5 stars who have had a poor start to the 2016/17 season

4) Wayne Rooney – Manchester United

Rooney has been in decline for a while now

“Maybe he is not a no.9 anymore but he will never, with me, be a no.6. He will never be 50 metres from the goal.” – Jose Mourinho on Rooney during pre-season

It is safe to say that the first thing Mourinho did at Manchester United was to go back on his word. With Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial in the side, there was simply no place for Wayne Rooney in the forward line.

But Rooney has struggled to play in the midfield role, just as he has struggled in midfield with England. Even with expensive acquisitions such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata in the squad, Rooney was tasked with playing between the lines and it has stifled both Ibrahimovic and world record transfer Paul Pogba.

So when calls for him to be dropped came from even the staunchest of Rooney supporters, the axe finally fell. He was benched against Leicester City and the Red Devils’ attacks suddenly seemed increasingly fluent and lethal. The transitions were quick, the players’ movement had improved and four goals ended the contest within the first 45 minutes.

Rooney may be the club’s captain but he may now have to be satisfied with a bit-part role. He has been in decline for a couple of seasons now but will Mourinho be brave enough to drop a club legend for good? He has done it before with Raul, Iker Casillas and Frank Lampard.