Vardy’s record-breaking form highlights Rooney’s non-league form

Jamie Vardy is having a party. All the talk leading up to this game had been focused on one man: he used to be a non-league player didn’t you know etc.

The Leicester striker was coming into this game with the prospect of beating Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record against the team the former record-holder used to play for.

Manchester United’s chances in the game took a sharp turn for the worse before a ball was even kicked, as an injury to Marcos Rojo meant Van Gaal chose to revert to the ill-fated 3-5-2 system from last season.

A three at the back system can usually be exploited with runs in wide channels – perfect for a certain someone who has been scoring goals for fun by tireless running in the channels.

Indeed, Leicester’s first goal and Vardy’s record-breaking goal came from a quick counter-attack that involved a diagonal run from Vardy into space on the right flank. Ashley Young failed to track his run across the pitch and an early strike ensured David De Gea was beaten.

Amidst all the criticism about the playing style of the team, this was a particularly abject performance from United where they only ever looked threatening from set-pieces.

Leicester have made a habit of conceding from corners and it appears as if Van Gaal had worked on a routine to isolate United’s tall players against Leicester’s minnows. Just before half-time the corner routine worked as Bastian Schweinsteiger over-powered Shinji Okazaki to head the ball home.

Unfortunately and maybe predictably, that was where the excitement ended for United’s fans. The only positive moment for some fans in the second half was that Wayne Rooney was finally substituted after another woeful performance. While Van Gaal cited a slight injury to his captain after the game, he also referenced his lack of runs in behind the opposition defence.

https://twitter.com/Haugstad1006/status/670688247161466882

Zero shots on target, zero chances created, zero take-ons, zero crosses completed. He made six passes in the final third with a fifty per cent success rate. Rooney is becoming alarmingly consistent in delivering this level of contribution.

While everyone has been talking about Vardy’s incredible rise from non-league striker to Premier League sensation, it seems Rooney is on a one-way trip down the opposite route.