Wayne Rooney makes shock Manchester United injury claim after Arsenal loss continues dire run | OneFootball

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Wayne Rooney has caused huge controversy by claiming that some of Manchester United’s injured crop could be playing for the club during their current crisis.

The Red Devils’ latest malaise continued at Old Trafford on Sunday with a 1-0 defeat by title-chasing Arsenal in the Premier League, following on from last week’s abysmal 4-0 thrashing at Crystal Palace and a thoroughly disappointing 1-1 home draw with now-relegated Burnley.

United have now won just one of their last eight top-flight matches as they battle to avoid their worst season of the Premier League era, currently sitting eighth in the table and three points behind both Newcastle and Chelsea in the race for even Europa Conference League qualification and with a much worse goal difference than both of their rivals, with all three clubs still having two games left to play this term.

The only chance for United, who play host to Newcastle on Wednesday night before travelling to Brighton on the final day, to rescue something from this otherwise dismal campaign is in the FA Cup final against Manchester City on May 25, though speculation has claimed that even Wembley success may not be enough to save under-fire manager Erik ten Hag’s job as new part-owners Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe potentially ponder sweeping summer changes.

United’s woeful recent run, which also included an FA Cup semi-final win over Coventry in which they were taken all the way to penalties by the Championship side despite leading 3-0 with 20 minutes to play, has not been helped by an ongoing injury crisis that has seen Ten Hag’s list of absentees constantly stretch into double figures.

The Dutchman remained without a whole host of players for Sunday’s tough game against Arsenal in which United battled hard but failed to pose an attacking threat, something that led to the club’s all-time record goalscorer Rooney making a surprising claim in his scathing assessment as a pundit on Sky Sports.

"If they are [playing for Ten Hag], I don't think they're showing it very well. The performances, and there are some good players in that squad, are way below par,” said the former United and England captain.

"As we look at the injuries they've picked up, some of those players can play, 100 per cent.

Wayne Rooney spoke his mind on Manchester United during an appearance on Sky Sports

Manchester United via Getty Imag

“When you have the European Championship coming up and an FA Cup final, it's easy for players to stay out of it a little bit, get back for the final and make sure they're ready for the European Championship. I've seen it myself over the years.

"The players who are injured are not filling themselves in any credit at the minute. The manager is going to take all the stick for that."

Rooney was joined on punditry duty for United’s loss to Arsenal by another Old Trafford icon in Roy Keane, who also claimed that some of United’s injured players this term have seemed in no rush to come back quickly.

"That's not a good sign,” he said. “You hope players who are carrying injuries are desperate to get back to playing football.

"There are always a few players at every club who drag their heels with a few injuries. But other players, certainly ones I played with, they will try and knock a week or two off that.

"That's always a worry, but that goes on at lots of clubs, where they have a lack of confidence and they're out of it, and they don't rush back to be with the team.”