LONDON — Manchester United manager
Erik ten Hag can boost
his hopes of securing his first Premier League point against Liverpool on
Monday if he dropped Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford
Red Devils legend
Wayne Rooney writes in the Sunday Times.
اضافة اعلان
United have opened
their campaign with embarrassing defeats, Brighton recording their first ever
win at Old Trafford followed by a 4–0 whipping by Brentford last weekend.
It leaves them
rooted to the bottom of the Premier League for the first time in 30 years.
United host a
Liverpool outfit who are also seeking their first win of the campaign following
two draws against Fulham and Crystal Palace.
United and
England record goal scorer Rooney says his former side requires players who run their
hearts out on the pitch and neither Ronaldo nor Rashford provide that.
Ronaldo in his
second spell at United has been rumored to be seeking a move away from the club
as he wants to play Champions League football.
Rashford’s loss of
form since playing in the Euro 2020 final last year has seen him lose his place
in the England squad and there have been reports of him being linked with
French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
“I wouldn’t play
Cristiano Ronaldo, and I wouldn’t play Marcus Rashford,” said Rooney.
“If I was in Ten Hag’s
position my main concern would be getting energy on the pitch, and United’s
failure to recruit a No 9 means they relied on Ronaldo against Brentford, even
though he hadn’t trained a lot with the team.
“He looked like he
needs time to get match fit.”
‘Night and day’
Rooney — who is now coaching
another of his former clubs DC United in the MLS — said United should let
Ronaldo leave, as at 37 he is not a player to build a potential title winning
team around.
“He has also let it be known that he wants to leave
the club,” said Rooney.
“I don’t know his reasons but, as I wrote in my last
column, I’d let him — he’s a great player and will always score goals but the
task for Ten Hag is to produce a team that can compete for the title in three
or four years’ time.
“That means rebuilding with younger players.”
Rooney says watching Rashford these days is “a real
concern.”
“I think he needs to do a lot of soul-searching and
figure out what he wants, for his own good, before anything else,” said Rooney.
“He looks like he wants to be anywhere but on a
football pitch. I haven’t seen him smile on the field for a long time.
“He’s a lovely kid and a local lad who came through
the ranks at United, who everyone wants to see doing well.
“But you look at the difference between Marcus now
and when he first came into the team: the passion he showed, the smile on his
face when he scored.
“It’s night and day.”
Rooney wonders whether part of the problem is that
Rashford is keen to leave.
“There has been speculation about a move to
Paris Saint-Germain, and it could be that he is another, like Cristiano, who wants a
change of scene.”
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