Thursday 23 February 2017 18:16, UK
Wayne Rooney has pledged his future to Manchester United amid speculation linking him with a move to China. The 31-year-old has plenty of critics, but the stats suggest he still has an important role to play at Old Trafford...
The headline numbers do not make good reading. Rooney may hold the United and England goal records but he has only found the net five times across all competitions this term and scored just once from open play in the past three months.
United's win percentage with and without Rooney in the team doesn't reflect well on the 31-year-old, either. Mourinho's side have won 75 per cent of their games when he hasn't played and 59 per cent when he has - albeit some were late appearances as a sub.
But do Rooney's personal stats actually reveal a player in decline - or one in transition? There is evidence to suggest Rooney has shifted from goal-scorer to goal-provider and still has plenty to offer in that department.
For instance, no player to have played more than 600 minutes in the Premier League this season has recorded assists more frequently, with Rooney setting up a team-mate, on average, once every two games.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has particularly been a benefactor, with five - 20.8 per cent - of his 24 goals across all competitions coming from Rooney assists. No player has teed the Swede up more.
Rooney's frequency of creating clear-cut opportunities for his team-mates is up, too, while his passes into the final third are also on the rise.
Contrast that with a decline in how often he shoots, compared to his United colleagues, and a drop-off in goals scored inside the box, and a picture emerges of a player dropping back from his previously more advanced position to a deeper, creator role.
Rooney's touch map from the past three seasons illustrates his play is now more focused between the halfway line and opposition penalty box, rather than the all-action approach of the past.
In fact, he's making fewer touches in the opposition box this season per 90 minutes than attacking midfielders Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Rooney made the positional switch to central midfield under Louis van Gaal and was utilised in that role by England boss Roy Hodgson at Euro 2016.
Mourinho was adamant when he joined United that Rooney would not play "as a number 6" under him but he has continued to take up creative, rather than goal-scoring, positions.
As a result, comparing Rooney's goal numbers this season with those of previous campaigns is not comparing like for like. As he pledges his future to the club, it's his contributions from other areas which really matter.
