Rooney should be careful with Berbatov and Hernandez!

“It’s not an unusual situation where a striker goes a length of time without scoring and it's a confidence thing. I see it often - when they score they don't think they're going to miss and when they're not scoring they don't think they're ever going to score. It's a fact of life.”

Those were Sir Alex Ferguson’s words on the eve of the New Year, after a 12-month spell which had seen star striker Wayne Rooney score just once for the club since injuring himself in the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich – in March. 

Rooney did indeed get his goal, in the third minute of the 2-1 victory over West Brom. But two games on, the England striker has failed to add to his tally. 

Despite Rooney’s barren run, Ferguson has continued to show faith in his prize asset. But has this choice come to the detriment of fellow strikers Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez?

Scoring goals is as much about confidence as it is technique and ability – even the poorest of forwards have been known to go on striking sprees down the years. The golden rule is, when a sharpshooter is on form, play him.

This, however, has not been the case with Berbatov and Hernandez, and the table below makes for stark reading.

So while Rooney has a significant advantage in assists over both Berbatov and Hernandez, the Englishman trails his foreign team-mates in every other category. 

Much scrutiny has surrounded Berbatov in particular since his arrival at Old Trafford in 2008. Signed for £30.75 million from Tottenham, his first two seasons saw him contribute 37 goals in 106 games, a strike rate of 35%, while Rooney found the net at a rate of 56%, with a return on 64 goals in 113 appearances. 

This season however, Berbatov's goals have not only carried Manchester United to the top of the table, but overcome Rooney's lacklustre form.

Thus far, in 18 Premier League appearances - of which he has started 17 - Manchester United's No. 9 has hit 14 goals, a ratio of 77%.  Yet, rather astonishingly, Berbatov has been omitted from three matches, most surprisingly the home clash with Arsenal, when he was an unused substitute - on the back of netting five goals against Blackburn. It is hard to imagine Ferguson doing the same to Rooney on the back of a five-goal performance.

As for Hernandez, his smattering of appearances is somewhat acceptable, in what is the 22-year-old's debut season in England's top-flight. Nonetheless, in light on Rooney's misfiring - and injury-restricted - season, the Mexican can feel slightly aggrieved to have been handed only seven starts so far.

Hernandez has had 27 attempts on goal in the Premier League this season, and scored six times, a strike succes of a goal in every 4.5 efforts.

Berbatov, United's top goalscorer, has a shot success rating of one goal in every 4.2 attempts.

As for Rooney, two goals from 42 attempts produces an unispiring return of one goal from every 21 efforts. 

With an average of 3.5 attempts per game, Ferguson can expect Rooney's next league goal to occur away to Wolves, on February 6, in four games' time...

But which is the Premier partnership?

The stark truth for Manchester United is there isn't a sure-fire strike partnership to perm from their three forwards. 

On goalscoring exploits, Berbatov and Hernandez are clearly the front-runners, but having become so accustomed to battling each other for a spot - the pair know that Rooney remains their manager's first-choice - when they are selected together, it becomes something of a battle to impress. Thus far, there has not been a Premier League match in which both strikers have found the net. 

When considering a side's 'perfect' partnership, goals have to be taken into account, and as the leading goalscorer, Berbatov must feature. 

Alongside the Bulgarian, the common belief is that Rooney has supplied ample assists for his partner, but in the 3-2 victory over Liverpool - in which Berbatov scored a hat-trick - and the 7-1 victory over Blackburn, where he netted five, Rooney only contributed one assist.

However, so far this season, there has only been one match in which both Rooney and Berbatov have found the net. And even then, in the 3-0 victory over West Ham, the Englishman scored from the penalty spot.

Some might say that United have nothing to worry about, that they are unbeaten in the league, so if it ain't broke, why fix it? But the longer Rooney continues to struggle to find the net, the more the question will need to be addressed - just who makes up United's most dynamic duo?