Roy Keane has once again hit out at Manchester United skipper Wayne Rooney, claiming that the Englishman “looks awful”, and also slammed him for making so much noise in a WWE event earlier this month.
Rooney yet again failed to lead as a captain while the Red Devils drew goalless against PSV Eindhoven, leaving their chances of making out of the group stage in danger. The 30-year-old United skipper has managed to score just once in his last seven matches for the club this season.
“It seemed a strange atmosphere at Old Trafford tonight, they lacked cutting edge,” Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Kean told when working as a pundit for ITV last night.
“You got the impression the players were waiting for something to happen, rather than going and making it happen. Wayne [Rooney] was on about lack of composure and quality, but I think he was as guilty as anybody. He needs to step up to the plate.
“You look at Wayne’s legacy at Old Trafford, it’s absolutely fantastic, his goals record is brilliant. But now he’s the captain there’s more responsibility and I think he’s got to do a lot more.”
Rooney theatrically slapped WWE superstar King Barrett on November 9, in a Monday Night Raw event, organised in Manchester. Kean referred this incident as “nonsense” claiming that it shows the English striker is not able to manage himself off the field and becoming mentally weak.
“I always question certain players what are they doing off the field. Last week I saw him slapping a wrestler and I’m thinking ‘Why is he getting involved in all that nonsense?’ There’s no benefit to him. I’d have a look at that side of it.
“It’s certainly not helping him. I wouldn’t begrudge him going out and enjoying himself, but if you’re not at it yourself you’ve got to have a look and lead by example. He didn’t do that tonight. He doesn’t look sharp, he looks awful.
“Mentally he doesn’t look really sharp; physically he doesn’t look in great shape. He needs to have a look at himself.”
van Gaal also admits it would need a much more improved performance, referring the first half as “average” and accepted that “in spite of my changes, it did not improve”. The situation became worse considerably after the break when his boys seemed to have run out of ideas. Yet again, the lack of creativity might be startling for United fans. This is not the football Old Trafford deserves and it really jarred with a beautiful night when the stadium was illuminated marking the 10th anniversary of the death of George Best.