Discover Jose Mourinho’s diabolical plan for Wayne Rooney at Manchester United

Jose Mourinho gave Wayne Rooney just enough rope to hang himself

Don’t think for a moment that Jose Mourinho is surprised by Wayne Rooney’s fall from grace at Manchester United. It was all part of The Special One’s diabolical plan for his English captain.

Mourinho knew when he took the job at United that he wasn’t going to be permitted to immediately cast Rooney off to the side. He’s simply meant too much to the club and the fans at Old Trafford over the years.

Immediately banishing him from the starting XI would have stoked concerns about Mourinho’s lack of concern for tradition and propriety. He couldn’t afford that to happen to early in his tenure.

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He also knew that he couldn’t afford to let the issue of Rooney linger for an entire season. Pulling him in and out of the starting lineup could have allowed him to dominate the headlines for the entire Premier League campaign.

Instead, Mourinho elected to take the only course of action that would satisfy both concerns. He needed to appear sensitive to the tradition of Manchester United, while also making sure he could maximize results on the pitch over the course of the year. By starting Rooney consistently to begin the year, he’s been able to achieve both goals.

Simply put, Mourinho’s plan was to play Rooney enough times in a row to have his play suffer. At 30-years-old, the venerable attacking talent can still play high-quality matches upon occasion. What he can’t do, is play at a high level over an extended period of time.

His new manager was keenly aware of that fact. That’s why he started Rooney for so many matches in a row to begin the year. He knew that Rooney might play well at first, but that his performance would soon fade. That reality suited Mourinho’s wishes perfectly.

Now that Rooney’s performance on the pitch has unquestionably declined right before our very eyes, only the most ardent United loyalist can criticize the manager for taking him out of the starting XI. Anyone with a shred of rational thought can see that Rooney isn’t up to the task. Now Mourinho can put off the vibe that he’s reluctantly taking the aging legend out of his lineup.

That shields him from a veritable maelstrom of media criticism. Very few would dare call him out for removing Rooney from the lineup now. He also won’t face pressure to reintegrate him into the squad as the season progresses.

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After all, Mourinho can just point to how he struggled over the last few matches as an explanation for leaving him out. His case for dropping Rooney gets even strong if some of his replacements like Henrikh Mkhitaryan start to play well in his absence.

Jose Mourinho can be accused of a lot of things, but making soft, emotional decisions isn’t one of his faults. He certainly isn’t guilty of that when it comes to Wayne Rooney. He gave the England legend just enough rope to hang his Manchester United career.