Manchester United news: Jose Mourinho warns Wayne Rooney he has a battle to get back in starting XI
JOSE MOURINHO warned Wayne Rooney he faces a big fight to get back into the Manchester United team.
Rooney, 30, was axed for United’s thumping of Premier League champs Leicester, but he did come on as an 83rd-minute substitute for Marcus Rashford.
It was the first time the Portuguese had left Roo out. But United’s chief says the hitman remains captain — even if he is not picked to play.
Mourinho said: “My captain is my captain, if he is on the pitch or if he is at home.
“Sometimes I feel like you think I know nothing about football, but I know the rules of the game and can only play 11.
“So until they change the rules, I start with 11.”
Mourinho claims Rooney’s form tailed off after he was slammed by England fans following his performance in the 1-0 win over Slovakia in a World Cup qualifier this month.
And Mourinho admitted he dropped Rooney because he is too slow to play alongside Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
He added: “When our main striker is Zlatan, we need fast people around him. Against Leicester that was the best solution for us.”
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Mourinho slaughtered his players after the 2-1 defeat in the Manchester derby earlier this month and hammered Luke Shaw after the shock 3-1 loss at Watford last Sunday.
But after United scored four goals in a Premier League game for the first time since April 2015, Mourinho insisted: “The reality is that I was the one with the aggressive approach.
“But I want to compete for a title because Manchester United demands this.
“It is not because I thought it would be easy. I could have been more defensive. But I don’t regret this.
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“We have to think this way. Of course there is a process.
“I am always positive. We worked so much and so well that my expectations are always high.
“I always think that the team is going to play very well.
“Some guys adapt quickly. Eric Bailly comes from a different competition, a different dimension of club, an African player and he is not experienced at this level.
“He looks very comfortable at such a big club. Other guys it is different for them.
“Louis van Gaal and I have different ideas so there is a contradiction between what I want.
“There is also the factor in the recent past that they were not successful, they know the expectation.”
Mourinho also appeared to have another dig at Shaw and Henrikh Mkhitaryan by claiming they were “not injured injured”, with both players missing from the matchday squad.
Following Mourinho’s criticism, the players responded with one of the best performances by a United side since Sir Alex Ferguson won their last Premier League title in 2013.
United, who had lost three of their last four games, looked a different proposition without Rooney in the side.
Chris Smalling was named captain in place of Rooney. And, after he put United ahead with a 22nd-minute header, they destroyed Leicester.
Juan Mata scored a belter from the edge of the area, Marcus Rashford nabbed his fourth goal of the season and Paul Pogba netted for the first time in United colours — all before half-time.
Mourinho added: “The result was because we started very well and we did not stop until we closed the game out.
“When another team plays well, it is easier to have good individual performances.
“I am always positive — we worked so much.
“I know that we scored three goals from corners which is not normal but the intensity, the pressure, the control, and the reaction every time we lost the ball is normal for us.
“Zlatan played so well with his organisation and the kids, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford, were fast and aggressive.
“We all want more. The last thing the team achieves is consistency. The process starts with us playing well in spaces and the last thing that you achieve is to be more consistent like the team.
“Pogba and Ander Herrera were both good together.”