Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has said the club’s fans must not pile all the blame for the team’s poor form this season of manager Louis van Gaal.
The 30-year-old Englishman said the fans should also reserve a portion of the blame cake for the players, who were the ones doing the actual playing and therefore also deserved to be blamed.
“It’s unfair to say it’s (down to) the manager,’ said the captain. ‘We’re on the pitch, so the players have to take a lot of responsibility for performances and results.
“We have to stand up and take criticism when it’s there. We want to win, of course — we always want to win — and we’re trying. Even when you’re giving 100 per cent, it doesn’t always come off,” he said.
He spoke after scoring a sensational curling shot in the 3-1 win over Derby County in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday, bringing his tally to six goals in six appearances.
“The manager gave us a lot of freedom to go and play and I think you can see the difference in the team,” he said. “You can see we were enjoying it, scoring some good goals and thoroughly deserved to win so hopefully we can put in another performance like this against Stoke on Tuesday.”
Van Gaal has presided over the club’s worst-ever points tally in this stage of the Premier League and admits he’s under pressure to vacate his position, a decision he has refused to make.