The ‘Wayne Rooney as a midfielder’ experiment is dead.
Having established himself as one of the top strikers in the Premier League, the England and Manchester United captain has taken a prolonged dip in form over the past few years.
Rooney burst onto the scene as a teenager, but he appears to have slowed down as of late as the pace that set him apart as a youngster appears to have deserted him.
But rather than drop someone of his pedigree, Rooney’s coaches have recently taken the decision to drop the 30-year-old deeper on the pitch to get him more involved in the action.
Under Louis van Gaal, this meant dropping him from the lead striker to a more supporting role, but at Euro 2016 Roy Hodgson threw away all pretence of Rooney playing up front by naming him in midfield.
Some were impressed by Rooney’s early performances in the middle of the park, but it quickly became apparent that once the Manchester United man was pressured by the opposition he did not have the discipline or the know-how to fulfil the role.
And United fans might be happy to hear that the experiment has reached its conclusion, with new boss Jose Mourinho confirming during his official unveiling on Tuesday that he will not be deploying the current United captain as anything other than a forward.
Jose Mourinho on Wayne Rooney: "He will never play 50 metres away from the goal. He will be a 9, 10, 9.5, not a 6 or an 8." #mufc
— John Sinnott (@JohnSinnott) July 5, 2016
We think we can officially put that one down as a failure now.
