Wayne Rooney Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been defended by former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, who says the players must take some responsibility for the position the club is in.Solskjaer will be in charge for United’s upcoming Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday in what is a must-win game for the Norwegian. But with everyone blaming Solskjaer for the predicament the club find themselves in, United’s record-goalscorer says the players need to shoulder some of the blame themselves and question their role in everything going wrong on the pitch.
Wayne Rooney said “There is a big responsibility on those players. They are world-class players, international players and a club like United need more. Those players need to be hurt, need to feel when you lose games how much it hurts you. I’m seeing too many players not willing to run back, not willing to defend and not willing to put everything on the line for that club and that’s not acceptable. Are you telling me that’s the manager’s fault or the players’ fault? I don’t know. The players have to question themselves. It’s too easy for the manager to take all the stick when those players are being paid a lot of money to do the job and I don’t think they’re doing it well enough.”
Rooney was part of the United team that last won a trophy, the Europa League in 2017 under then-boss Jose Mourinho. The former striker spent 13 years at Old Trafford, winning every cup available at club level and scoring 253 goals in the process. Solskjaer is under immense pressure to keep his job having overseen a humiliating 5-0 defeat to rivals Liverpool on Sunday at Old Trafford and a poor start to the season having bolstered the squad in the summer with the signings of Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and the remarkable return of Cristiano Ronaldo. United have failed to win any of their last four Premier League games and find themselves eight points behind league-leaders Chelsea just two months into the season. As speculation continues to grow daily surrounding his future, out-of-work managers Antonio Conte and Zinedine Zidane have been touted as options for the job should it become available.
