Manchester United’s players should be ‘insulted’ that Erik ten Hag publicly called their attitude into question, claims Wayne Rooney.
United’s all-time record goalscorer watched on at Old Trafford as his former side lost 1-0 to Arsenal, making it 14 Premier League defeats and counting this season.
Crystal Palace humiliated Manchester United on Monday and while there was a marked improvement today, Ten Hag claimed afterwards that the shift in performance level came down to the attitude of players.
‘I think anyone who’s Manchester United manager is under pressure because obviously it’s a huge club, and when you’re losing games and in the way they’re losing games at the minute is (poor),’ Rooney told Sky Sports.
‘There’s going to be big questions asked, and I’ve said this a few weeks ago, I think the players have to really look at themselves because when you’ve got your manager doing an interview and he’s talking about attitude and players’ attitude not being right to play for Manchester United that is a massive insult.
Manchester United’s players should feel ‘insulted’ to have their attitude questioned
That is the verdict of former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney (right) on how he would have taken Erik ten Hag’s (left) post-match interview were he to be in the dressing room
‘If I see my manager saying that, then there’s no way I’d just let that ride and ride until the end of the season, and it looks like some players are just trying to get to the end of the season.
‘That’s my personal opinion, and so I feel for them in that way, but ultimately it’s his (Ten Hag’s) job to make sure the players are right.’
Too many players, in Rooney’s eyes, are falling way short of expectations week in, week out, and it’s putting Ten Hag’s job in danger.
‘I don’t think they’re showing up very well [for Ten Hag],’ he said. ‘I think the performances… there’s some very good players in that squad, and the performances are way below.’
Rooney did not hold back in his analysis of this latest United defeat, labelling Casemiro as ‘lazy’ and ‘naive’ for the Arsenal goal, and suggesting certain injured players are in fact fit enough to play.
On players not pushing through the pain barrier, he said: ‘You need to want to play. I played with injuries.
Arsenal won 1-0 to make it 14 Premier League defeats and counting for United this season
‘The manager needs to be ruthless and take that opportunity away from you.
‘As long you haven’t got a bad injury you should want to play on that football pitch. For me that doesn’t seem that’s the case.’
He continued: ‘You’ve got European Championships coming up. You’ve got an FA final coming up.
‘It’s easy for players to, you know, because they’re getting a little bit of stick now. It’s easy for players to stay out a little bit and then come back towards the final and get themselves ready for the European Championships.
‘I’ve seen it myself over the years. So I just think the players who are being injured, they’re not filling themselves with any credit at the minute, and the manager’s just going to take all the stick for them.’
One of Rooney’s colleagues for the day at Sky was former Arsenal star Paul Merson, who delivered a damning indictment of United’s players by claiming it was the ‘easiest’ game of Arsenal’s season.
‘I thought they [Arsenal] played in second gear. Very disappointed with Man Utd – I don’t think they done enough at all,’ he said.
‘Arsenal will never have an easier game than that, to be honest. It was too easy and they didn’t play well at all.
It means United are four points off their worst ever Premier League points total with two to go
‘I didn’t really think they [Arsenal] controlled the game. Man Utd had enough of the ball around the box – if they had that final pass or Garnacho had got his head up a few times or picked the right pass but they ran out of ideas.
‘I thought they done a job and that’s what you’ve got to do at the end of the season.
‘The goal difference will be irrelevant now. It’s a good win where Arsenal don’t usually win.’
