Wayne Rooney is about to play his 100th game for England. He is approaching 550 matches in his club career. And yet for much of that time, there has been a debate about where to play him. He has the attributes that enable him to play in different positions. Here are five possibilities for his managers to consider:
The midfield general
It was a controversial move when Sir Alex Ferguson dropped Rooney into midfield against Stoke and Aston Villa at the end of the 2012-13 season. It attracted rather less comment when Louis van Gaal adopted a similar policy when his captain returned from suspension this month.
A scatter chart of Rooney's performance in the middle of the pitch against Palace (he ended up on the left after Adnan Januzaj came off, but this graphic only shows the time when the Belgian was still on the pitch) is notable for several factors.
Firstly, he only touched the ball in one penalty box: his own. Secondly, while a forward used in midfield often tends to be quite attack-minded, Rooney took the other approach. Van Gaal said he thought the Merseysider, like Marouane Fellaini, had played too deep.
Another notable element is that Rooney was on the left of a central triangle, with Michael Carrick offering protection as the anchor midfielder. In his younger days, Rooney almost appeared a frustrated left-back, so often was he seen covering in Patrice Evra's position, and those traits remain; he is sometimes found in positions where Luke Shaw might occupy.
Using Rooney in midfield is a way of getting him more involved in the game. He had 100 touches against Palace and attempted 82 passes, both figures that were second only to Carrick, and his willingness to spray long balls has prompted suggestions he could prove Paul Scholes' long-term successor. What it takes away from his game, it seems, is the goal threat.
The left winger
Rooney has started a Champions League final (in 2009 against Barcelona) on the left wing. It came at a time when Terry Venables suggested he could be the world's best in that position. More practically, he was used there when he and Cristiano Ronaldo had swapped roles, winger becoming striker and vice versa. Partly it was because Rooney could be trusted to track back more often. In recent years, he has rarely been used on the flanks. Ferguson selected him on the right against Real Madrid in 2013 but, come the second leg of their Champions League tie, he was on the bench.
But in the past five years, as he has been less dynamic, he has tended to be used more in the middle. An exception was England's World Cup opener against Italy. Rooney was moved to the left to accommodate Raheem Sterling as a No.10. That seemed a consequence of the teenager's success in that role for Liverpool, though England manager Roy Hodgson suggested it was partly to stop Andrea Pirlo (something Rooney singularly failed to do in Euro 2012, and which was negated when the Italian adopted a more advanced role anyway).
As Rooney's touch map indicates, he is far from a touchline-hugging winger. Instead, he tends to roam infield, and not just out of a right footer's fondness to cut in and shoot, which he did three times. Most tellingly, he provided Daniel Sturridge's goal with a cross from the left. It showed he offers an option on the left, though there is no pretence it is his best position anymore.
The No. 10
Rooney is often seen as a No. 10, and not just because it is the number he wears for club and country. He often plays behind a main striker, acting as a bridge between midfield and attack. It is there he looks to find space and influence games.
Ferguson's template for much of his reign, particularly in his latter years, tended to be to play 4-4-1-1, and one of Rooney's finest displays in that shape came in the 2012 derby win against Manchester City. His touch map from that day shows the zone where he did much of his work -- broadly, between the lines -- but his effectiveness came partly because of his pace. He twice arrived in the City box to finish off counter-attacking moves that followed crosses -- the first from Ashley Young, the second from Rafael da Silva -- and was very much part of Ferguson's game plan against top teams for years.
There is an issue with using Rooney as a No. 10, however, which is explored in greater depth here. In theory, a combination of two central midfielders and Rooney as a No.10 offers the option of a third man in the centre of the pitch, to prevent his side from being outnumbered. In practice, there are plenty of examples where it doesn't work. Rooney is rarely accused of a lack of effort but, in such a pivotal role, he is not always tactically disciplined enough.
The No. 9
Rooney's finest-ever season was 2009-10. It was the year after Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez left, before Javier Hernandez and Robin van Persie arrived, and a campaign when Dimitar Berbatov spent some time on the bench, especially in the biggest matches.
It meant Rooney often operated alone up front. It was a task he relished as he scored 34 times before being injured against Bayern Munich in March. He had the competitive element to take on an entire defence, the ruthless finishing and, perhaps crucially, the pace he no longer possesses. Intriguingly, when Jose Mourinho attempted to sign him for Chelsea in the summer of 2013, it was presumably to be the spearhead of a 4-2-3-1 formation.
It isn't a role he has filled often since then, but at the end of last season, with Van Persie injured and either Juan Mata operating behind him as a No. 10, it was one he filled for David Moyes. His success as such tended to come against lesser sides. Rooney's performance in Moyes' final game, against their former club Everton in April, indicated his limitations as a lone forward now. In particular, his willingness to look for the ball means he drops off rather than playing on the last defender, as his touch map proves. In short, he plays as Wayne Rooney, not as a No. 9.
Half of a strike duo
There have been comparatively few times in Rooney's career when he has played in a strike partnership when a No. 10 has also been in the same side. Some have come this season, with England playing Sterling at the tip of a midfield diamond in a 4-4-2, and when Van Gaal began the campaign with a 3-4-1-2 formation, where Mata started behind Rooney and Van Persie.
What it ought to mean, therefore, is that Rooney has less of a need to retreat into midfield. His wanderlust is apparent, however, in his touch map from August's draw at Sunderland, which showed he roamed to the flanks instead, which was also a consequence of a system without wingers. Van Gaal used inverted strikers -- the right-footed Rooney to the left of the left-footed Van Persie -- but, typically, the Englishman was on the ball more than the Dutchman. But the move for Radamel Falcao, and Van Gaal's recent admission that he is struggling to find a shape that allows him to pick two out-and-out strikers, means Rooney is less likely to be used immediately alongside a fellow forward.