Wayne Rooney sends £150m transfer message to INEOS after Man Utd’s loss to Man City
Wayne Rooney believes that Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City highlights how the club didn’t do enough in the summer transfer window.
Erling Haaland scored the only goal of the game at Old Trafford on Sunday in a contest punctuated by controversial refereeing decisions.
Referee Michael Oliver sent off Phil Foden in the 23rd minute after kicking out at Man Utd captain Bruno Fernandes, although many argued that the Portuguese fouled him first.
And on the hour mark, Man City took the lead when Haaland stabbed home at the back post, despite his effort initially being ruled out for offside.
Michael Carrick‘s team had more than an hour with a man advantage but only created an Expected Goals tally of 0.96, compared to the visitors’ 0.99.
Incidentally, over the summer, Man Utd spent more than £150million on midfielders Youri Tielemans, Carlos Baleba, and Andrey Santos.
Gary Neville, among others, believed that Man Utd needed another left-back and a centre-back, while others felt another striker to would have been worthwhile.
Now, though, Man Utd legend Rooney has taken an apparent swipe at INEOS for their transfer dealings and not providing Carrick with enough quality options.
Benjamin Sesko and Joshua Zirkzee came off the bench against Man Utd, in a game where Rooney described his old side as “toothless”. While he felt Man City got lucky with the Haaland goal, he believes the Red Devils didn’t do enough to win the match.
Wayne Rooney aims dig at Man Utd’s summer business
He told BBC Sport, “I thought Manchester United were the better team and dominated City up until half-time, but they gave away too many free-kicks and allowed the game to be slowed down, which suited City perfectly. Once City got their goal, they managed the game brilliantly, and United just couldn’t find enough quality, especially in the final third.
“Haaland’s goal should not have stood; it was offside, but as soon as City went ahead they used all their nous and game management to frustrate United. They restricted them to pretty much one chance and didn’t look in any danger at all.
“United are already eight points behind City, and Michael Carrick will be disappointed with how they’ve started, no doubt about that. There have been some good moments, but one win from four league matches tells its own story.
“When the transfer window closed, I felt United still needed better players, not only to provide competition for places and cover across all competitions, but to come on in games and provide that extra quality and change games. You were just waiting for someone to be brought on and make an impact today, but you looked at the bench, and there weren’t many attacking threats to call on. It was all a bit toothless.”
Man Utd sit 13th in the Premier League, with just four points from as many games.
