Wayne Rooney has become a target for Manchester United’s poor performances of late and this resulted in the England captain being dropped for the key game against Leicester City.

Rooney has been an ever present United star in the last decade. Even though there have been occasions where he has been dropped for poor form even by former boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Rooney has always bounced back strongly. This time around, former United captain Bryan Robson feels that there has been no reason and justification behind the criticism of Rooney. United have struggled in the last couple of weeks to match the zest they had in the opening few games of the campaign.

As a result, they have found it tough to get results and this resulted in a losing streak of three games before they bounced back with the win over Northampton Town in the EFL Cup. This seemed to provide a confidence back into the United team. The form was also helped by the fact that manager José Mourinho made several changes to the team. The likes of Ander Herrera and Juan Mata have been featuring more prominently while Rooney and Anthony Martial have been sidelined due to poor form. Rooney has already scored two goals and created two assists this season.

“When United are having a bad time it’s always Wayne that gets the criticism.He’s always the easy target.He sets very high standards and if he’s not scoring or creating goals and we’re losing straight away people look at him. The fans always seem to pick him out. I don’t think he’s been our worst player.There are a lot of other players who have not performed this season who could easily come in for more criticism than Wayne,” said Robson in response to seeing Rooney on the bench.