Wayne Rooney has come to the defence of Memphis Depay after the Dutchman’s mistake against Chelsea ended up costing Manchester United the win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The Red Devils looked to be cruising to a much-needed win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after a superb Jesse Lingard strike gave them the lead in the 61st minute. But disaster struck during extra time when Memphis Depay, who had been brought on for Lingard, conceded possession in United’s attacking third. Chelsea took full advantage of his error as they went up the other end and levelled the score through Diego Costa.
However, club captain Wayne Rooney defended Memphis after the match, saying that it was a collective mistake and insisted that the 21-year-old shouldn’t be singled out for criticism.
“I think we’re all disappointed,” Rooney said, according to Manchester Evening News.
“Memphis is a fantastic player and that happens, we all give bad passes away. A lot of things happened from when you give the ball away to when they’ve scored the goal, so I don’t think we can stand here and blame Memphis.”
“I think there were other things which happened and why they’ve scored.”
Misfiring Memphis
The young Dutch winger has had a less than impressive start to life in the Premier League. The media has often accused Memphis of focusing more on leading a luxurious lifestyle than performing on the pitch. His performance this season has not helped his cause.
This is not the first time the winger has come under fire either. Memphis made a similar error the last time he started a match for United, giving away the ball cheaply to help Stoke City score in their Boxing Day encounter at the Britannia Stadium. He has not featured for the starting XI since and the former PSV Eindhoven star needs to find his feet at Manchester United quickly if he wants to have the opportunity to make up for these costly mistakes.
