Aston Villa v Manchester United: It's the Gab v Roon show

Gabriel Agbonlahor has been on a calm learning curve compared to Wayne Rooney, and like the Scouser he has an impressive goalscoring record for his youth team. But his talent wasn't as startlingly precocious as Rooney's and he wasn't unleashed until he was 19.

The Aston Villa man's debut in 2006 was, like Rooney's, also at Goodison – a crèche for endless young talent - and he scored, too. But Agbonlahor was on the wrong end of a 4-1 defeat.

Where the tabloids were frothing all over Rooney with superlatives after his molten debut, Agbonlahor wasn't seen as the saviour of England, and he flew under the radar compared to Roon-mania.

The Villa star's progress has been robust, and his pace lends itself to either the striker or winger role. This season, though, his returns haven't matched expectations - with a loss of form and seven goals from 30 games. Manager Martin O'Neill has been swift to defend his player, claiming that where the player used to be pure, distilled pace, he has now added other elements to his game - a better touch and burgeoning awareness.

Agbonlahor uses his obscene pace to shatter brittle, plate-glass defences. Like Rooney he can be hot-headed, but at 21 he has had lots of time to grow into his massive natural attributes - time that was neither afforded nor needed with Rooney, such was the level of his Krakatoan explosion onto the scene.

A miasma of whispers surrounded Rooney's first game - we'd all heard about the supposed bid from Roma when he was just 15, and his goals at youth level were unbelievable. But he had been simmering, and saved his best for the first team. Coming on for his debut against an unbeaten Arsenal at Goodison, Rooney picked up the ball from Thomas Gravesen, taking a quick glance back at his normal life before turning towards goal and a life of fame; lobbing the ball over David Seaman like a vandal's brick.

The story obviously didn't end there - he went on to sign for Manchester United and could possibly captain England against the US thanks to Fabio Capello's spin-the-bottle policy with the captain's armband.

There's something wrong with this story, though, - we jump from his wonder goal to his exploits at Old Trafford, airbrushing out some of his best moments. A lesser-mentioned part of Rooney's league debut against the Gunners was that a few minutes later he tried an even more audacious lob, this time from a more wide and benign-looking cul de sac - and with the outside of his boot missed by inches as Seaman’s bovine eyes bulged in fear.

Rooney's second goal came against Leeds two weeks later, this time showcasing his bullish speed and absolutely ruthless finishing. I could probably highlight every game he played that wonderful season - but another forgotten performance was against Bolton in 2002 at Goodison, which ended Rooney 0 Bolton 0. Throughout the game Rooney was a perpetual whirl of skill. Not like Cristiano Ronaldo when he first came to United; he was more effective than that - a hurricane tossing out rasping shot followed by breathtaking run followed by glorious pass.

Bolton were lucky to survive but when Rooney signed for United that player was lost - his trajectory isn't what everyone had predicted. Don't get me wrong, he is a wonderful player, and England's best. But he could have been better.

Will Agbonlahor one day overtake Rooney? It’s just like the race between the tortoise and the hare; and ironically the quicksilver Agbonlahor could yet be the better player.