Former Manchester United utility man Quinton Fortune believes Wayne Rooney may be sacrificing his own form in order to make sure his team-mates perform like Roy Keane did in the past, as per Sky Sports.
The 30-year-old striker has struggled immensely in the Premier League this season as the Red Devils captain has scored just two league goals in total.
He has found it difficult playing in Louis van Gaal’s conservative system so far and the England skipper has been criticised heavily as a result.
Wayne Rooney has a shooting accuracy of 50% in the Premier League this season.
Many have called for him to be dropped while others believe moving him back into a central attacking midfield position will see a return to form. However, Van Gaal continues to ostracise Anthony Martial out wide and see Rooney struggle as a loan striker.
He has hit the target with just nine shots so far this season and Fortune – who won several Premier League titles at Old Trafford – believes that he might be sacrificing himself in order to make sure others are doing their jobs for the team.
“Now that he is the captain, the leader, I think Wayne is probably more concerned with making sure everyone else is doing their job,” said the 38-year-old. “It’s almost like sacrificing his own game to make sure the team wins.
“It’s not about him scoring anymore. He’s at a different time in his career where he’s got a few years behind him now. He’s got more of a sensible role now whereas before he used to do everything: tackle, defend, attack, score goals.
“He’s more experienced and more sensible about his game now. He’s still very clever in terms of his movement, but he’s playing a new role where he is probably not getting as many chances as he wants or scoring as many goals as he wants.
“But I played under Roy Keane and captains always sacrifice themselves and their own game to make sure the team wins. It’s best to judge him at the end of season by what we win and where we end up in the league.
“The responsibility of the captain is to make sure he leads the team. Of course we all want to see him score more goals but for me it looks like he’s sacrificing that for the team.”
In Wayne Rooney’s last five Premier League appearances, he has created just four chances.
Rooney broke England’s all-time goalscoring record earlier this season when he overtook Sir Bobby Charlton’s total of 49 goals.
He’s currently on 51 after scoring in their last match against France and is closing in on the same record at Old Trafford, but if his goal-shy antics continue, he won’t edge past the legendary Englishman.
