Manchester United: Jose Mourinho sends message to Wayne Rooney and other goal-shy strikers

The 31-year-old has struggled for form this season and has not scored a league goal since the opening weekend of the season

Rooney has been in and out of Mourinho's side this season (Getty)

Jose Mourinho has called on Wayne Rooney and Manchester United's other strikers to start scoring more regularly.

Despite containing players of some considerable ability, United's forward line have only scored 19 goals in 14 Premier League games between them – a fact which has somewhat irritated Mourinho.

With the exception of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has scored eight of United’s league goals, Mourinho is demanding more from his strikers and in particular Rooney.

The 31-year-old has appeared to have gone off the boil this term, with his only league goal coming on the opening weekend of the campaign.

The Portuguese manager has voiced his opinion that Rooney’s role in the international game could be affecting his ability to convert for United.

"With me, he is an attacking player," said Mourinho. "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 nine or a 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.

"We expect more goals from him, yes, but we expect more goals from everyone in the team. Maybe Zlatan is the one [exception] 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," Mourinho added.

Despite taking time to settle in the Premier League, Ibrahimovic has begun to find his feet at Old Trafford. The Swedish striker is currently in a rich vein of form, with a late goal sealing his side’s 2-0 victory over Zorya Luhask on Thursday night.

Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford have also struggled to find the net regularly this term, having been in and out of Mourinho's side.

United's next fixture sees them face Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Sunday, when defeat could see them drop into the bottom half of the table.