Wayne Rooney has lashed out at the entire organisation at Manchester United, insisting he no longer recognises the club where he spent a glittering 13 years.
Rooney won five Premier League titles during his time with the Red Devils, who were one of Europe’s most feared sides while he graced Old Trafford and boasted the sort of reputation of which Ruben Amorim’s current iteration can only dream.
The latest defeat away at Brentford, which left Amorim with just nine wins from 33 Premier League games, proved too much for Rooney, who used the latest episode of The Wayne Rooney Show to unload on every aspect of the club.
“What is going on at Man Utd?” Rooney began. “This is not Man Utd. I don’t recognise the whole football club.
“I don’t see players fighting, I don’t see character, I don’t see desire to win. I don’t see ability, I don’t see match-winners, nothing gets me off my feet. I go to a game watching, expecting, here we go again—expecting the team to lose or maybe pick up a point.
“I care for the club. I was at the football club for 13 years and what is going on is not right. And this is not all on the manager, by the way. I’m seeing players not deserving to wear the shirt. And it hurts.
“This is not acceptable, what’s going on. There needs to be a clear message from the owners. Whether that is the Glazers, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, there has to be a message of where this club is going. At the minute we are all sitting there waiting for it to crumble.
“It’s not even just results on the pitch. It’s everything about the club that needs fixing. Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have walked into a real challenge. We’re seeing staff members getting sacked after 20, 30 years who are very important people to that football club. The culture of that football club has gone. I see it on a daily basis. I see staff losing jobs, people walking out of jobs.
“I’ve got two kids at that football club and I really hope this doesn’t affect what they’re doing. What I’m seeing at that football club is not Manchester United. The soul has gone from the club.
“It needs a new engine, a new lease of life. It needs something to kickstart that football club. I am not seeing anything which is giving me any confidence, there needs to be big changes in my opinion. Manager, players, whatever that is. Whatever it takes to get Manchester United back.”
Rooney went on to admit that his own underwhelming managerial career means he cannot be particularly critical of Amorim, but ended by insisting he simply has “no faith” in the current boss to turn things around.
“I just don’t know what’s going on,” he continued. “I have tried my hand in management and it didn’t work out too well, I get it. Ruben Amorim is my age, he is still a young manager and I’m sure he still has a massive future, but what’s going on at Man Utd, this is not Man Utd.
“I honestly hope he can turn it around and he does. But if you’re saying to me, ‘Do you believe he will?’, then, after everything I’ve seen, honestly, I’ve got no faith in it.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘This Is Not Man Utd’—Wayne Rooney Launches Scathing Criticism of Players, Ruben Amorim.
