Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has come out in favour of manager Louis van Gaal stating that the team is ‘fighting’ for the manager. The Dutch boss has faced a lot of flak from the fans and the media in the past few weeks as the club has failed to register a single win in their last six fixtures across all competitions.
The 30-year-old striker was not happy with the rumours regarding Van Gaal’s job at the club which have been making rounds in the past few days. He also added that such speculation not only affect the associated person, but also their families and friends.
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“We're fighting for the manager and trying to get results to turn this around,” Rooney said. “You have a lot of people talking about things they believe are happening when in reality the people writing that stuff don't know anything that's happening.
“We all have families and sometimes things get written, which is not nice for your family to see.
“It's tough, but it's part of football and part of being a footballer. It's not nice when you're getting criticism every week. It's tough for the players to deal with. We hurt. We're proud people and proud to play for Manchester United.”
Confidence is low at United: Rooney
England’s record goalscorer reiterated the feeling of his manager that the confidence in the group is a bit low after the recent run of dismal performances. However, he stated that staying united is the need of the hour and things will start getting better ultimately.
“As a group of players, we know we can do better. We regularly have meetings with the players and with the manager,” he said.
“We're all working together and trying to come up with the best solution to win matches. We have to be strong together and try to get the better results we need. We haven't won games the last few weeks and it's normal [that] confidence will be a bit low and we need to lift it.”
Rooney feels United should stick to the basics
There were reports that Van Gaal had been given three matches to turn things around at the Old Trafford club. Having already lost to Norwich City, United now face Stoke City at the Britannia stadium on Boxing Day – always considered as a tough fixture for visiting Premier League teams.
Soon after that, Guus Hiddink’s Chelsea make a trip to Old Trafford on 28 December and Rooney feels that they need to get the basics right to go through the tough list of fixtures.
“We need to get through this group of games coming up, the last few results haven't been good enough. It's the fundamentals we need to get right.
“When it's not going right it's frustrating. The way the last few weeks have gone it's not the way we want it to go and we're working hard to fix it. I know my own performances can be better. I'm working hard to try and improve that.”
