I scored 34 goals in a season as Manchester United's No.9 - but I was awful

Often in football, the statistics don't tell the full story.

A quick glance at the career stats of Wayne Rooney will tell you his most prolific seasons at Manchester United came in 2009/10 and 2011/12, when he hit 34 goals in all competitions in both. United missed out on the Premier League title by a single point to Chelsea in 2010, yet Rooney walked away with the Players' Player and Fans' Player of the Year prizes at the PFA awards, as well as two more gongs at United's own end-of-season ceremony.

By 2010, Rooney had become the spearhead of Sir Alex Ferguson's side, filling the boots of Cristiano Ronaldo who had been sold to Real Madrid a year earlier. With Carlos Tevez also gone in a controversial move to Manchester City in 2009, one of the great United attacking triumvirates had been disbanded. Rooney was left to carry the can, usually playing in a central striking role supported by the likes of Antonio Valencia, Nani and a resurgent Ryan Giggs. Rooney scored goals galore.

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It wasn't a surprise that he flourished under the weight of responsibility. For a player so talented, so tenacious and usually so selfless - pressure was never a burden. But years later he revealed his dislike for the No.9 position despite how many goals it yielded.

Asked about the post-Ronaldo period in an interview with BT Sport, Rooney reflected: "Them two seasons (2008/09 and 2009/10) were the two seasons I played as a No.9 on my own. I played there in and out in different games but I played for the whole season in them two years. I actually didn't enjoy the