It’s impossible to shake the feeling that Rooney is being used a midfielder not because of his excellence in the role, but because he no longer commands a regular starting berth as a forward. The rise of Martial and emergence of Marcus Rashford have both comfortably overshadowed Rooney’s efforts in leading the line.
This season, Rooney has scored a league goal for every 331.4 minutes played; that’s exactly the same as Rudy Gestede. It’s also worse than the following list of players eligible for Roy Hodgson’s England squad: Duncan Watmore, Raheem Sterling, Aaron Lennon, Andros Townsend, Theo Walcott, Glenn Murray, Connor Wickham, Dwight Gayle, Troy Deeney, Dele Alli, Nathan Dyer, Benik Afobe, Rashford, Jermain Defoe, Andy Carroll, Danny Welbeck, Callum Wilson, Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge. (Football365)