Wayne Rooney says Ten Hag should drop Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford

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Manchester United record goalscorer Wayne Rooney says manager Erik ten Hag should drop Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford.

Speaking to The Times, Rooney says neither player add enough to the defensive side of United’s game and are a hindrance to the team.

Rooney said: “I wouldn’t play Cristiano Ronaldo, and I wouldn’t play Marcus Rashford. If I was in Ten Hag’s position my main concern would be getting energy on the pitch.”

He said he would stick with under fire Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay and Fred, because the trio always have the right attitude.

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Drop Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford

Rooney says Marcus Rashford in particular is a worry. He said: “I think he needs to do a lot of soul-searching and figure out what he wants, for his own good, before anything else.

“Because watching him is a real concern: 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.”

Rooney went on to speculate whether Rashford sees his future away from Manchester United, like Ronaldo reportedly does.

The difficulty United have in dropping both players, is a real lack of options in attacking positions.

There was a bit of positive news with Anthony Martial returning to training this week, although it is unclear if he will be fit to start against Liverpool.

United’s options to drop Rashford seem to extend to starting either Anthony Elanga or Amad, neither of who quite seem ready.

This lack of alternatives is prompting United to go into the transfer market before the deadline to look for reinforcements. Really this should have been done in advance.

Ronaldo’s future in particular seems to be in question. Rooney believes United have over-relied on his former teammate due to a lack of strategy.

He said: “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.”