Manchester United can salvage their season by playing Wayne Rooney in midfield

These are worrying times at Old Trafford. Manchester United‘s defeat toEverton in the week has left them as far from the relegation zone as they are the league leaders. David Moyes is beginning to resemble Unlucky Alf from The Fast Show, lurching from one disaster to the next with not a hint of good fortune coming his way. The title looks an impossibility at this stage, but the manager must secure a top four position to avoid serious discontent in the stands. To turn things around, it might just be time for a change of tack. United are unquestionably lacking a world class central midfielder so why not move Wayne Rooney into the middle of the pitch?

Rooney is a curious figure. Still arguably the most gifted player on United’s books, he seems to fluctuate between blistering form and spells during which he is both frustrated and frustrating – a far cry from the teenage prodigy signed from Everton almost a decade ago.The difficulties with Rooney are often overplayed in the British press as a result of his expressed desire to leave the club on more than one occasion. During a summer in which he looked certain to leave, the England star was talked round and seems to be just about the only player in the squad liberated by the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.

The player is on course to break Sir Bobby Charlton’s goal-scoring records for club and country, yet he will never be considered on a par with the man etched in bronze outside Old Trafford, regardless of his achievements. United fans are of the opinion that it is a unique honour to represent the club, and they don’t take kindly to those that want away, U-turn or not. This is not to say that Rooney is not a very fine player. When the mood takes him and he displays the hunger of his youth (rather than the hunger that leads to him returning a few pounds overweight for pre-season training), he is still capable of brilliance. In a sense, though, his versatility is also his undoing.

Ferguson deployed Rooney in almost every midfield and attacking position during his time at the club. The general consensus is that Rooney could excel anywhere on the pitch, including in goal should the situation require it. Rooney is the last of the street footballers, a lad with the ability to take on all comers in an overly crowded kick-about in the back alleys of Liverpool. What he wants, above all else, is the ball.

In recent years, Rooney has hugged the flanks one week then played the part of an all-out poacher the next. He’s been allowed a roaming role in midfield or been tucked in just behind the striker. He has the natural ability to influence the game from almost anywhere but he is sorely needed in midfield, at least until the club invest in a bona fide central midfielder. With Michael Carrick out injured for the foreseeable future, it is essential United make up some ground in the league and it is clear that any combination of Phil Jones, Ryan Giggs, Marouane Fellaini and Anderson simply isn’t going to cut it.

The striker claimed he had a problem being played out of position by Ferguson when angling for a move, but this was patently nothing more than a smokescreen. He was angry at being left out of the biggest games, particularly against Real Madrid in the Champions League. Indeed, after the win at Newcastle last year, he tweeted: “Really enjoying my new midfield role. Always involved.”

This gives an indication of the personality of the man. For all his flaws, Rooney is not an egotist in the manner of many a modern footballer. He seems to genuinely enjoy assisting goals as much as scoring them, as evidenced by his 8 goals and 28 chances created in the league so far this season. With a wealth of attacking options further up the pitch, now might be the perfect time for Rooney to reinvent himself as a central midfielder. He can tackle, pass and shoot from distance. Plenty of the world’s greatest players have been happy enough to play in midfield over the years, why should a man with the perfect attributes deem the role beneath him? Better still, it makes space for Javier Hernandez to partner Robin van Persie further up the pitch at a time when the Mexican striker is clearly frustrated by a lack of playing time. Moyes needs to do something to try and salvage the season, why not think outside the box?