Manchester United are hindering Wayne Rooney by not giving him the ball enough, according to former coach Rene Meulensteen and midfield legend Paul Scholes.
Rooney, 30, has been criticised for his performances after scoring only two goals in his last 15 Premier League games, and missed United's first penalty in their shock Capital One Cup shootout exit to Middlesbrough on Wednesday.
It was the second straight home game in which United had failed to find the net after Sunday's stalemate with neighbours Manchester City, and statistics show Louis van Gaal's side have managed fewer shots than the likes of Norwich, Watford and Aston Villa in the league this term.
There have been suggestions that manager Van Gaal should drop captain Rooney, but Meulensteen -- who was first-team coach at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson from 2008-13 -- believes it is unfair just to blame the forward.
The England skipper has been operating as United's main striker recently, and former Fulham manager Meulensteen thinks he needs to be liberated by being given a different role.
"You can't throw it all at Wayne himself, it's a combination of a few things," he told talkSPORTÂ on Wednesday.
"Wayne is an adventurous player who likes to have freedom on the pitch, to roam around and get involved and find his own way to get into the game.
"I think at the moment he's a little more restricted, he doesn't always get the ball when he wants it and where he wants it.
"Manchester United are going through a transformation from the style Sir Alex Ferguson liked to play.
"He wanted to play with a lot of creativity, a lot of freedom and, at times, risk, but now under Louis van Gaal it's much more calculated. It's more about working your way up the pitch, it's more laboured and more pedestrian."
Rooney only touched the ball 48 times in Sunday's Manchester derby stalemate against league leaders City, when he had a solitary, off-target shot and a pass completion rate of just 57 percent.
But Meulensteen defended him, adding: "Wayne's stats in the derby may have looked poor, but a lot of players' stats also looked poor.
"But I do feel that he is not totally himself when I see him play at the moment."
Former United midfielder Scholes also believes that Van Gaal's tactics are hindering Rooney, telling BBC Radio Manchester: "The hardest thing to coach is scoring goals and creativity.
"I was at the derby on Sunday and Rooney's movement was brilliant, but when he's playing in that team there's no one prepared to pass to him. I think after 20 minutes you'd be tearing you hair out.
"I played with some brilliant centre forwards and I don't think they could play in this team -- the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham. You don't get crosses into the box or midfielders looking for runs.
"There's a lack of creativity and risk. It's a team now you wouldn't want to play against because they're tightly organised. But it seems he [Van Gaal] doesn't want players to beat men and it's probably not a team I'd have enjoyed playing in."
Barcelona midfield great Xavi says that Rooney should be handed a deeper role, saying: "If he can adapt, there's no reason why he can't play at the top level for another five or six seasons.
"But as a player you must admit to yourself your body is changing and can't do what it used to be able to do."
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.
