Now people often will get confused when they see this title. Rooney vs. Iniesta? They play different positions, don't they? Answer is, that may be true, but in the end, they are both attacking midfielders. The only difference with Rooney is that he is experienced playing at CF, but is nevertheless an attacking-midfielder with the gift of racking in goals. And isn't the whole point of my Player Comparison to compare players with different playing styles? ;)

Remember guys, this is an opinionated post. What I think may not be what you think. You are free to criticize in the comments below, but just keep the feedback positive and the comments clean. Other than that, enjoy. ;)

Weak Foot

Rooney - 7/10

Iniesta - 7/10

I'd personally say that Wayne and Don
Andres are even in this category. Iniesta can launch fabulous long balls with
his left foot, and Wayne can take devastating long shots with his left. So in
all honesty, I find this one fair.

Speed

Rooney – 8.5/10

Iniesta – 8.5/10

Rooney, as a previously used striker,
has considerable speed built into his game, although it is not that important
in his playing style. Iniesta shows his true colors when he sprints down the
middle of the park with the ball, dribbling here and there, and topping it off
with a delicious pass.

Stamina

Rooney – 9/10

Iniesta – 7.5/10

Don Andres seems to get rather tired
as games lag on, and he doesn’t always perform as well at the end of the game
as he does in the beginning. Rooney, meanwhile, has unbelievable stamina. He
seems to be able to run endlessly, and works tirelessly as well.

Strength

Rooney – 8.5/10

Iniesta – 6.5/10

Rooney would deserve a 10/10 in this
area if we measured his strength in relevance to his height, but unfortunately
I can’t do that. That would mean that players such as Ibrahimovic, who is 7
inches taller than Wayne, would earn a 20/10 in this area. Therefore, compared
to the strength of players such as Puyol and Ibra, Wayne ranks himself as an
8.5 here. Iniesta isn’t a physical player, but he is able to ride challenges
pretty easily if he doesn’t get caught, but he is still considerably more
fragile than Lionel Messi when it comes to dodging oncoming defenders,

Ball Control & Dribbling

Rooney – 8.5/10

Iniesta – 9.5/10

No need to explain Andres Iniesta’s ranking here, but for Wayne, he might seem a bit overrated to some in this area, but we should not forget his terrorizing ability when it comes to dribbling, especially in his younger years when he set up that fabulous goal for Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Long Shots

Rooney – 9/10

Iniesta – 7/10

Iniesta isn’t completely lacking of ability here, as I would expect a player with as ridiculous ball control as him to easily put the ball in the back of the net from distance. And as proof, any Chelsea fans remember 2009? Wayne, on the other hand, is an exceptional distance shooter. His power and precision is top notch from distance.

Set Pieces

Rooney – 8/10

Iniesta – Unranked

I haven’t seen Iniesta score a free-kick, or take charge of one, to be honest. I prefer to leave him “unranked” here as giving him a mark when he has not been evaluated is unfair. We’ve seen Rooney take direct free-kicks before, and he is rather talented in this area, as he scored two against Arsenal in that famous 8-2 win.

Heading

Rooney – 8/10

Iniesta – 5/10

Now here I can’t leave Iniesta unranked. Heading is an important part of the game, even for central midfielders. If Iniesta doesn’t head the ball during games, there’s nothing I can do but give him a five in this section. And for all those who are wondering, when it comes to skill, the lowest I’d give a player is a 5. As for Wayne, he’s headed the ball plenty of times, and is a great header of the ball.

Finishing

Rooney – 9/10

Iniesta – 7.5/10

Iniesta doesn’t get many chances, as he is busy setting up Leo, but he does not hesitate if he does get a chance. He usually is able to calmly and coolly slot the ball in the back of the net, as he did against Chelsea last season. And with Rooney’s experience in front of goal, you’d expect him to have a 9 in this section.

Passing, Crossing, & Vision

Rooney – 8.5/10

Iniesta – 10/10

Nothing I can do about Iniesta here but give him a 10. Rooney is a fantastic play-maker in his own right, but that is not his major role at United, so he isn’t the “Xavi” type of player to continuously feed the strikers with passes. Wayne has the responsibility to finish the chances more than to create them.

Consistency

Rooney – 8.5/10

Iniesta – 9,5.10

Attitude

Rooney – 7/10

Iniesta – 9.5/10

Work Rate

Rooney – 9.5/10

Iniesta – 8.5/10

Contribution to team

Rooney – 9.5/10

Iniesta – 9.5/10

I hope you don’t have any arguments with these ones. I hope you enjoyed it guys! ~Cheers

In total,

Wayne Rooney - 118.5/140 (85%)
Andres Iniesta - 105.5/130 (81%)

Ah shit it got messed up. Could an admin please fix it? Thanks in advance. >.<

good comparison. Id have to say they are pretty even, tbh. why people think rooney is over rated is beyond me. he can defend pretty well, too. Not much to disagree on here. 

^ True.. like Ibrahimovic wazza can defend pretty well... Iniesta can't. But thats what we have Puyol and Pique for :)

Anywho, I agree with devilz... they are even.

You just cant compare this 2 players.
a midfielder with an attacking midfielder/Forward..
Anyway,nice job..

great one ! :)
in attitude , iniesta deserves 10/10 :)
in heading , rooney deserves more ! 9/10 for example ! he's a great header indeed :)

gotta go 4 ineiesta

Bahh! That picture of Ineista >:(! Worst moment for any Chelsea fan... Ignoring that (or trying to ignore it), great comparison Dynastian. Rooney has my vote.

Iniesta dribling 120/10 :D but Rooney is also a great player. they have the ability to score in big moments sometimes mental is the most important thing.

iniesta tearing defence into pieces: 100/10 Rooney:8/10.

yaya toure may have 80/10 for this.

Barca: Xavi 100/10 at read&control the game by passing, 100/10 at key pass, Iniesta 80/10 at key pass, 100/10 at tearing defence face-to-face, Busquets 100/10 giving the ball to Xavi&Iniesta at the best time.

This is why they were invincible. if u still think rooney is as good as any of them, go watch how barca plays agst united in 2011 final like bully a U20 team.

Thats all.

Rooney is good but he is nowhere near to Iniesta's level

Iniesta. I don't see much of Rooney this season.