Manchester United’s players should feel ‘INSULTED’ by Erik ten Hag’s post-match interview, claims Wayne Rooney… claiming there is NO way he would have ‘let that ride’ in his day

Manchester United players should be ‘offended’ that Erik ten Hag publicly questioned their attitude, says Wayne Rooney.

United’s all-time record goalscorer watched at Old Trafford as his former side lost 1-0 to Arsenal, making it 14 Premier League defeats this season.

Crystal Palace humiliated Manchester United on Monday and while there was a marked improvement today, Ten Hag claimed afterwards that the shift in performance level was down to players’ attitudes.

“I think everyone who is manager of Manchester United is under pressure because obviously it’s a huge club and when you lose games and the way they are losing games at the moment is bad,” Rooney told Sky Sports.

‘There will be big questions asked, and I said this a few weeks ago, I think the players really need to look at themselves because if you get your manager to do an interview and he’s talking about the attitude and attitude of the players That you are not right to play for Manchester United is a huge insult.

That’s former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney’s (right) assessment of how he would have recorded the post-match interview with Erik ten Hag (left) had he been in the dressing room

‘When I see my manager saying that, there’s no way I can let that continue until the end of the season and it seems like some players are just trying to get to the end of the season.

‘That is my personal opinion, and so I sympathize with them in that way, but ultimately it is his (Ten Hag’s) job to ensure that the players are right.’

In Rooney’s view, too many players perform well below expectations week in and week out, and that puts Ten Hag’s job at risk.

‘I don’t think they’re doing that well [for Ten Hag],’ he said. ‘I think the performance… there are some very good players in that team, and the performance is way below par.’

Rooney did not hold back in his analysis of the latest United defeat. He branded Casemiro ‘lazy’ and ‘naive’ before the Arsenal goal and suggested that certain injured players are in fact fit enough to play.

On players who don’t break the pain barrier, he said: ‘You have to want to play. I played with injuries.

Arsenal won 1-0, making it fourteen Premier League defeats for United this season

‘The manager has to be ruthless and take that opportunity away from you.

“As long as you don’t have a serious injury, you would want to play on that football field. To me that doesn’t seem to be the case.’

He continued: ‘European championships are coming up. There’s an FA final coming up.

“It’s easy for players, you know, because now they get a little bit of guidance. It’s easy for players to stay away for a while and then return to the finals and get ready for the European Championships.

“I’ve seen it myself over the years. So I just think the players who are injured are not filling themselves with any credit at the moment, and the manager will just pick up the baton for them.”

One of Rooney’s colleagues for the day at Sky was former Arsenal star Paul Merson, who issued a scathing indictment of United’s players by claiming it was the ‘easiest’ game of Arsenal’s season.

‘I thought she [Arsenal] played in second gear. Very disappointed with Man Utd, I don’t think they’ve done enough,” he said.

‘Arsenal will never have an easier game than that, to be honest. It was too easy and they didn’t play well at all.

It means United are four points away from their worst ever Premier League points total, with two more to go

‘I didn’t actually think so [Arsenal] controlled the game. Man Utd had enough of the ball around the penalty area – if they had that final pass or Garnacho had held his head up a few times or picked the right pass, but they had run out of ideas.

“I thought they did a good job and that’s what you have to do at the end of the season.

‘The goal difference will now no longer be relevant. It’s a good win where Arsenal don’t normally win.”