• Premier League

Rooney may never be as good as Shearer

Wayne Rooney made it 175 Premier League goals last Sunday © Getty Images

Enlarge

Wayne Rooney will overtake Thierry Henry as the Premier League's third highest scorer if he grabs a goal against Leicester on Sunday but he may never officially be as good a marksman as Alan Shearer.

He has a way to go to become the best scorer Manchester United have had in the Premier League era as well, with Andy Cole also above him in the all-time list.

United need to grow up

Eric Cantona brought a sense of entitlement worth even more than his goals © PA Photos

• Eric Cantona used to give Manchester United swagger but they are searching for authority now and, writes Simon Barnes, it's the season's compelling plot.
• Click here to keep reading

Rooney became the youngest player to reach the landmark feat of 175 goals in the league when he scored the third goal in his side's 4-0 win against Queens Park Rangers last Sunday, but Shearer's record is 260 goals and Cole got 187.

Time is not on his side. The England and United captain took 120 more matches than Henry to reach 175 goals, reaching the landmark in 378 games compared to the former Arsenal striker's 258.

At his current ratio of 0.46 goals per game, it would take Rooney another 186 matches to score the 86 goals required to topple Shearer.

That equates to four matches short of another five full Premier League seasons and, while he is targeting that and more, it is far from certain that Rooney has that long left at the top, despite having five years left to run on the £300,000-a-week contract he signed at United in February.

At United, Rooney averages 15.8 league goals per season, and has only really enjoyed two prolific campaigns where he broke the 20-goal barrier, in 2009-10 (26) and 2001-12 (27).

He has also failed to score more than 14 league goals in six of his 10 seasons at United.

By contrast, Shearer was a much more frequent scorer. He needed only 250 matches to score 175 Premier League goals with Southampton, Blackburn and Newcastle, and after the same amount of matches Rooney has played for Everton and United (378), Shearer had scored 243 times - 68 more than Rooney.

Premier League all-time top scorers

• Alan Shearer - 260 goals (441 matches)
• Andrew Cole - 187 (414)
• Wayne Rooney - 175 (378)
• Thierry Henry - 175 (278)
• Frank Lampard - 171 (578)

Fans may argue that Rooney is a different type of player and his willingness to muck in for the team and play in a range of positions - as he has done for United and England - must have hurt his scoring record.

He is also a year younger now than Shearer was when he reached 175 goals. Shearer retired at 35 and Rooney will celebrate only his 29th birthday next month but he faces the complication of a fight to keep his place as a central striker for United after Louis van Gaal's deadline day acquisition of Radamel Falcao.

Van Gaal has said United's captain will get preferential treatment when it comes to selecting his line-ups, but Rooney could be moved back into the No.10 role behind Falcao and Robin van Persie that he occupied when the Colombian came on for his debut against QPR.

It was Juan Mata who made way for Falcao, in what could prove to be a harbinger for the £37.1 million marquee signing of David Moyes' doomed reign. However, with eight goals in his last 10 Premier League games, Mata may prove difficult to drop for Van Gaal.

Sir Alex Ferguson, Rooney's former United manager, also previously suggested that Rooney could end up playing in a more orthodox central midfield position in his twilight years. Indeed, Ferguson's decision in his final season at Old Trafford to deploy Rooney in such a role on several occasions did not go down too well with him.

Louis van Gaal says Wayne Rooney may get preferential treatment when it comes to selecting his Manchester United line-ups © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Hernandez: United lost confidence in me
  
• News: Roma want £60m for United target Strootman
  
• News: Robben dives in to back Van Gaal
  
• Simon Barnes: United seek to rediscover Premier League authority and maturity
  
• News: Van Gaal: No United guarantees - except captain Rooney
  
• News: Van Gaal: Ronaldo return always possible
  

Rooney looked set to leave United last summer having fallen out with Ferguson and Chelsea had two bids turned down, but after eventually signing his new deal he explained how his unhappiness had arisen.

"Everyone at the club knew where I wanted to play and I think that's why I was disappointed," Rooney had said.

"I got told to play in midfield and I didn't want to. I just think there had to come a point when, for my own career, I had to be a bit selfish really. I actually felt when I played in midfield I did OK, but I didn't want to play there. I've had no problem in the past playing out of position. But I felt I deserved the right to play in my position and that wasn't happening."

For now, Rooney has been deployed in his more favoured forward positions by Van Gaal and could well overhaul Andy Cole this season as the Premier League's second-highest scorer. At his current scoring rate, Rooney would need another 28 matches to get the 13 goals required to overtake the former United striker.

But topping Shearer? Rooney may well have to make do with the sole comfort of becoming his club's record scorer, with Sir Bobby Charlton's haul of 249 goals in his sights.

Charlton is 31 goals ahead of Rooney, with Denis Law 19 in front. With two goals already in four games this season, Rooney could feasibly overhaul Law before May and Charlton within two seasons.

Not a bad record to own, mind, but earning the honour of being the most prolific marksman of all time in the Premier League is far from guaranteed for Rooney, whose best position for club and country is open to debate more than ever.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd