Wayne Rooney has expressed his disapproval of Erik ten Hag’s comments, which he perceives as a severe slight towards Manchester United’s team. Ten Hag’s critique of his team’s ‘attitude’ followed United’s narrow 1-0 loss to Arsenal.
In the aftermath of a demoralizing 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, United initially showed promise against Arsenal at Old Trafford, raising concerns among some of the visiting fans.
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However, United’s early optimism was dashed in the 20th minute when Arsenal exploited a defensive lapse by Casemiro, allowing Leandro Trossard to convert Kai Havertz’s cross, much to the dismay of the home supporters.
Arsenal’s resilience secured them a pivotal win at the “Theatre of Dreams,” positioning them one point ahead of Manchester City as they approach the Premier League’s final stretch.
Despite facing another setback, Ten Hag commended his squad for their significantly better performance, coming off the heels of a particularly distressing defeat at Selhurst Park.
‘We can face them [the fans], but on Monday we definitely couldn’t face them,’ the Dutchman said in his post-match interview with Sky Sports.
‘But you see the fans are behind us and they fought with us against Palace. Today, we gave that back but that should be the standard in any game.’
When quizzed on the key to United’s much-improved performance against Arsenal, Ten Hag said: ‘Ah, that’s attitude.
‘It starts always with the right attitude and that is what you have to build during the week and on match day you have to be spot on.
‘Today we did and then you see that even when we miss seven potential starting XI players, we are competitive with one of the best teams in the league.’
Wayne Rooney, the legendary scorer for Manchester United, has advocated for the club’s continued support of Erik ten Hag after the season’s end. This comes despite United’s current eighth-place standing in the league, trailing Arsenal, the frontrunners, by 32 points.
Rooney, while providing analysis in the Sky Sports studio, suggested that United’s players have reason to feel ‘insulted’ following Ten Hag’s apparent questioning of their commitment and enthusiasm in the recent matches.
‘I think anyone who is Manchester United manager is under pressure because obviously it is a huge club,’ Rooney said.
‘When you’re losing games in the way they’re losing games at the minute, there’s going to be big questions asked.
‘I said this a few weeks ago, I think the players have to really look at themselves because when you’ve got your manager doing his interview and he’s talking about attitude and players’ attitude not being right to play for Manchester United, that is a massive insult.
‘If I see my manager saying that then there is no way I’d just let that ride and ride until the end of the season.
‘It looks like some players are just trying to get to the end of the season so I feel for him in that way.
‘But ultimately it’s his job to make sure that the players are right.’
Rooney was critical of Casemiro for his role in Trossard’s goal in the first half, accusing the makeshift defender of being ‘naive’ and ‘lazy’ in moments leading up to the goal.
‘He’s obviously shown that he’s a midfield player and he’s not a natural centre-back,’ the legendary former United and England forward said shortly after the final whistle.
‘As we said at half-time, once Manchester United want to play this way, whether you’re a midfield player or a centre-back, you have to be ready to push out with the rest of the team because, if not, you play everyone onside and get punished.
‘It was maybe a bit naive, there’s not really angle anyway for [Andre] Onana to get the ball to him. But then he has to push out and it’s lazy. It’s lazy, he’s lazy.
‘The rest of his team-mates have pushed out and they get caught by it.
‘And even defending the space, he’s not aware of any players around him and then Trossard comes in and gets an easy goal.’
