Mourinho: ‘No privileges’ for captain Rooney

Daniel Storey

Jose Mourinho says that Wayne Rooney is not undroppable, whatever Manchester United supporters may think.

There has been a clamour among fans for Rooney to be dropped after a series of poor performances, culminating at Watford last weekend.

Rooney is the only Manchester United player to start every domestic game this season, but Mourinho says that he is prepared to drop his captain.

“He is my captain, he is the club captain, the players’ captain and that is difficult because sometimes you are the club captain because you have lots of years in the club,” Mourinho said.

“Sometimes you are the manager’s captain because the manager likes you very much, sometimes you are the players’ but not the manager’s one.

“Wayne is the captain of the club, the manager and the players.

“He is trusted by the players, he is trusted by myself and he represents the club in a fantastic way as a player and person and what is now socially.

“Football is a different story. Football, everyone is the same and if he has to go on the bench, he goes on the bench; if he has to stay at home, he stays at home.

“But that doesn’t mean that you don’t trust him or you have a problem. Not at all. We have no problems. He is our captain, but of course, no privilege – he is like anyone else.”