Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho urges captain Wayne Rooney to rediscover scoring form

Jose Mourinho admits Wayne Rooney needs to rediscover his scoring touch as Manchester United seek to end their chronic goal shortage in the Premier League.

Mourinho's side have scored fewer goals this season than any of the top seven clubs as they prepare to face Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday desperately in need of a win to stay in touch with the leading pack.

Rooney has not hit the target in the league since the opening day of the season against Bournemouth, and scored only four goals in all competitions since February as he sits one behind Sir Bobby Charlton as United's all-time leading scorer.

Jose Mourinho admits Wayne Rooney needs to rediscover his scoring touch

Jose Mourinho admits Wayne Rooney needs to rediscover his scoring touch

In the Premier League, Rooney has not scored since the opening day of the season

In the Premier League, Rooney has not scored since the opening day of the season

United boss Mourinho has admitted he expects more goals from his captain

United boss Mourinho has admitted he expects more goals from his captain

Playing in a deeper role for England has not helped the 31-year-old and Mourinho remains convinced that Rooney's best position is still in attack.


But after replacing his captain in the second half of Thursday's Europa League win over Zorya Luhansk in Odessa, the United boss admitted that Rooney needs to weigh in with more goals to help Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has now scored seven in his last six games.

'We expect more goals from him, yes, but we expect more goals from everyone in the team,' said Mourinho.

'With me, he is an attacking player. In the national team, they can do with him what they want to do.

'In the national team he is their player, he is not my player, and they can do what they want. If they want to play him right back, they can play him right back. It's not my problem.

'In my team, he is an attacking player. He will play as a No 9 or a No 10, or eventually coming from one of the sides.

'So as an attacking player, normally he scores more goals. He scored a couple, I think at Fenerbahce and one in the Premier League.

'Maybe Zlatan is the one but as the main striker it is normal that he has more goals scored. But all the other attacking players, we expect more goals from them.'

United have scored just seven goals in their last eight Premier League games, drawing six and losing once. Their total of 18 is 13 fewer than leaders Chelsea and 16 less than Liverpool.

But Mourinho still believes that his team have been unlucky as they have slipped off the pace into sixth place. They could feasibly end the weekend in 11th if they fail to beat Spurs, having succumbed to a late equaliser at Everton last weekend.

He added: 'Look, if you want to compare this match (Zorya) with the Everton match, we can; 1-0 up, complete control, (Ander) Herrera hit the post, no 2-0. They go up there in the last minute, goal.

Rooney's United have scored just seven goals in their last eight Premier League games

Rooney's United have scored just seven goals in their last eight Premier League games

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has now scored seven in his last six games for United

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has now scored seven in his last six games for United

United defeated Zorya 2-0 on Thursday to advance into the last-32 of the Europa League

United defeated Zorya 2-0 on Thursday to advance into the last-32 of the Europa League

'Tonight 1-0, we go there in the last 10 minutes, we scored the second goal. Game over. Sometimes little details make a difference and the goal is a big detail.

'We are not scoring enough goals for the football we play. I don't remember the (Zorya) goalkeeper made a lot of saves. I don't think he made any phenomenal saves. When we play against other teams in the Premier League, normally the goalkeepers are the man of the match. They save everything. Goals make a huge difference so we need to score more goals.'

'I think the team is playing very well and probably the Ukrainian fans did not see the best Manchester United of the season.

'Because the best Manchester United of the season was the team that played the last four, five or six matches in the Premier League, and managed one victory and four or five draws. We are playing very, very well, but we need more goals.'

United can close the gap on fifth-placed Spurs if they can beat Mauricio Pochettino's side, and Mourinho said: 'It is always important to win.

'When we played Arsenal, it was important to win. We played to win, we deserved to win, but we didn't win. It is always important.

'We played against Everton, we had one more point more than Everton. It was important to win and go fourth. We played to win, we deserved to win, but we didn't win.

'So against Tottenham we are going to try to play. We are going to try and deserve (victory) and we are going to try to win.'

Mourinho revealed that Chris Smalling's toe injury is likely to keep him out of action until the end of the year, but he should be ready to replace Eric Bailly when the Ivory Coast defender leaves for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Mourinho revealed Chris Smalling’s toe injury is likely to keep him out until the end of the year

Mourinho revealed Chris Smalling's toe injury is likely to keep him out until the end of the year

Defender Eric Bailly impressed for United on his return to action against Zorya 

Defender Eric Bailly impressed for United on his return to action against Zorya 

Bailly impressed on his return from a knee injury in Odessa, and Mourinho said: 'Yeah, he is a big loss but we know that, so let's hope that Smalling can recover in time to replace him in the squad.

'With so many matches, we need players. In this moment, I think we have (Phil) Jones, Bailly and Marcos (Rojo).

'Okay, we play Tottenham, we play Crystal Palace, West Bromwich, Reading, semi-finals, West Ham away - in that period we have lots of matches and it's important to have more options.'