COMMENT: Whenever standards drop, Wayne Rooney will always get it in the neck.
No matter if he's just led an ordinary England team to Euros qualification - and boasting a 100 per cent record. Nor that he's actually Manchester United's top scorer this season and not alone in chasing some semblance of decent form. Given his stature and achievements in the game, if ever Rooney's standards fall, the pile on is unlike anything you see in the English game.
And it's not being led by Fleet Street. The major talking points over the past week have come from the Manchester Evening News. From dropping Rooney for Saturday's return, to Everton to stripping him of the captaincy: it's all been raised in the local paper.
Inside the United dressing room, when it comes to consistency this season, Rooney is no Robinson Crusoe. Take Chris Smalling out of the equation and there's little left. Juan Mata's had his moments. As has Anthony Martial. But like Rooney, it's all been in fits and starts. No-one has truly shone.
And that's the reality of Louis van Gaal's possession game. Individual flair is dulled. It's no coincidence that Smalling, at centre-half, has been United's best performer this season. Just as David de Gea, in United's goal, was their Player of the Year last term. Further forward, playing off the cuff, y'know the United Way, has slowly been eliminated by Van Gaal.
It can be argued that Martial's stunning impact has come thanks to missing United's preseason. His lightening, instinctive style an absolute contrast to LVG's paint-by-numbers system. Of course he's going to bloody well stand out!
United fans want to see Rooney on the edge again. They want the wild kid to come back. He's still in there. He was there under David Moyes. Just as he was in the early months of Van Gaal's reign. It was barely a year ago Rooney saw red for kicking out at Stewart Downing against West Ham.
But that outward aggression has been blunted. It's still there, but is shackled by a playing system that runs against everything Manchester United's football is famous for.
No matter where the ball is on the pitch, Rooney will have instructions Van Gaal expects him to adhere to. There can be no haring around the ground, getting into teammates' space (or zones). Smalling discussed it just last week. Every United player knows where they should be in any given moment of possession. With an emphasis on possession.
And this is what is working against Rooney. Everything is too measured, too pedestrian from Van Gaal. We can bemoan the loss of that real combativeness of Rooney. But who else in a United shirt this season has lost his rag? We're still waiting for Bastian Schweinsteiger to produce something inspirational. Memphis looks like he's capable. The personality is there. But something is holding them back.
But put Van Gaal's system to one side... has Rooney ever played with any striker of Martial's type in recent years? The nearest you could argue was Javier Hernandez. But Chicharito's best run of games for United was some five years ago.
Since then, it's been Robin van Persie and Marouane Fellaini. Traditional, back-to-goal types who Rooney could bounce off. Martial is a completely different prospect. There's no knockdowns or lay-offs coming from the French youngster. His strengths are when he is facing the goal, not looking to bring his No10 into play. Is this adjustment contributing to Rooney's flat form?
Rooney will be 30 this year and for some, his best years are now behind him. But he'll be back. They were saying the same thing about Ryan Giggs at a similar point in his career. He was even booed by sections of the Old Trafford crowd. But the Welshman fought back and produced, for some, the best football of his career in his 30s.
Rooney will do the same. But unless Van Gaal rethinks his entire approach, it's more likely to be under the next United manager.
INJURY TIME
This week it's been all about Wayne Rooney and his return to Everton. It's been eight years since he last scored at Goodison Park.
But Louis van Gaal isn't about to drop his captain. Nor take the captaincy away from him. However, what about that other old Evertonian: Marouane Fellaini?
Last season, no United outfield player contributed more to their top four finish. Big Fella should be returning to Goodison triumphant. An established player in a Champions League club. Instead, we've hardly seen the Belgian this season.
Yes, he began the campaign suspended. But as United have scratched around for goals and attacking form, Van Gaal has blanked his No27. He offered so much to United last season. After everything he copped during David Moyes' reign, Fellaini was one of those great phoenix-type stories. But now, under Van Gaal, he's again on the outer. Is the manager gradually pushing Fellaini out the Old Trafford exit door?
