Rooney enjoyed 13 memorable years with United as a player, winning 16 trophies – including five top-flight crowns and the Champions League – while scoring 253 goals through 559 appearances. There were, however, signs towards the end of his spell at Old Trafford that things were starting to go wrong. The Red Devils find themselves on a slippery slope at present, with little improvement on show following a 15th-place finish last season and failure to qualify for Europe.
Portuguese coach Amorim has picked up just 18 wins from 49 games at the helm, as he stubbornly sticks with a flawed 3-4-3 system, and value is proving difficult to find in big-money signings made across several transfer windows. Inconsistency remains a huge issue for United, with no manager since Sir Alex Ferguson able to land a Premier League title, and Rooney fears that the Red Devils are in danger of becoming stuck in reverse.
Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show podcast, the ex-England captain said: “What is going on at Man United? This is not Man United. I don’t recognise the whole football club. I don’t see players fighting, I don’t see character, I don’t see desire to win. I don’t see ability, I don’t see match-winners, nothing gets me off my feet. I go to a game watching, expecting, here we go again – expecting the team to lose or maybe pick up a point.
“I care for the club. I was at the football club for 13 years and what is going on is not right. And this is not all on the manager, by the way. I’m seeing players not deserving to wear the shirt. And it hurts. This is not acceptable, what’s going on. There needs to be a clear message from the owners. Whether that is the Glazers, [minority owner] Sir Jim Ratcliffe, there has to be a message of where this club is going. At the minute we are all sitting there waiting for it to crumble.”
Rooney, whose son Kai is a promising member of United’s academy system, went on to say: “It’s not even just results on the pitch. It’s everything about the club that needs fixing – Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos have walked into a real challenge. We’re seeing staff members getting sacked after 20, 30 years who are very important people to that football club. The culture of that football club has gone. I see it on a daily basis. I see staff losing jobs, people walking out of jobs.
“I’ve got two kids [in the academy] at that football club and I really hope this doesn’t affect what they’re doing. What I’m seeing at that football club is not Manchester United. The soul has gone from the club. It needs a new engine, a new lease of life. It needs something to kickstart that football club. I am not seeing anything which is giving me any confidence, there needs to be big changes in my opinion. Manager, players, whatever that is. Whatever it takes to get Manchester United back.”
Rooney can appreciate what Amorim is going through, having endured his own coaching struggles at Birmingham and Plymouth, but went on to say of United getting wedged in a serious rut: “I just don’t know what’s going on. I have tried my hand in management and it didn’t work out too well, I get it. Ruben Amorim is my age, he is still a young manager and I’m sure he still has a massive future, but what’s going on at Man United, this is not Man United. I honestly hope he can turn it around and he does. But if you’re saying to me, ‘do you believe he will?’, then, after everything I’ve seen, honestly, I’ve got no faith in it.”
Following the arrival of Ineos in February 2024, as they acquired an initial 27.7 per cent stake in the club, staff numbers at United have been trimmed from 1,100 to 700. Funds have continued to be invested in the transfer market, while a new £2 billion ($2.7bn) stadium is being lined up, but the Red Devils have veered alarmingly off course and sit 14th in the Premier League table through six fixtures in the 2025-26 campaign.
