Wayne Rooney, a former Manchester United forward, believes Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford should not start against Liverpool on Monday night.
United have had a disastrous start to life under new manager Erik ten Hag. Last season, they lost both games, giving up nine goals in two games to their fierce rivals without scoring any of their own.
The Red Devils have dropped to 20th in the Premier League after losses to Brighton and Brentford, which is their lowest ever finish in the league. Most bettors are backing Liverpool to win easily despite their mediocre start to the season, including draws with Fulham and Crystal Palace.
In his column for the Times, Rooney wrote: “We should remember that this is only the start of Ten Hag’s reign, that he’ll need time and that he’ll have identified a number of issues to address when the time is right. He clearly wants to see the players he inherited and give them a chance.
“But he also needs to do something quickly and the first priority is, against Liverpool, to just compete and have a go. Do that and the fans will accept it, even if United get beaten. Play like they did against Brentford, and United will suffer an even worse result than their 5-0 defeat by Liverpool last season.
“I don’t expect that to happen, by the way – I can’t see United winning, but I believe there’ll be a reaction and they’ll lose by the odd goal, or even snatch a draw.
“But I wouldn’t play Cristiano Ronaldo, and I wouldn’t play Marcus Rashford. If I was in Ten Hag’s position my main concern would be getting energy on the pitch, and United’s failure to recruit a No 9 means they relied on Ronaldo against Brentford, even though he hadn’t trained a lot with the team. He looked like he needs time to get match fit.
“He has also let it be known that he wants to leave the club. I don’t know his reasons but, as I wrote in my last column, I’d let him – he’s a great player and will always score goals but the task for Ten Hag is to produce a team that can compete for the title in three or four years’ time. That means rebuilding with younger players.
“As for Marcus, I think he needs to do a lot of soul-searching and figure out what he wants, for his own good, before anything else. Because watching him is a real concern: he looks like he wants to be anywhere but on a football pitch. I haven’t seen him smile on the field for a long time. His performances have dipped – he hasn’t been selected by England for more than a year. I’m coming from a place of wanting the best for him. He’s a lovely kid and a local lad who came through the ranks at United, who everyone wants to see doing well.
“But you look at the difference between Marcus now and when he first came into the team: the passion he showed, the smile on his face when he scored. It’s night and day.”
Casemiro, United’s new acquisition, won’t be registered in time and won’t play against Liverpool; he may instead make his debut against Southampton the following week.
