Jose Mourinho under pressure to drop struggling Rooney as Man United look to halt run of defeats when they face Northampton Town today
Wayne Rooney needs only four goals to surpass Bobby Charlton's Manchester United scoring record of 249 goals. Pic/Getty Images
London: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is under pressure to drop Wayne Rooney, with the captain’s clanking performances emblematic of the team’s struggles as they prepare to face Northampton Town in English League Cup today.
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United have lost their last three matches and there is clamour among supporters and journalists for Rooney to be removed from the XI.
Fans call for Rooney axe
In an online poll by the United fanzine Red Issue, over 99 percent of respondents called for him to be axed.
Jose Mourinho
"Where do you want Wayne Rooney to play? Or should he be playing at all?" former England captain Alan Shearer wrote in The Sun after United’s 3-1 defeat at Watford on Saturday.
"Not on yesterday’s performance, it is fair to say." Despite United winning their first three league games, Rooney’s lacklustre displays meant his place was already under scrutiny.
With United having since lost to Manchester City, Feyenoord, in the Europa League, and Watford, the calls for him to be dropped are getting louder.
Mourinho, whose side host Leicester City on Saturday, has said he would have no qualms about dropping Rooney. "I can take him out. There is no problem for me to take him out," Mourinho said following United’s last-gasp 1-0 win at Hull City last month.
Pogba stifled
As has been the case for much of his career, debate continues to rage about Rooney’s best position. Rooney was deployed in midfield by Roy Hodgson during England’s Euro campaign. But Mourinho appeared to nix the debate prior to the season.
Yet in the loss at Watford, Rooney started the game in a midfield with Paul Pogba. Once again he looked off the pace, even after moving into a number 10 role behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the second half.
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