Right up until the moment when he picked up Ander Herrera’s first-time pass and started to bear down on goal, this looked like another of those occasions when you are left to wonder if Wayne Rooney’s permanent presence on Manchester United’s team-sheet is more because of who he was than reward for what he is.
While most of Louis van Gaal’s side were in cruise control against a curiously abject Everton, Rooney, for an hour, seemed to be playing on fumes. It has become a reasonably regular sight, this: captain of club and country scratching around desperately to hit a seam of form, his passing wayward, his impact negligible and his contribution fleeting.
Van Gaal, though, steadfastly refuses to countenance even experimenting with what his team could look like without him. The Dutchman had dropped Memphis Depay and Daley Blind, punishment for defeat away by Arsenal a fortnight past. He removed Juan Mata at half-time, too. He is not averse to ruthlessness.
Except, it seems, when it comes to Rooney. The England captain remains untouchable. There is a case to be made that Rooney is, as Herrera suggested afterwards, the “best English player in history”, but few would suggest that he is the best English player at present.
And yet his manager utterly rejects the idea that he is in the side on name alone. Indeed, to listen to Van Gaal’s explanation it seems that Rooney’s reputation, if anything, could count against him.
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“He is an example for everybody,” the Dutchman said. “Not only for his fellow players, but for other players at other clubs, and also for the manager. He is a very social human being. He has a very professional attitude. I could not imagine that when I was coach of the Dutch national team, before I came to United.
“I had heard other things, but he has shown a fantastic attitude. I am very happy he scored. He is always running in behind at the right moment. That is more important [than sheer pace]. I was not as fast as Wayne and Wayne is not as fast as Anthony Martial, but when you go at the right time, you are always faster than your opponent.”
The way that Everton played here — as if someone had lined Roberto Martínez’s players’ legs with lead — Van Gaal would have stood a decent chance of doing precisely what Rooney did, outsprinting Phil Jagielka and coolly slotting past Tim Howard, adding to goals from Morgan Schneiderlin and Herrera to complete United’s rout.
CSKA Moscow v Manchester United (Wednesday, 7.45pm, BT Sport Europe)
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CSKA are still unbeaten at the top of the Russian Premier League after a 3-2 win at home to Ural. Seydou Doumbia, their Ivory Coast forward on loan from Roma, scored his ninth goal in nine games. CSKA have doubts over the fitness of Igor Akinfeev, the goalkeeper, Roman Eremenko and Vasili Berezutski.
It was a significant goal, his 187th in the Premier League, taking him level with Andy Cole as the second-highest scorer in the division since “football was invented” in 1992. It was also his first at Goodison Park since 2007 and — more telling still — his first away from home since November last year.
Perhaps, then, what we are witnessing is not so much the decline of Rooney as a shift in where his strengths lie. He is not quite as explosive, as effective as he used to be, but he is more responsible; less of a striker, more of a captain maybe. Certainly, the way he handled himself after scoring hinted at his increasing maturity.
This was a difficult day for Everton. Only a few hours before the club had been informed that Howard Kendall, their greatest manager, had died at the age of 69. A montage of his greatest moments graced the big screens before the game, accompanied by a surprisingly moving acoustic version of Z Cars, while a minute’s applause was offered by both sets of fans before kick-off. It grew and grew in volume and passion as it wore on.
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Martínez refused to believe that Kendall’s death had affected his team’s performance, but he admitted his players had not been “right psychologically”. Goodison seemed unusually and understandably subdued. Rooney’s celebration, then, pointing to the sky, was fitting, evidence of what Martínez feels is a “mutual respect” between former player and former club.
“Every Evertonian will tell you we are all extremely proud that he developed here,” the Spaniard said. “In my time here there has always been a mutual respect, an understanding he is a phenomenal footballer who started at our academy. Deep down, that is always there. Maybe since the testimonial for Duncan Ferguson [when Rooney appeared for Everton] it has been a bit more clear, more vocal.”
That, too, serves as proof of the change in Rooney. He was not United’s best player here. That, by some distance, was Herrera, the Spaniard’s infrequent appearances one of the most baffling aspects of Van Gaal’s reign.
The midfielder insists he is not unhappy — “I want to be in the team always, but you have to play really well if you want to play every week,” he said. “I think people are happy with me because I always give everything, I am proud to be here and I will try to establish myself.” — but it is hard to fathom why his manager seems so inclined to exclude him.
The same cannot be said of Rooney, not at the moment. But perhaps Van Gaal’s loyalty is not so surprising. The goals may not be so plentiful but it is the man behind them who deserves a place.
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RATINGS
Everton: (4-2-3-1): T Howard 6 — S Coleman 5, J Stones 6, P Jagielka 5, B Galloway 6 — J McCarthy 5, G Barry 5 — A Lennon 6 (sub: G Deulofeu, 73min), R Barkley 6, S Naismith 5 (sub: A Kone, 46 6) — R Lukaku 6. Substitutes not used: J Robles, K Mirallas, L Osman, R Funes Mori, T Browning. Booked: Coleman, Lukaku
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): D De Gea 7 — M Darmian 6, C Smalling 8, P Jones 6, M Rojo 7 — B Schweinsteiger 7 (sub: M Carrick, 74min), M Schneiderlin 7 — A Herrera 8 (sub: M Fellaini, 81), J Mata 6 (sub: J Lingard, 46 6), A Martial 6 — W Rooney 6. Substitutes not used: M Depay, D Blind, S Johnstone, A Pereira. Booked: Rojo, Schweinsteiger.