Liverpool legend Michael Owen believes Wayne Rooney was nowhere near his best in the Champions League game against Wolfsburg.

United won 2-1 at Old Trafford but Rooney was heavily criticised following his below-par performance.

Owen also believes the England captain will struggle to reach the goal scoring exploits of past seasons after relinquishing the penalty-taking duties to Juan Mata.

"I didn't think he was at his best," said Owen on BT Sports.

"He was unforgivably losing the ball. It was strange but he wasn't on song. But as Scholesy said, he is a confidence player. Once he's on, he's on and once he's off, he can go missing a little bit.

"Normally Rooney is the penalty taker so he scores the equalising goal and nobody mentions his performance. Because he's not on penalties now, it's a lot harder as a centre forward.

"He will do well to score 20-odd if he is not on penalties."