Rooney is IMO a better player than Cantona ever was.

Picking one over the other is tantemount to knocking the unchosen one, so I refrain from picking one or the other.

Trotter Fan In Peace.

I'm a big admirer of BOTH players and think comparison is a little bit difficult as they played in somewhat different positions/roles in different eras.

However for my money Cantona JUST edges it at the moment. His sheer ability to change a game with a single moment of breathtakingly arrogant brilliance was amazing while the influence he had on any team, he played for was astonishing to behold. Remember he won the top division twice on the trot with different teams (Leeds then you guys) He carried that Leeds team on his back for much of the season (they were good but not top of the prem good without him. With him they were awesome.) He was absolutley essential to your team as well. Remember what happened in the aftermath of the kung fu incident?

Cantona could and did lift everyone around him, transforming good and very good teams into absolutely top class ones. IMO he was the most worthy wearer of the famous red seven since george bestand no one, not even beckham has surpassed his value to the team as a whole.

That said Rooney is still only in his mid twenties and is rapidly becoming a Legend in his own right. (I'm not a fan of people saying a player's a legend 'cos he had one good season. I rate legends on consistency over a number of years and Rooney's done that so far)

The true test for Rooney in my opinion is just starting. He's no longer the wonderkid but an expereinced senior player and it's HIS turn to show the real kids how to do it and to lead by example. Cantona and Rooney both had and Wayne still has a sometimes suspect temprament. Cantona did learn to control his as he got a bit older and I suspect Rooney will do the same but in both cases they are world class players who can lift a whole team just by being on the pitch. What I don't know about Rooney YET is if he can bear that burden consistently in the way Cantona did. If he shows he can then I would say he'll be more important to Man Utd than even Eric was in his pomp and that his value to England will become even greater than Becks in his prime. He definitely has the potential to do that but I think iot's important to remember that despite how long he's been around he's still only what twenty five or six? and has at least another five years at the very peak to go with maybe as many as ten before he has to think in terms of hanging them up.

So right now it's Eric. Just. In two or three years it could and probably should be Wayne.

No offence is meant to those who disagree with me. It's simply how I see it. Either player frankly would grace any team they played in and only an idiot would suggest that they wouldn't want a Cantona or Rooney in THEIR shirt.

I have to say, I agree with those above who have remarked that supporters of a team that recently went down 8-2 to a Rooney-inspired United might show a bit more humility (as well as originality). I'm sure there are plenty of jesters of equal sophistication annoying rival fans in the name of our club - but that's no excuse.

Anyway, Rooney or Cantona? It's quite a difficult question.

For fans of my age, whose childhoods coincided with the mediocrities of the 80s, Cantona will always be special: the man who not only led United back into the promised land, but did so with such swagger and beauty. He was without doubt the most important player in the first great Fergie United team - especially in the first three of the four league titles he won under Fergie. He can therefore take some credit for the success that followed on from this (see also his influence on the Scholes / Beckham / Neville generation, who came of age watching him train and noting his dedication to technical perfection).

Rooney has already played his part in a similar number of successful campaigns as Cantona: four league titles, no FA Cups but much more to talk about in European football. He is not as sublimely skilled as Cantona but he's an even more passionate player and a more powerful athlete. He is now acknowledged as the most important attacking player in the team and I'd say he has a similarly electrifying effect on his team-mates. It's fair to say that there were other players who contributed equally to a the titles he has won - Ronaldo from 2006 to 2009, and the likes of Nani, Berbatov and Hernandez last year during the periods when he was struggling for form.

Perhaps this is the crucial point. Rooney has emerged within an already very talented team of winners, whereas Cantona seized a talented team and turned them into winners. So Cantona has to be ahead at this point. But Rooney is younger than Cantona was when he joined the club. He could still do a lot more, and he's only recently graduated to the status of effective team leader.

Spring Heeled Jack - Sehri Crew (U8851)
Rooney looks like Shrek mate,so just get over it

Comment deleted by Article Creator

Captain_Positivity (U2394)
be gone with u,u ugly WUM.

Shrek (the fictitious ogre) is green in colour rooney isn't also he doesn't have ears or a nose like him.

I think your colour blind also a trip to specsavers won't do you any harm

What is the reason for the collar paucity in contemporary kit-making? No collar, no Cantona.

Spring Heeled Jack - Sehri Crew (U8851)
actually Rooney is more Ugly than Shrek