Is it in Mourinho's Best Interest to Persevere with Rooney?

Early into Manchester United’s first game of the season against Bournemouth, there was a moment that looks set to drive much of the discussion for Jose Mourinho’s opening campaign. Zlatan Ibrahimovic dropped back from centre-forward to number-10, clearly expecting Wayne Rooney to bomb on ahead of him, in that way that has proven so effective in so many of the Swede’s other teams. Except, this time, the United captain stayed put. Rooney didn’t move, and just congested the attack, slowing it down. That wasn’t the first or last time. 

It’s just that, later in the same game, Rooney provided another moment that is sure to prolong that discussion for pretty much all of the season. 

He scored. He provided a moment of ultimate effectiveness to cover a match of general ineffectiveness. He just about ended up justifying his place in the team. It has actually happened in all three games so far. Rooney has been fairly subdued, only to then supply a match-changing moment. Against Southampton, it was a supremely delivered cross for Ibrahimovic. Against Hull City, it was a divine threaded pass for Marcus Rashford to hit a stoppage-time winner. 

It wouldn’t be completely unfair to point out that there are considerable caveats to each of these. For the Bournemouth goal, it was a near tap-in of a header. For the Southampton cross, Ibrahimovic still had a lot to do, and did it excellently. For the Hull pass, an exhausted Ahmed Elmohamady jadedly let Rooney shrug his way past him, opening up a tranche of space to pick out Rashford. 

It wouldn’t be completely unreasonable, though, to say that Rooney still exploited those caveats. He produced. He offered the moments. That’s what Mourinho was arguing after the game, when asked about his captain’s general performance, and whether he would drop him. 

“I can take him out. No problem for me to take him out. No problem for him to be out. But I was just reading the game and feeling that, playing with two strikers Marcus and Zlatan, I needed [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan and Rooney just inside because the full-backs were the ones that were playing really wide on the line… I know that [Rooney] is a guy with a vision for an assist with a feeling for the goal that he could be perfectly important like he was.” 

There is a developing deeper question here, though, that almost grows into a circular argument. Would United so need such moments from Rooney, if he wasn’t on the pitch? Would they be more fluid without him, or would it be only then that they realise that he really does do damage to opposition that is under-appreciated? 

There have been many passages of play this season where, for the first time since the 2012/13 season and Robin van Persie playing at his peak, it has been very easy to see a United attack without Rooney. He has often seemed a little marginal, with his only contributions being predictable passes that slow play down. It so often seems contrary to Mourinho’s usual ideal of lightning rapid counter-attacks 

At the same time, he has perhaps allowed United to maintain the kind of “control” that the Portuguese likes, since his pass success rate is 87.5%. That is Rooney’s best in the last eight seasons, while they have added up to 2.7 key balls per game, among the finest in the league. 

He has created just one clear-cut chance, mind, while Rooney has missed the second most clear-cut chances himself on two. But then perseverance is probably the key. The wonder remains whether he is worth persevering with in all. It does sometimes feel that playing all of Ibrahimovic, Rooney and Juan Mata together at once slows the team down that bit too much, and the real change in the game against Hull City was when Mkhitaryan and Rashford came on. So far, though, Mourinho has given no indication he thinks Rooney shouldn’t be a regular starter. 

That is telling in itself because the Portuguese tends to be more utterly ruthless than almost any other manager when it comes to discarding legends no longer doing the same job. You only have to look at Iker Casillas, Frank Lampard and even John Terry last season. 

If it’s a case of what have you done for me lately, however, Rooney has those three big moments to point to.

Would it be in Mourinho and United's best interest to continue with Rooney in the starting XI? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below