Wayne Rooney Says Manchester United Now Worse Placed

Erik ten Hag has endured a dreadful second season as Manchester United manager, with club legend Wayne Rooney now laying into the Dutchman for his side’s poor performances

Wayne Rooney believes Manchester United are now in a worse place than they were when David Moyes was manager.

Moyes was the first man to replace Sir Alex Ferguson but failed to last a full season as he was sacked with four games remaining. The Scot paid the price for a failure to qualify for the Champions League, with United eventually recording their lowest finish for 24 years.

The current campaign is set to be even worse for the Red Devils, with Ten Hag’s side eighth in the Premier League. Rooney was a key player duing Moyes’ stint as manager, ending the year as the club’s top scorer.

And he has now claimed that Moyes did a better job than Ten Hag is currently doing. The United legend warned that the Dutchman and his playing squad are all now fighting to save their futures at Old Trafford.
“It’s so difficult. It’s very unpredictable. As Mikel [Arteta] was saying, you come into Old Trafford and you’ve no idea what performance you are going to get or what team you are going to see. Potentially, they could win the game,” he told Sky Sports ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Arsenal.

“I’ve come and have no idea what is going to happen here, so that is the disappointing thing. Throughout the season, the goals they have conceded, the lack of desire at times. We finished seventh when David Moyes was here, but it never ever, I know Moyes lost his job, but it never felt as bad as what it is now.

“I think they all are [fighting for their jobs]. Managers, players, coaches, recruitment. The whole club. This end of the season they have some difficult games coming up and then they have the FA Cup final.

“For me, as a player, you have to show you work and that you want to play for this football club. That has to start from today, you can’t just turn it on for the FA Cup final. It has to start from today.”

Rooney believes Ten Hag is performing worse than David Moyes did during his ill-fated spell as United boss (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Ten Hag has attempted to defend his side’s dreadful season, blaming their struggles on their injury problems. And he insisted that United have succeeded in part by reaching the FA Cup final.

“I think they [the owners] have common sense and then see when you have 32 different backlines. When you have eight centre-backs, you use eight centre-backs. They see when you use 13 partnerships in centre-half, when you don’t have a left full-back when we have so many injuries,” Ten Hag said earlier this week.

“They know it will have a negative impact on results. And still, we are fighting and it is huge, the FA Cup final. We are very happy to be there and it can still be a highlight for this season. Of course, we are not happy.
“But we know the reasons why we are underperforming in the league now, that is because of the injuries. I am a realistic person and I see this when I make this analysis. No team will perform when you have so many injuries in key areas.”