Jose Mourinho admitted he dropped captain Wayne Rooney so he could inject more pace into his Manchester United team for Saturday's 4-1 victory against Leicester City.

The gamble to axe Rooney was vindicated as United swept into a 4-0 lead at half-time against the champions with goals shared between stand-in skipper Chris Smalling, Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba, his first for the club.

Though keen to offer 30-year-old Rooney sympathetic words afterwards, the manner in which Mourinho saw Jesse Lingard and Rashford tear Leicester apart with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mata pulling the strings in the middle made unhappy viewing for the England skipper, who played only the final seven minutes as substitute.

Wayne Rooney (centre) had to make do with a late cameo appearance against Leicester

Rooney sits on the bench after being left out of Jose Mourinho's starting line-up on Saturday

The 30-year-old runs with the ball after replacing Marcus Rashford in the 83rd minute

'When our main striker is Zlatan, we need fast people surrounding him,' said Mourinho, who had lost his two previous Premier League games.

'If he (Rooney) is on the pitch or at home, he is my captain. But we thought against a team like Leicester, the best solution for us was to play with the two fast kids and Mata in a position where he can interact with them. It did well for us.

'It was a good performance, the intensity of our pressure, our counter-attacks, the way we reached when we lost the ball. The young kids were fast and pressing and attacking spaces. Zlatan played very well in organisation of the attack.'

Rooney had been heavily criticised for his performances this season in the build-up to the game. Despite closing in on Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time goals record for United, he hadn't scored since the opening weekend against Bournemouth.

Club legend Gary Neville now believes he has to accept a reduced role at the club.

'His form hasn't been good and the fact he has been left out is the right decision. Rooney can have the same end to his career as Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes. He has to get used to that and accept it.'

Mourinho swung the axe and made four changes in total following the embarrassing 3-1 defeat at Watford in their previous Premier League game with Marouane Fellaini, Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial joining Rooney on the sidelines, though the Frenchman was injured.

The result was a far more uptempo United with Pogba having his best game since his world-record £89million move from Juventus.

Juan Mata (centre) scored and claimed an assist in Manchester United's impressive victory

United summer signing Paul Pogba celebrates with Jesse Lingard in trademark fashion

He scored with a header – one of three goals set up from Daley Blind corners – and broke forward from the centre of midfield to dominate.

Mourinho has now challenged Pogba to repeat his man-of-the-match performance more regularly.

'We all want more from him. The process for players and the team is to play well in patches, the last thing to achieve is consistency.

'So he also has to be more consistent like the team. I think him and Ander (Herrera) were both good in midfield. We changed the team to have fast people on the pitch, counter-attack with intensity and have people arriving from deep.'

United's lopsided season so far has seen them win their first four games in a row, lose their next three and now won their most recent two.

Mourinho diplomatically refused to accept his changes had made United look more dangerous.

'We started very well and didn't stop until we closed the game. When the team plays well it is easier to have good individual performances so I don't think it was because of the changes.'

Pogba added: 'We were very focused, we knew it was going to be difficult and we showed a very big performance today. We want to keep on with that. I am very happy for the result and the goal - I hope that is not going to be the last.

'I never look at criticism. I say one thing - at the end (of the season) we will see.'