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Wayne Rooney has questioned Manchester United's fitness record, accusing some players of intentionally faking injuries as they seek to end the season quickly.
In a scathing critique, Wayne Rooney has accused Manchester United players of feigning injuries and questioned their commitment to manager Erik ten Hag in a fiery attack following the team's recent struggles.
The Red Devils have faced a tumultuous season under Ten Hag's leadership, with the beleaguered Dutchman reportedly at risk of losing his job due to poor results.
Injuries have compounded their woes, with numerous key defenders missing from Sunday's 1-0 defeat against Arsenal at Old Trafford, along with club captain Bruno Fernandes.
Rooney, the club's all-time leading goalscorer, did not mince his words when asked for his thoughts on Ten Hag and the current state of affairs at Manchester United post-match. He delivered a candid assessment, suggesting that some injured players may not be fully committed to the club.
"Some of these players have to look at themselves because when your manager is doing an interview and talking about attitudes not being right to play for Manchester United, that is a massive insult," Rooney stated in an interview with Sky Sports.
"If I saw my manager saying that, there’s no way I’d let that ride until the end of the season. And it looks like some players are just trying to get to the end of the season. And that’s my personal opinion."
Pressed further on his comments by Sky Sports presenter David Jones, Rooney implied that some players may no longer be playing for Ten Hag.
"If they are then they’re not showing it very well," he remarked. "There’s some very good players in that squad and their performances are way below par. As we look at the injuries they’ve picked up, some of those players can play. Some of those players can play, 100 per cent."
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Rooney's assertion drew a response from Jones, who challenged the notion that some players might be fit enough to play despite being sidelined.
"That’s quite a big claim that, you’re saying some Manchester United players who we’re not seeing out there now are fit enough to play?" Jones questioned.
"It’s easy when you’ve got a European Championships and FA Cup final coming up," Rooney explained.
"It’s easy because they’re getting a little bit of stick to stay out of it and come back towards the final. You’ve seen it, I’ve seen it over the years. I just think the players that have been ‘injured’, they’re not filling themselves with any credit."
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Jones then turned to former United captain Roy Keane for his perspective, who expressed concern over the idea that players might be avoiding playing through injury.
"Well obviously that’s not a good sign," Keane remarked. "You’d hope players who were carrying injuries are desperate to get back to playing football. There’s always some players at every club that can drag their players with an injury, but other players, and generally players I played with, they’d try and knock a week or two off to get back."
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