Wayne Rooney stated that a lack of leaders in the Manchester United dressing room is probably the main reason for their decline over the years.
Much has been spoken about Manchester United over the years, with the club struggling for relevance in recent times. The Red Devils have been in a downward spiral since last season after Erik ten Hag’s dismissal and the subsequent arrival of Ruben Amorim.
Amorim’s record in the league or elsewhere has been dreadful, as he has lost more games than managed wins so far. He did take Manchester United to the Europa League Final last season, but ultimately failed to beat rivals Tottenham in that fateful night in Bilbao.
While there have been a few positives in the new season, the defeat to lower league side Grimsby Town mounted the pressure on Amorim. There have been talk of sacking the manager, but there are financial implications for Manchester United if they end up choosing to part ways.
Some names have been discussed as potential successors, but so far, the board has made no indication of their desire to part ways with Amorim. While there will be hope that the performances on the pitch improve and the club can make it back into one of the European competitions next season, preferably the Champions League, it’s still a long way to go.
There have been plenty of comments from outside about the state of the club, with Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney the latest to have his say. His comments that appeared on Football Insider via the Rio Meets podcast stated that this team lacks leaders since his own departure, as well as that of Michael Carrick.
Rooney said, “I left in 2017, and from our group, there was only me and Michael Carrick left.
“We looked at the players behind us and we thought, who is going to lead this dressing room? Youngy [Ashley Young] was there, but you had no leadership group.
“Jesse [Lingard] was there, [Paul] Pogba, Marcus [Rashford], who are fantastic players, really good footballers, but actually, who was going to take responsibility and keep that soul in the dressing room, and I don’t think since me and Michael left that’s been there.”
There’s some credibility to this argument, as Manchester United have indeed lacked leaders in the ilk of Rooney or Carrick. The club have not managed to have stable environments in the many years since, and they certainly need to address that issue at the earliest.