Manchester United leading goal scorer Wayne Rooney believes that manager Erik Ten Hag should consider dropping Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford for their upcoming fixture against Liverpool. Rooney addressed that the Red Devils need energy against the Merseyside-based club but the inclusion of Ronaldo would hinder this as he doesn’t look match fit yet.
"I wouldn't play Cristiano Ronaldo, and I wouldn't play Marcus Rashford," said Rooney. "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."
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The former Everton man further talked about Ronaldo and asked him to let the club know if he wants to leave. Rooney also feels that Ten Hag needs young players to build a squad which can lift the title in three to four years.
"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", said Rooney.
Rooney also raised concerns regarding Marcus Rashford's form and talked about how he hopes that the youngster gets back in rhythm and plays well.
"I think he needs to do a lot of soul-searching and figure out what he wants, for his own good, before anything else," said Rooney. "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."
"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", Rooney concluded.