Wayne Rooney has publicly expressed concern for his two children in the Manchester United academy. The Red Devils legend made the point while talking more generally about the club’s diminishing status within football.
Rooney is considered among the finest players to have ever played at Old Trafford, and is the club’s all-time top scorer with 253 goals in 559 appearances. In the years since his exit in 2017, things have gone from bad to worse for Man Utd.
The slide began with Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013, which was the last time they won the Premier League, and standards seem to have slipped further each year since. Now under Ruben Amorim, the club sit 14th in the English top-flight, with seven points from the first six games, having finished 15th last term.
Beyond club form, the club’s reputation off the pitch has also taken a hit in recent years. Following the arrival of INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who bought a 25 percent stake in the club in 2022, there have been plenty of cost-cutting measures which haven’t gone down well among the fans.
Rooney: ‘I Don’t Recognise Man United’
Talking on The Wayne Rooney Show podcast, Rooney spoke about the many issues at Man Utd. He first spoke of the club’s poor form, saying:
“What is going on at Man United? This is not Man United. 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, [minority owner] 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.”
Rooney Concerned For Negative Man Utd Impact On His Kids
Rooney then went on to directly reference staff members ‘losing jobs’ and questioned how it could impact his two children currently in the academy. He explained:
“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 [in the academy] 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.”
His son Kai is the closest to potentially making a first-team debut, although he’s still only 15 and is currently out with a long-term injury. Younger brother Klay is also in the Man Utd academy.
Both will hope to one day break into the first team, but it seems as though their father would prefer them to be in a more stable environment as they continue their footballing education. Indeed, it certainly isn’t a good look for a club legend like Rooney to say Man Utd has lost its ‘soul’.
The English icon did express sympathy for Amorim, as he concluded: “I just don’t know what’s going on. 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 United, this is not Man United. 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.”
As things stand, it looks as though a new manager could soon take charge at Old Trafford, with Gareth Southgate reportedly in contact with Ratcliffe.
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