Wayne Rooney has explained why Rami Al Hajj hasn’t played much for Plymouth Argyle lately, since the team has struggled to earn Championship points.

Al Hajj is “a flair player,” according to Rooney, who also feels that players with “a more natural defensive side to them” and “who know the league” are needed in light of the Pilgrims’ recent success. Al Hajj signed a contract with Argyle until June 2027 after joining from Danish team OB at the end of the summer transfer window for an estimated £840,000.City

Al Hajj played in a “number 10” role against Luton Town at Home Park on September 27 and scored a fantastic opening goal in a 3-1 victory, marking his full debut after two early substitute appearances.

It was a promising start from the 23-year-old as the Pilgrims produced some good performances of attacking football early in the campaign. However, that has not been the case so much recently, with Argyle getting just one win from their last eight games and losing four of them.   Al Hajj has started one of the past five matches, the 1-0 home victory over Portsmouth on November 5, and his only other appearance during that time was off the bench in the 70th minute of the 6-1 trouncing by Norwich City at Carrow Road on Tuesday night.

Rami needs to be on a football team, and right now, when we are going through this phase, I think we need players in there who have a more natural defensive side to them, and who know the league and what the demands are.” “I think Rami is more of a flair player,” Rooney said, adding that early in the season we were playing really good football and taking the ball, and that has dropped off a little bit of late. “For Rami, I think it’s taking a little bit of time for him to adjust, but we keep working on that and hopefully we get him right to have an impact for us throughout the season.”