Wayne Rooney may now be entering the career phase when he is used only in certain games for Manchester United. This was the unescapable conclusion drawn from José Mourinho’s decision to drop him to the bench and the 4-1 rout of Leicester City at Old Trafford that followed.
The victory on Saturday was significant because it reversed the rot of two successive Premier League defeats and to do so Mourinho found the ruthless streak that has been a driving part of his gilded success at Porto, Chelsea (in both spells), Internazionale and Real Madrid.
After the EFL Cup win at Northampton Town ended the run of three defeats on the bounce in all competitions – the other came in the Europa League – Mourinho examined what was needed to defeat the champions and decided his captain was surplus to requirements.
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