I can't make my mind up on Rooney now. More of me is expecting him to be left out of the squad entirely and not be allowed in the stadium on the day if the drinking thing is true. Mourinho seems like the kind of guy who would do this, like Fergie would have. England team reporting a minor knee injury gives us the excuse we need to cover it up. Bad timing, as for the first time in a while I was looking forward to Rooney being fresh and starting against Arsenal as his record against them is decent too.
I'm hopeful that Valencia is fit to start as I'd prefer him over Darmian. I'd also like Shaw to start, but if the fall-out with Jose is true then the entire back four is possibly second choice (depending on how you feel about Blind/Shaw). Darmian, Jones, Rojo, Blind is probably the most likely case, but Valencia and Shaw in for Darmian and Rojo would be my preference. Carrick, Herrera, and Pogba is pretty much set in stone, with Rashford up front if Rooney isn't available. Wide positions are 2/3 from Lingard, Martial, and Mata. Lingard is probably the most likely just to add a little more in terms of being able to track back with a bit of pace.
Need to win the next three games for sure, and obviously the West Ham League Cup game if we want to keep the most realistic chance at a trophy.
Worst case scenario team:
de Gea
Darmian Jones Rojo Blind
Carrick
Herrera Pogba
Mata Rashford Lingard
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Romero; Fosu-Mensah; Schneiderlin, Young, Mkhitaryan, Memphis; Martial
(Possibly) Out:
- Ibrahimovic - Suspended
- Rooney - Knee Injury / Alcohol abuse!!
- Valencia - Broken Arm
- Fellaini - Calf Injury
- Smalling - Broken Toe
- Bailly - Knee Injury
- Wilson - Knee Injury
- Shaw - Baby.