Ibrahimovic & Rooney fail to spark for Manchester United in debut Old Trafford outing

The front pair failed to hit it off in their first appearance together at Old Trafford, raising concerns just four days ahead of the Community Shield against Leicester City

It was Wayne Rooney’s testimonial and Zlatan Ibrahimovic home debut for Manchester United, meaning odds were likely to be short on either player being a match-winner against Everton on Wednesday. Yet in truth the pair increased doubt as to their compatibility in Jose Mourinho’s staring XI just four days before the start of their season.
More than 60,000 people turned out at Old Trafford to honour the United and England captain, with many of them wearing their new Ibrahimovic shirts for the first time in the hope that one or the other would make a mark ahead of Sunday’s Community Shield clash with Leicester City at Wembley.
But a second successive ponderous attacking performance with Rooney and Ibrahimovic in tandem will instead have raised serious question marks as to how quickly the forward pair can become accustomed to one another’s game.
United’s lack of forward threat was underlined in the 0-0 result, and the lethargic nature of their play meant that the match as a spectacle recalled memories of Louis van Gaal’s 2015-16 version of the Red Devils rather than Mourinho’s former free-scoring Real Madrid Galacticos.
With Rooney playing in the No.10 role and Ibrahimovic just ahead of him as the main target man, United left a lot to be desired in terms of movement. Both looked laboured, and while that was perhaps due in part to the nature of the friendly fixture, it cannot be denied that this was a disappointing evening for both.
Just as their combination play generally took some of the sting out of United’s play against Galatasaray on Saturday, the shortage of sharpness around the edge of the area was again a concern against Ronald Koeman’s side. There were moments of enterprising play on the flanks involving Luke Shaw, Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard but anything promising generally came apart when the ball was squared.
One exception came when Rooney fed Ibrahimovic in the 25th minute, but even then the testimonial man’s pass pushed the Swede slightly wide and narrowed the angle for a left-foot shot which Maarten Stekelenburg ended up having no trouble keeping out.
As the frustration grew Ibrahimovic dropped deeper and deeper, leaving United generally lacking the figurehead they needed to go up against Everton’s disciplined centre-back trio of Mason Holgate, John Stones and Ramiro Funes Mori.
Rooney lasted 52 minutes before being substituted by Marcus Rashford, while Ibra lasted barely 10 minutes longer. There is a bigger, more important game ahead on Sunday with a trophy up for grabs and Mourinho will be hoping they will both benefit from a few more days training together.

Rooney was rewarded for a memorable career so far with a rather forgettable match, but if he and Ibrahimovic cannot find a common wavelength which is beneficial to the team then it may well go down as the night it first became clear that only one of the star pair could fit in Mourinho’s Manchester United.