Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has revealed he made the decision to start Wayne Rooney on the bench against Arsenal as he felt the captain lacked the pace to fully threaten the Gunners.
Rooney was returned to the United bench for Saturday’s contest with Arsenal but came off the bench to play the final 28 minutes as the Red Devils were held to a 1-1 draw.
There had been speculation that Rooney’s absence was in regards to his actions last weekend when the forward was pictured drinking until the early hours of Sunday morning.
But now Mourinho has given the reason behind not starting his skipper in the contest over the weekend, saying that the 31-year-old was not fast enough to play the way he wanted his team to.
The Portuguese boss explained that, as Arsenal allow their opposition to have the ball, he wanted to have his team full of speedy forwards who could put pressure on Arsene Wenger’s side quickly.
Mourinho said, according to the Mirror: “I thought we were going to have the ball. Arsenal are a team who let the opponents play.
“I thought we would have space and the ball would arrive quite easily to the attacking players.
“I believed ones like Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford were faster than Wayne — better attacking opponents one-to-one in the last line. I thought it was the best option.”
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