5 reasons Manchester United should axe Jose Mourinho immediately

2. He hasn’t solved the Rooney problem

When Mourinho took the job at Old Trafford, many expected that he would provide immediate clarity on Wayne Rooney’s status at the club. In truth, I believed Mourinho would make the difficult choice to freeze the captain out of the squad for good.

Instead, Mourinho has squarely straddled the fence when it comes to Rooney’s status. Despite claiming that Rooney is only a striker, he’s played him all over the pitch. He’s only started twice at centre forward this season. Most of his playing time has come as an attacking midfielder.

I acknowledge that’s probably Rooney’s best position at the moment. It does not, however, mean that he plays it well enough to deserve inclusion in the squad. He just isn’t a good enough player to merit regular playing time in the Premier League at this point in his career.

When you hire a manager like Jose Mourinho, some of the benefit is his ruthless nature. He’s supposed to be willing to make tough decisions that other managers don’t have the nerve to make. Mourinho has failed to do so with Wayne Rooney. United are no closer to resolving his status than they were the day The Special One arrived.