Wayne Rooney didn't play well for Manchester United tonight. One look at twitter would tell you that immediately if you did not know it for yourself, but just how bad was he?
One stat in particular is doing the rounds, and although it certainly does make for grim reading for Man United fans, there wasn't much Rooney could have done about it.
Wayne Rooney touched the ball 40 times tonight - only David de Gea had less for #MUFC.
Is he still good enough? pic.twitter.com/kwJkUh2lPb
— BBC 5 live Sport (@5liveSport) October 21, 2015
Now, Rooney was isolated for the vast majority of that match, often with two or three CSKA defenders around him at all times, but clearly something has to change in the system if Rooney is to get back to any sort of form.
As usual, the knives were sharpened and Rooney took some awful stick on twitter:
Wayne Rooney is shit end of
— Ben (@Ben_Mckeown_) October 21, 2015
@btsportfootball Or Rooney's just really fucking shite no matter who is around him. Why is that so hard to admit?
— SEUN (@Dan_Onas) October 21, 2015
I just Pray Rooney's breaks Sir Bobby's United record this season itself.Why? So that he leaves soon after that! Piss poor for too long
— Brendon D'Schouza (@brendonmata8) October 21, 2015
if Rooney starts against city we've lost
— mata (@matafanok) October 21, 2015
Rooney is so goood................ at hiding behind defenders #mufc
— daley blind (@jwaweruh) October 21, 2015
Paul Scholes had a very simple explanation for Rooney's underwhelming performances:
"@WayneRooney needs pace around him like I did!" Scholes believes the striker is suffering due to @ManUtd's attack. https://t.co/iG5HxqmkNI
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) October 21, 2015
And sure enough, the former professional footballer has a point as opposed to the buckos on twitter. Many times Rooney was guarded by two or three CSKA defenders as there was no other United player anywhere near him.
One thing is for certain, whether it is a system issue or with Rooney himself, the way things are going for Manchester United's captain will have to change if the club want to compete.
