how great they are so using that as a gauge is pretty ridiculous.

If Rooney is deemed a legend and Scholes isn't then that's some really bizarre criteria you're working to.
 
Nori- said:
I think a lot more people will agree with what I'm saying than you think and to be honest, whether the majority or minority agree with it is irrelevant, the fact is, it's what I believe a Legend should be and anything less is a cheap knock off.

It just comes down to us setting different bench marks. Good luck to Rooney anyway and I'm sure he will end up a Everton Legend in a few years. :p
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Good luck with that fella.

Let me know when you find someone that agrees with you that Pele, Maradona and Best aren't legends.
 
After reading these forums for so long and hearing such negativity around Rooney, I'm quite surprised that this poll is so favourable to Rooney being considered a United legend. The result so far is quite overwhelming. Good for Wazza - If only he had sight of it.

In 'Football Manager', the key figures of a club are divided into the: Legends (Ferguson, Giggs), Icons (Beckham, Schmeichel) and Favoured Personnel (Evra, van Persie) categories. All are types of legends in their own right. I would register Rooney in the 'Icons' category myself.

Thank you, Wayne Rooney. Good luck in blue!
 
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How have 158 people said no to this? Of course he's a club legend. He's not the best player we've ever had but he's been here for 13 years, provided amazing moments and became our top goalscorer of all time.

Eejyets you get on here
 
Pexbo said:
He asked to leave - twice. In what world could a player possibly think that would be kept private?

If it was just a tactic to get a new contract and he would rather it was all kept private until his contract was signed, then he misjudged the situation and shouldn't have asked to leave.
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seriously, get over that one. Ronaldo has thrown a strop at Real, Messi isn't happy with the squad and wants to leave...we can go on and on about big players who throw a strop as that's what they need to do to get the contract they deserve. He did what he did and perhaps certain players who were too "concervative" will suffer financially in the future.

Put it in perspective Pex, Scholes was on £80k a week in his one year in 2012-2013 with us whilst Drogba earned $10m in China. But are you telling me honestly we'll look at Wayne in 10 years time any different that Paul. Both club legends, one just wanted a bit more money and the other just wanted to play football, luckily enough for United
 
Given that most consider him to be a United legend, where do you all rank him relative to other United greats/legends?
 
I think it should pointed out that people who don’t recognize him as a “legend” (probably) fall into two very different categories: 1) those who are unwilling to give him much praise at all and 2) those who don’t think the term itself fits someone like Rooney. I’m in the last category myself. A “legend” to me is someone like Cantona. You can’t back up his “legend” status with stats, but you don’t have to - because he just is a legend and that’s that. In general, I don’t treat “legend” as something you can “qualify” for by winning X amount of titles, having X number of appearances, or even being the club’s all-time top scorer.

But going by what most people seem to understand by the term, Rooney is obviously a “legend”. You can’t say that dozens of players over the years are comparable to him in terms of achievements. He stands out, belongs to a relatively small group of highly influential players in the club’s history, and is our all-time top scorer on top of everything else. So, yeah - if people want to call him a “legend” I understand what they mean even if I don’t use that term myself.
 
I feel sad that it's the end of another era. Rooney won everything with us and broke records. We'll be fortunate if another player ever gets close to matching his achievements, which are undeniably good enough to make him a legend.

Hopefully that's what we'll remember him for in four or five years, not the money and premature decline.
 
Personally someone who saw Rooney throughout his 13 years and judges him a legend based on that is someone whose opinion I respect more than someone who claims someone who they read about in a book or heard about second hand from others is their favourite player of all time.

That's the odd thing about fans. You'd never get someone citing as their favourite book something they never read but their grandfather said was good. Yet so many fans seem to pretend people they've never seen play is among their 'favourite ever' players.
 
finneh said:
Ferdinand or Evra are never going to break scoring or appareance records regardless of how great they are so using that as a gauge is pretty ridiculous.

If Rooney is deemed a legend and Scholes isn't then that's some really bizarre criteria you're working to.
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Put forward an argument then to support the likes of scholes as a legend

But to say a clubs record scorer is not a legend is quite bizarre
 
All the love for him seems to have come back the moment he has decided to leave.

Very odd for a club legend. He overstayed his time but that's not his fault but only a reflection of how far we have fallen from SAF years. Glad the club also did the right thing and let him go on a free.

All in all - a big big thanks Wayne for the wonderful memories.
 
I would never say in 20 years time i witnessed the greatness of messi and ronaldo but i will definitely say it was a privilege seeing all time leading goal scorer of my favorite club giving everything for the club and leaving long lasting memories. I didnt watch best, law or many other legends playing live but i saw a very special talent who graced the old trafford pitch for over a decade and became all time leading goal scorer.

You will surely be missed captian :(:(:(
 
Shame he tarnishes his legend knowing he has been wearing Everton pyjamas every night he has been our player !!

#Badgekisser
 
Mal donaghy said:
Shame he tarnishes his legend knowing he has been wearing Everton pyjamas every night he has been our player !!

#Badgekisser
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there i thought he always went to bed like this
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I used to think I knew what a Legend was but after reading this thread I have got to admit that I have now got no idea .

What a player Rooney was for us though , a joy to watch an absolute force of nature and all time top scorer . I am sure young players like Martial and Rashford would love to achieve what Wazza has .
 
Pexbo said:
He asked to leave - twice. In what world could a player possibly think that would be kept private?

If it was just a tactic to get a new contract and he would rather it was all kept private until his contract was signed, then he misjudged the situation and shouldn't have asked to leave.
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Probably in a world where the manager doesn't air private club business in public at press conference's or interviews on national TV.

Heinze and Van Nistelrooy according to Ferguson both asked to leave several times during their time at United and yet none of that came out until after they had left.

Rooney had been asking to leave United since the end of the previous season and over the summer, again according to Ferguson in the press conference from October 2010. So it managed to stay secret for 4-5 months before Ferguson made it public.

Why do you think a player asking his club to leave in private would become public knowledge without someone with that information making it so?
 
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Rooney's career trophies

Premier League (five): 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13

FA Cup: 2015-16

League Cup (three): 2005-06, 2009-10, 2016-17

Champions League: 2007-08

Europa League: 2016-17

Rooney's Greatest Goals for Manchester United

MANCHESTER UNITED 6 FENERBAHCE 2 (Champions League, September 28, 2004)

Rooney enjoyed a startling start to life at Old Trafford, launching himself into the footballing stratosphere with a debut hat-trick. Two fine first-half efforts were followed by a superb David Beckham-esque free-kick seven minutes after the break.

MANCHESTER UNITED 2 NEWCASTLE 1 (Premier League, April 24, 2005)

Having fallen behind to a Darren Ambrose strike, Rooney inspired a comeback with an exceptional second-half volley. Meeting a headed clearance by Peter Ramage, the forward hit the sweetest of strikes beyond the helpless Shay Given.

MANCHESTER UNITED 2 ARSENAL 0 (Premier League, April 9, 2006)

A goal that epitomised Rooney's touch, composure and striking ability. Taking down a superb left-wing cross from Mikael Silvestre with aplomb, he then showed his cutting edge to rifle home magnificently.

MANCHESTER UNITED 2 MANCHESTER CITY 1 (Premier League, February 12, 2011)

A goal that will live long in the memory and go down as one of the finest strikes to light up the Manchester derby. Watching Nani's floated 77th-minute cross, Rooney leapt to send a sensational overhead kick past rooted City goalkeeper Joe Hart.

WEST HAM 0 MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Premier League, March 22, 2014)

In a goal similar in audacity and skill to Beckham's wonder strike at Wimbledon in 1996, Rooney fired home a breathtaking goal from 58 yards having out-muscled James Tomkins to turn and hit a half-volley over Adrian.

STOKE 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Premier League, January 21, 2017)

The history-making free-kick which made Rooney United's all-time record goalscorer. Deep into added time the captain whipped in an angled free-kick from just outside the penalty area with the ball arcing over a crowded penalty area and beating goalkeeper Lee Grant in his top left-hand corner.

Rooney's career highs and lows

HIGH - Becomes the most expensive British teenager by joining United in 2004 in a deal that eventually rises to £27million.

HIGH - Marks his United debut in September by scoring a hat-trick against Fenerbahce in the Champions League.

HIGH - Scores his first Premier League goal for United on his 19th birthday to help end Arsenal's 49-game unbeaten streak in the division.

HIGH - Goes on to win the PFA Young Player of the Year award for the first time.

LOW - Despite finishing as the team's top scorer, Rooney's debut campaign ends trophyless as his team finish third in the league and lose the FA Cup final on penalties.

LOW - Sent off in a Champions League draw at Villarreal after sarcastically clapping in the referee's face during a group stage United failed to get out of.

HIGH - Scores twice in the League Cup final victory over Wigan to claim his first winners' medal.

HIGH - Is once again chosen as the PFA Young Player of the Year by his peers.

LOW - Shoves United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo and appears to stamp on Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho to be dismissed for England at the 2006 World Cup.

HIGH - Captains United for the first time in a Champions League encounter with FC Copenhagen.

HIGH - Wins his first league title in 2007, with a goal at Everton which Rooney celebrated by kissing the badge.

HIGH - Ends the 2007-08 campaign as both a Premier League and Champions League winner as United defeat Chelsea in Moscow.

LOW - Is substituted by boss Sir Alex Ferguson moments after kissing the United badge at Goodison Park following another round of heckling.

HIGH - Scores the only goal in the final as United win the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.

HIGH - Helps United win a third straight Premier League title that sees them equal Liverpool's record of 18 championships.

HIGH - Reaches 100 goals for United five years after joining with a header against Wigan.

HIGH - Grabs 19 goals in the first three months of 2010, including four in one game against Hull and the winner in the League Cup final.

HIGH - Is named the PFA Players' Player of the Year for the first time having scored 34 times in the 2009-10 season.

LOW - Shortly after newspaper allegations into his private life are printed, Ferguson leaves Rooney out of a trip to Goodison Park.

LOW - Issues a statement confirming he will not sign a new deal at United and says he wants to leave the club in October 2010.

HIGH - Makes a U-turn just two days later and pens a new five-year extension with United.

HIGH - Scores arguably his best ever United goal in February 2011, an overhead kick in the Manchester derby to give United a 2-1 victory.

LOW - Misses United's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City, which they go on to lose, due to a Football Association ban meted out after he swore into a camera after scoring against West Ham.

HIGH - Wins his fourth Premier League title, and a record-breaking 19th for United, by scoring a penalty at Blackburn.

LOW - Two years after losing a Champions League final to Barcelona, United are defeated by the Spaniards again at that stage, despite Rooney scoring at Wembley.

HIGH - Scores back-to-back hat-tricks at the start of the 2011-12 season and goes beyond 150 goals for United in the process, during a season where he plunders 34 in total.

HIGH - Claims a fifth Premier League title winners' medal in 2012-13, which proves to be Ferguson's final one at the helm.

LOW - Rooney is left out of the squad for Ferguson's final fixture and the Scot confirms he has handed in a transfer request.

HIGH - Stays on at United under old Everton boss David Moyes and scores his 200th goal for the club in September 2013.

HIGH - Pens another contract extension, tying him to Old Trafford until the summer of 2019, though the club end the season without a trophy and Moyes pays the price.

HIGH - Moyes' replacement Louis van Gaal names Rooney as his new club captain.

LOW - Goes nine games without scoring before converting a contentiously won penalty in the FA Cup at Preston.

LOW - Another long goalless spell, this one lasting 10 games, is ended in style with a hat-trick against Club Brugge in the Champions League in August 2015.

HIGH - Skippers United to an FA Cup triumph, his first as a player, over Crystal Palace at Wembley in May 2016.

HIGH - Surpasses Sir Bobby Charlton as United's all-time record scorer by coming off the bench to net against Stoke in January 2017.

LOW - Ends the 2016-17 season having scored just eight times, his lowest ever return for United.

Rooney's career in numbers

559 - Number of appearances across all competitions Rooney made in a United shirt across his 13 seasons with the club.

253 - Number of times he scored for the Red Devils, making him the club's all-time leading goalscorer.

119 - Appearances for England, making him the Three Lions' most capped outfield player of all time.

71 - Number of league and cup games Rooney played for the Toffees prior to his move to Old Trafford, in which time he managed to score 15 goals.

53 - International goals, making him the top-scoring England player of all time.

27 - The highest tally of goals scored by Rooney in a single Premier League season (2011-12) and also the number of penalties he converted for the Manchester giants.

16 - Rooney was 16 years and 360 days old when he netted his first Premier League goal in October 2002 to help Everton beat Arsenal, making him the youngest Premier League goalscorer at the time.

12 - Number of major honours he won with the Red Devils (five Premier League titles, three League Cups, one FA Cup, one Champions League title, one Europa League win and one FIFA Club World Cup)

9 - Number of spot-kicks Rooney failed to convert for United. Despite those misses, his side went onto win all nine of those games.

8 - Number of hat-tricks Rooney recorded for United.

5 - The lowest number of Premier League goals Rooney netted in a single league campaign (2016-17).
 
charlenefan said:
My favourite Wayne Rooney goal/moment by the seasons

04/05 - volley v Newcastle
05/06 - double v Wigan at home (not the LC Final one)
06/07 - late winner v Milan
07/08 - assist for Tevez v Boro
08/09 - assist for Ronaldo v Arsenal (away UCL Semi)
09/10 - counter attack goal v Arsenal
10/11 - overhead kick v City
11/12 - hatrick v Arsenal (8-2)
12/13 - assist for RVP v Villa
13/14 - halfway line goal v West Ham
14/15 - counter attack goal v Arsenal
15/16 - late winner v Liverpool
16/17 - 250th goal v Stoke
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Wow, that overhead kick was really that long ago :eek: Only seems like a couple of season ago.
That RVP assist was just sublime, completely Scholes-esque
 
christinaa said:
LOW - Ends the 2016-17 season having scored just eight times, his lowest ever return for United.
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I wouldn't class this as a low due to him being a bit part player last season and when he did play it was usual deeper than usual.
 
Our Highest goalscorer. It will be atleast a decade or so till his name stands in the top goalscorer of Manchester United stat. If Rooney is not a United Legend, then no one else is.

He was the face of the club for the last decade. I am glad that his move was done with dignity by the club and him for the last year when he was a bit part player.

I hope we soon get similar type of striker who can play as a number 10 and score goals next to the main striker.
 
He's a legend in terms of his contribution to the club for sure but for some reason he never developed an unbreakable emotional connection with the club. The manner in which he wanted to leave in 2010 was poor as was his constant leaking to the press in 2013 when trying to force a move to Chelsea.

The likes of Carrick, Ferdinand Evra etc. for example have always displayed a genuine emotional connection with the club.

If Rooney had behaved in a manner similar to those mentioned above he'd undoubtedly be remembered as one of United's biggest ever legends.

I think his agent had a lot to do with it though, Stretford really is a giant sack of shit.
 
I think time will remember him with more fondness than the current crop of supporters will, but you can't doubt that our all-time top scorer is deserving of legend status.

Cheers Wazza.
 
He's the last player I'll ever be this huge a fan of ever. The way players come and go nowadays and the way football is headed, it's just not going to happen. The way Ruud left was horrible and this is about a million times worse. Farewell Legend!
 
Legend.

Used to always feel confident with him in the side.
 
Nori- said:
So you are seriously suggesting Gerrard only stayed at LFC out of fear and was intimidated into doing it? I don't doubt he put in a transfer request, but he didn't follow through, he pulled out in the end, and that's what separated him from over top players.
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He put in a TR immediately after they won the CL. What could he possibly be unhappy about? He ended up staying and I don't see Liverpool fans hate him for it.
 
It's a tough one with Rooney. He's as close to being a legend as it's possible to be. But in my opinion, he's not quite there and never will be.

13 years, 250+ goals and a will to win that dragged everybody up a level for over decade.

You can't fault his contribution. No other player has made me jump out of my seat so many times. But... for me, a legend of the club has to have an emotional bond to club that matches my own. Rooney will always love Everton more than he loves us. And that's fine. It's maybe even great. I respect him immensely for having a childhood club that's never left his heart.

But to reach Manchester United legend status, you need to bleed Manchester United on top of all the contributions you make on the pitch. It's a big ask, I know. But a United legend needs to feel like a member of my family, not just a friend. Rooney will always be an Everton man, and more power to him for that. The same applies to Ronaldo, VdS, Sheringham, Ibrahimovic etc.

On the flip-side, someone like Evra's legend status has skyrocketed recently. That guy understands what United means to me and it means just as much to him. He's a true United legend. He marries commitment on the pitch to love off it. That's what is takes, imo.
 
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golden_blunder said:
Put forward an argument then to support the likes of scholes as a legend

But to say a clubs record scorer is not a legend is quite bizarre
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The argument I made previously.

I believe Scholes was an extraordinary talent, whilst Rooney was a great player, but never more than that. I believe Scholes showed extraordinary commitment to United, whereas with Rooney it was a relationship of convenience. I also believe Scholes showed extraordinary longevity; whereas Rooney's lack of discipline meant that a potential golden decade between 26 and 36 became a nightmare of rapidly deteriorating performances, being dropped & transferred (and in my view essebt. Scholes also materially affected the club, being part of the class of '92 that in my view transformed the clubs fortunes.

Essentially Scholes in my view meets all 4 of my criteria of becoming a United legend that go beyond just being the obviously great player that Rooney was.

He's probably the closest to being a United legend without actually being one in my viewthough, so it isn't cut and dry.
 
Absolutely he's a legend. All time top scorer for us and England thats two huge feats in themselves. 5 Premier Leagues, 1 FA Cup, 3 League Cups, 1 Champions League, 1 Uefa Cup.

Thank you for all you did Wayne over the years and I wish you the very best of luck in the future.
 
It's kinda pointless to be annoyed at people refusing to accept him as a legend. He is one, everyone who matters knows he is one, and posterity will record him as one, if it doesn't already. A few personally denying it doesn't have any chance of changing that. They're basically shouting at the sea.
 
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