What's Changed For Rooney?

It's a year since Wayne Rooney broke Sir Bobby Charlton's England scoring record with his 50th international goal. After a turbulent 12 months, we examine what's changed for the Manchester United captain since then.

For Rooney, September 2015 will always be remembered for the moment he thumped a late penalty past Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer at Wembley to become England's greatest ever goalscorer.

The historic achievement cemented his status as an England great, but the tributes rolled in to a backdrop of intense scrutiny. Rooney was on a run of 10 Premier League games without scoring for United and, at club level, his suitability to the central striking role was under question.

Even the relief of a hat-trick in a Champions League qualifier against Club Brugge two weeks earlier had been short-lived, with Rooney heading into the international break on the back of another ineffective display in a 2-1 defeat by Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.

Was he still the man to lead the attack? The United captain's struggles had been laid bare by their failure to replace Robin van Persie in the summer transfer window, and it was increasingly clear that Rooney, once a physical powerhouse with electrifying pace and irrepressible dynamism, had slowed with age.

Then, a few days before he stepped up to take that record-breaking penalty at Wembley, United completed a signing that would effectively spell the end of Rooney's time as a central striker.

Monaco's Anthony Martial was relatively unknown to the Premier League and the transfer fee was ridiculed, but with Rooney sidelined by a hamstring injury, the young Frenchman marked his debut with an unforgettable goal against Liverpool at Old Trafford.

Rooney returned to the starting line-up for United's next Premier League game against Southampton, but this time he played in a deeper role behind Martial, whose brilliant start to life in England continued with a clinical double as United won 3-2 at St Mary's Stadium.

By the end of the Premier League season, Rooney had left the out-and-out striking role behind and netted just eight goals - his lowest total since his breakthrough year at Everton in 2002/03. The 30-year-old talked about emulating Paul Scholes after a run of games in United's central midfield in April, and ahead of Euro 2016 he insisted that's where he saw his future.

"Sometimes you have to make choices in your career and, at the minute, it's probably better for me to play deeper," he told Sky Sports. "It's a bit different with England because I could still be the striker, but next season midfield is probably where I see myself playing."

Rooney stayed in midfield for England's miserable Euro 2016 campaign as Roy Hodgson opted for the greater energy of Harry Kane, Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling and Jamie Vardy in the attacking positions, but the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford signalled another change.

"Maybe he is not a striker anymore, or a nine, but with me he will never be a six playing 50 metres from the goal," said the Portuguese. "He will be a nine, a 10, a nine and a half, but not a six or eight. You can tell me his pass is amazing but my pass is amazing too without pressure."

In typically uncompromising style, Mourinho had ended Rooney's midfield ambitions just a few weeks into the job. It was tempting to wonder whether those comments - coupled with the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic - would spell the end of his time as a guaranteed starter for United but, instead, he has started each of their first four games behind the striker.

As he said to the press, [Mourinho] told me about playing No10," said Rooney back in July. "That is something I've now got to work on and get myself in the right position to score goals. I have scored goals all through my career and I have no doubt in my goalscoring ability. Hopefully I can do that this season."

And so, while Sam Allardyce kept him in central midfield for his first game in charge of England against Slovakia, Rooney finds himself adapting to another new role at United at the age of 30.

The questions over his place in the side still linger. United have a wealth of attacking talent in reserve, Mourinho is building his new-look midfield around Paul Pogba, and Rooney's most notable contribution to the Manchester derby was a touchline spat with Pep Guardiola. It all adds up to a dilemma for Mourinho.

Rooney's diminished physical attributes contrast sharply with the speed and power of Marcus Rashford, Martial and new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan and he still has a tendency to drop deep in search of the ball, but there have been encouraging signs too.

As well as registering a goal and two assists in his first four Premier League appearances of the season, Rooney has created twice as many scoring chances as any of his United team-mates (10), while only Ibrahimovic has had more shots on target (six). It's a small sample size, of course, but only four Premier League players have created more openings. Only three have had more shots on target.

Gary Neville addressed the debate surrounding his former team-mate in the build-up to the Manchester derby. "Wayne Rooney will always go deep, it's a non-point," he told Sky Sports. "The only question that needs answering is whether he is still contributing to what Manchester United and Jose Mourinho want.

"Mourinho is playing him as a No 10 but he's dropping him deeper. It's impossible to stop Rooney dropping deeper, that's what he is now. He is more of a midfield player now than a forward because that's where he plays, but he can still score goals and contribute. The only person this concerns is Jose Mourinho, who has to decide whether he brings value to the team."

Rooney can be confident his place is safe for now, but Mourinho is not the kind of manager who shies away from big decisions and the 30-year-old is under greater pressure than ever to perform. Rooney's position has changed again, but a year on from that proud moment at Wembley, the future of England's greatest ever goalscorer is still uncertain.

Credit: Skysports.com