OF all the managerial dilemmas facing Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho after three successive defeats, the future of his captain Wayne Rooney is by far the most pressing.

    The England captain, deployed in a central midfield role this season, has been a peripheral figure in a team struggling to gel and his lackluster performance in the 1-3 defeat at Watford on Sunday led to widespread calls for him to be dropped. Rooney mustered one shot, did not play a single through ball and created only two chances for teammates.

    His defensive contribution was also negligible, failing to make a single tackle and registering one block and one interception in a tetchy 90 minutes during which his main priority appeared to be engaging in a constant dialogue with referee Michael Oliver.

    “Alex Ferguson knew it more than three years ago ... Wayne Rooney is no longer worth a place in the Manchester United team,” veteran United watcher Jim White wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

    Mourinho has never been afraid to make tough decisions during his trophy-laden managerial career and he faces a huge one on the 30-year-old Rooney, who is four goals short of overtaking Bobby Charlton as the club’s all-time leading scorer.

    Rooney has been a key part of United’s attack since scoring a brilliant hat trick against Fenerbahce on his debut for the Old Trafford club 12 years ago after arriving from Everton.

    Ex-boss Louis van Gaal played him in midfield towards the end of last season and he filled that position with negligible impact for England in this year’s dismal Euro 2016 campaign.

    (SD-Agencies)