Wayne Rooney: Goal Drought Is Hampering Manchester United's Season

September 18. That is the last time Wayne Rooney scored a Premiership goal for Manchester United. That was more than two months and eight fixtures ago.

You could also say that it has been about two months since Manchester United put in a good performance. Are the two linked? What do you think!

The last time Wayne Rooney netted a Premiership goal was against Chelsea in a 3-1 win. This was a fantastic match of end-to-end football that could have easily finished 9-4. However, it was also the turning point for Rooney. He scored early in the match, but then missed a penalty, hit the post from three yards out and fluffed an easy pass to Dimitar Berbatov that would have resulted in a tap-in for the Bulgarian.

Since that day, Rooney hasn’t looked like scoring a goal, and that early season sharpness has disappeared.

Of course, since then Rooney has missed a couple of matches through injury. He has also played a few matches in midfield. But in the last six matches, he has enjoyed 20 shots and no goals.

Rooney also had six shots against Newcastle at the weekend, none of which were on target. We have also seen a frustrated Rooney lash out whilst playing for England, resulting in a three-match ban for the European Championship. All in all, it hasn’t been a great couple of months.

During this period, Man United have not excelled. There was the humbling 6-1 thrashing at the hands of noisy neighbours Man City. There has been the run of Premiership matches since then in which the team has failed to score more than one goal. United also find themselves with a tricky match away at Basle with the hope of qualifying from their Champions League group.

This is not the form the team promised early in the season when they were blowing away the opposition and asking questions later.

So what’s happened? Well, the creative forces of Nani and Ashley Young have been blunted compared to earlier in the season. Without the supply, Rooney simply isn’t going to be scoring goals.

There seems to be a lack of confidence all through the team since the Chelsea match, and Rooney has suffered because of this. If you have watched a Man United match recently, you will have noticed Rooney dropping deep around the midfield in search of the ball. At the beginning of the season, he wasn’t doing this as the team were playing great attacking football with Rooney as the spearhead.

Now with Rooney dropping deep trying to get the ball and start attacks, he spends much less time in the penalty box where he is most dangerous. This has meant most of Rooney’s shots have been from distance and not at the end of team moves.

This is a big problem for Man United, as Rooney is the talisman, leader and inspiration on the pitch. When he isn’t scoring goals and playing in his best positions, he loses the confidence that comes with being the playmaker and figurehead. Man United become a hard-working but slow machine with a lack of focus in the final third.

Man United are at their best when they are a lightning-quick big red monster. Unfortunately, the lack of quality in the midfield and in the supply to the forwards has led to Rooney feeling like he is having to drop back and influence things. Nobody else is doing this job well enough. However, until Rooney starts scoring goals, finds his confidence again and plays at top form, Man United are going to be pulling out 1-0 wins and having to fight hard for every point.

Man United need Rooney to be at his best so they are at their best. The problem is, Rooney needs the rest of Man United to play at their best so he is happy staying at the top of the pitch ready to score goals. It is a conundrum, and the result will shape Man United’s season.