It was the main debate that dominated the headlines in the build up to England’s doomed Euro 2016 campaign, and the saga continues to rumble on just a couple of months into Jose Mourinho’s tenure at Manchester United: where, if at all, does Wayne Rooney play?
The 30-year-old has come under intense scrutiny from pundits and faced a backlash from fans on social media following his performance against Watford at the weekend – the latest in a long list of below-par displays.
Deployed in a central midfield role by Roy Hodgson in France this summer, Rooney was at the heart of a team that scraped through the group stage before timidly exiting the competition at the hands of minnows Iceland.
It was a position that Mourinho’s predecessor Louis van Gaal had tested the waters with at United, but to no great effect, while the Portuguese appears to favour England’s record goalscorer in a role just behind the striker.
However, after a less than impressive start to the season, is it now time for the Old Trafford club to stop accommodating their captain? There is an abundance of quality in United’s midfield that is being stifled by Rooney’s presence in the team, but can the enigma be cracked?
Paul Pogba, 23
£89m
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, 27
£30m
Morgan Schneiderlin, 26
£27m
In Henrikh Mkhitaryan they have the Bundesliga Player of the Season. The Armenian ended his last campaign in Germany with 15 assists for Borussia Dortmund, yet was shunted to an unfamiliar right wing role for the derby defeat against Manchester City, where he was subsequently withdrawn at the interval.
Paul Pogba is yet to find his feet back at Old Trafford since his world record transfer from Juventus this summer, but his talent is undoubted. The Frenchman looks a subdued figure in midfield; unable to showcase his ferocious, penetrative style of play in this rigid United set-up.
Morgan Schneiderlin would provide the perfect shield for Mkhitaryan and Pogba to express their creative sides in a 4-3-3 formation and enable them to carve up the more stubborn defences.
Unfortunately, that leaves no place for Rooney in the starting line-up, but if United wish to be successful this season they may have to do it without their captain.
Perhaps it time for Mourinho to take a leaf out of Pep Guardiola’s book and clear out those players deemed as ‘dead wood’ or that simply no longer fit into the style of play required to achieve results.
SHOULD UNITED DROP ROONEY?
Does Wayne Rooney's presence in the Manchester United team stifle the creative players?
Article posted: 21 September 2016
WHY CITY CAN WIN THE QUAD
The speed in which the Manchester City players have adapted to Pep Guardiola's philosophy is incredible
15 September 2016
