Wayne Rooney's form is foremost among Manchester United's problems

The poor form of Wayne Rooney isn't Manchester United's only problem after three consecutive defeats, but it's the most pertinent one. He is the captain and a club legend and is only three goals away from becoming United's all-time leading scorer with 249 goals.

The 30-year-old has won every major trophy in his 12 years at the club and is popular and respected. Being "a good lad" goes a long way in professional football. Players like Rooney; he's a team man and a joker.

Managers also like him and not only because he's so versatile and prepared to play anywhere for the team. Others might stand their ground and insist on occupying their favoured role but Rooney will just get on with it. It's to his credit that he's been talented enough to play in different positions and that the team comes first, in front of any personal scoring ambitions.

But he's not playing well, something even his most ardent supporters will concede. Rather than fulminating with anger, they're saddened that a once great player is floundering. From being the standout under David Moyes three years ago, Rooney now doesn't look worthy of his place in the team.

There are still moments, such as the one that set up a last-minute winner at Hull last month or a game- changing FA Cup final performance vs. Crystal Palace in May, but it's nowhere near enough.

Rooney continues to start in his usual position behind the leading striker. It is a highly-coveted role: Marcus Rashford, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Juan Mata and Ander Herrera would all love to play there. Paul Pogba was tried there against Feyenoord, though he didnt impress.

Yet more than one United fan hoped he'd get sent off towards the end of Sunday's game at Watford when he became frustrated at referee Michael Oliver and was booked for a foul on Roberto Pereyra. It could have done him and Jose Mourinho a favour.

Three games out could have offered time for Rooney to refocus, while it also would have taken the decision to keep him in the team out of Mourinho's hands. An absence would also show whether he would be missed or whether there is a better replacement.

He has played worse than he did at Watford, when he started on the right of a midfield three. That, incidentally, seemed to contradict what Mourinho said when he took over, that Rooney was best used as a striker.

But fans are almost unanimous that he should be dropped. In a Monday poll among supporters on United We Stand -- many of whom went to Watford - 92 percent were in favour of that happening.

It's impossible to judge whether Rooney has simply hit a brick wall. In 1997, Eric Cantona called it a day while he was still at the top and just short of his 31st birthday -- the exact age Rooney is now -- and United coaches later said that the Frenchman felt he was on the way down. Meanwhile, Gary Neville realised his time had gone when he was exposed in a game at West Brom in 2011.

Or does Rooney go down the route of Ryan Giggs and change his position completely, play less but still have an influence in games?

There's zero suggestion that he's going to retire but, if Rooney's legs have gone, then it's understandable: He's played 718 games of senior professional football and has put in the hard miles. When Cristiano Ronaldo was making headlines in Manchester, Rooney was doing much of his running.

Through no fault of his own, Rooney has another problem. Initially, he was asked to form a partnership with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a relationship which would take time even in a stable system, which United don't yet have, unlike Manchester City with Pep Guardiola.

Mourinho's initial idea was for players to get the ball to Ibrahimovic and Rooney, that there was nobody better than the two of them at working the small spaces, but the Swede is disappointed at the lack of service he's receiving. With Anthony Martial also out of form, United have issues up front as well as in the easily overrun midfield behind the forwards.

Luck can play a part in developing partnerships -- Sir Alex Ferguson only hit on the spark between Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke two months into the 1998-99 season -- but an otherwise composed Mourinho blaming referees after each defeat won't wash for long.

We're only seven games in and it's still very early days under the new manager, but it is possible to discern some traits of his United. The big (fame) names start, as do the big (physical) players.

United could have had a much tougher fixture list so far, having only played Man City of the top domestic sides. Coming up are games against champions Leicester City and struggling Stoke, before a six-day spell in which they visit Liverpool and Chelsea. Amid that are League Cup and Europa League games. Will Rooney continue to feature in some, if not all, of those?

Mourinho has been remarkably calm so far. He's been on a charm offensive and a winning start afforded him a honeymoon period. He knew he had to change his image after Real Madrid and his second stint at Chelsea, but on Sunday against a Watford team who'd not beaten United for almost 30 years, he presided over a third straight defeat. The last time that happened to Mourinho was in 2002.

For a man known as a winner, who is as close to a guarantee as there is for organising victories and who United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward described as "quite simply the best manager in the game today," Mourinho has now lost 14 of his last 32 games in all competitions.

Before that, he'd lost a mere 14 of his previous 105. It's not only Rooney who needs to find his touch again.

Mourinho blames individual and collective errors

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho blamed "individual and collective mistakes" and was critical of referee Michael Oliver after his side suffered a third successive defeat.

United's 3-1 loss at Watford on Sunday followed defeat against Manchester City in the Premier League and Feyenoord in the Europa League.

With the game goalless, Anthony Martial lost possession leading to Etienne Capoue scoring the opening goal and Mourinho felt a foul should have been given for Miguel Britos' challenge. Although Marcus Rashford eventually equalised, Watford went on to win through a goal from substitute Camilo Zuniga and then a Troy Deeney penalty.

Mourinho told BT Sport: "There's no debate, no controversy. It's an obvious situation, like last week against Manchester City, but it's something I cannot control or be critical with. In the first half, for the first 25 or 30 minutes, we didn't play well. That's something we can control and improve, then the referee and linesman's mistake is not under my control. I can do nothing to improve it.

"The second half was much better, we got the draw [equalising at 1-1] then, after that, we were the team [who looked likelier to win]. [Heurelho] Gomes made a phenomenal save [from a Zlatan Ibrahimovic header]. Luck is not something we can control. What we can control is individual and collective mistakes. The second goal is an individual mistake. We know we have to press the wing backs outside the box. Then, another individual mistake [for the third goal]."

When asked if he was concerned, Mourinho replied: "I'm always concerned when we don't get results we want. That's an obvious situation."

Mourinho continued on his theme of the players' errors in his post-match news conference, and said it is his job to ensure they are cut out in future.

"I feel that some individuals probably feel the pressure and responsibility too much," he said. "But from a collective point of view, I only have good things to say about them. At 1-1 everyone thinks we are going to win the game. We were showing complete control, intensity, creation.

"But their second goal is a mistake that goes against our plan and our training, because our intention was for their wing-backs to be pressed and not let them progress. And what happened was the guy gets the ball 20-25 metres away from our box and instead of being pressed, we give him the space to progress. [Nordin] Amrabat receives the ball and our left-back [Shaw] is 25 metres from him instead of five.

"But even at 25 you have to jump and go and press, but no, we wait. This is a tactical but also a mental attitude. It's something that doesn't become perfect in a couple of weeks. So we have to improve, no doubt, individually and collectively. And that's my job.

"We started the season very well with [winning] the Community Shield and three victories in a row in the Premier League, the best start that a new manager has had at Manchester United I think. But was I thinking that my team was ready, perfect, unbeatable? Not at all.

"I was completely aware that we were not perfect, with lots of players who are not end products and can make their own mistakes."

Asked if he felt referee Oliver should have penalised Miguel Britos' tackle on Martial in the build-up to Watford's opening goal was a foul, Mourinho said: "When you come with that question it's because you know. You don't ask me about that if you think that nothing happened. The reason you asked the question is my answer.

"The referee's crucial mistakes are not in my control, there is nothing I can do about that. That is not under my control. But against Man City you know what happened in minute 55 [when Mourinho felt United should have had a penalty for a challenge by Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo on Rooney], today you know that happened for the first goal, against Feyenoord there was the offside goal. So we were punished by these mistakes and I can't do anything about it."

Looking ahead, Mourinho told MUTV: "Tomorrow, we have a training session at 10.30 in the morning and we have to be there and we have to work, but they have to show a certain attitude towards the negative moment.

"We need positive people to give us positivity because obviously, the next time that these guys go on to a football pitch, they're going to feel -- as a normal human being -- the weight of the defeat."

Watford captain Deeney felt that his team deserved credit for how they stifled United, saying: "I am not surprised by how we played. We should take a bit more credit, we pressed well, condensed the space and were tough in the tackle. We need to be against teams like Manchester United who have high quality players and spend a lot of money."

Watford sign Juventus midfielder Pereyra

 

Argentina international agrees five-year deal with Hornets pending work-permit approval 

 

Watford have announced the signing of midfielder Roberto Pereyra from Serie A side Juventus, subject to the approval of a work permit.

The 25-year-old attacking midfielder has agreed a five-year deal at Vicarage Road.

Pereyra joined the Turin side in July 2014, initially on loan, and played nearly 70 matches as La Vecchia Signora secured back-to-back Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in 2014/15 and 2015/16, scoring six goals in total for the club.

The Argentina international also featured in the 2015 UEFA Champions League final, which Juve lost 3-1 to Barcelona.

Pereyra began his professional career in his homeland with River Plate before moving to Udinese, where he made 104 outings between 2011 and 2014.

Capped 10 times by Argentina Pereyra has become Watford’s seventh signing of the summer transfer window after Jerome Sinclair, Christian Kabasele, Isaac Success, Juan Camilo Zuniga, Brice Dja Djedj and Younes Kaboul.

The Hornets will next be in action when they host Chelsea on Saturday.