Wayne Rooney took aim at Luke Shaw’s ‘schoolboy’ defending during Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat to Hull City on Saturday.
Michael Carrick’s side began their new Premier League campaign with a defeat at the MKM Stadium as first-half goals from Semi Ajayni and Nobel Mendy sealed the win for Hull.
United also struggled to create chances in attack but Rooney was unhappy with Shaw for the second goal as the left-back dropped off to play Hull’s entire attacking line onside.
‘This is schoolboy defending from Luke Shaw,’ Rooney said on BBC’s Match of the Day.
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Man United had a good line, Hull would have been waiting for this all day, Luke Shaw drops in, he’s five yards behind his back line and if the ball is good enough, which it was, it’s impossible to stop.’
‘Hull had a gameplan, they were getting balls into the penalty box, picking up second balls and Man United found it very difficult.’
Roney also believes that United were ‘too passive’ in their defeat to Hull and need to defend with more intensity.
‘I watched the AC Milan game last week and they [Hull] played the same system, they played with wing-backs and Man United really struggled to deal with that,’ Rooney said.
‘Maybe Hull have seen that game last week and changed it and I think fair play if that’s the case because they looked a really good team today.
‘It’s a strange quote from Bruno [about United making the same mistakes away from home], I think for Manchester United now to build on what they did last season, since Michael went in they finished third in the Premier League and got Champions League football, to build on that you have to become a team who teams are scared of playing against.
‘They sat in a mid block, didn’t get any pressure on the ball, I think they won two balls in Hull’s final third, there needs to be more energy in the press, how they go and win the ball back. Today was all too passive.’
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