Date: 11th November 2015 at 9:05am
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Former Great Dwight Yorke has leapt to the defence of Manchester United’s out-of-form captain Wayne Rooney after the striker’s dry patch has seen him attract criticism across the board from former players and fans.

With just nine goals from 20 matches in all competitions and only two in 11 League games this season, it has been a very lean spell for the Croxteth-born forward who won’t have helped you win your Betfred bonus on any first goal scorer bets. Struggling with being player consistently out of position, Rooney has often struggled to get the ball in any attacking capacity with his touch and his decision making suffering considerably.

But Yorke, who himself scored 48 goals for United in his four year period at the club, said that it was up to the whole Manchester United fraternity, including the ex-players to get behind their captain.

“I’m very surprised that some ex-players are criticising Wayne Rooney,” he said.

“If he was 33 or 34 I could maybe get that but at 30? Listen, we know he’s not playing the best but it doesn’t mean he deserves to get dropped. When you look at how United have played he’s hardly been the poorest player on the pitch.”

Yorke also said that Wayne Rooney was being stifled by Manager Louis Van Gaal’s possession-focussed game style which worked against Rooney as a genuine attacking goal scorer.

“He’s had to endure a lot because he’s never really playing in the same position week in, week out”, he said.

“He’s been asked to play midfield, out wide, right, left, centre-forward because he’s such a good player and that’s counted against him. You look at Alan Shearer who broke all those records. You didn’t ask Shearer to play right wing or left wing.”

Image from: unsplash.com

 

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