By Jamie Spencer
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has suggested the club's current struggles come down to a lack of leadership within the squad always keeping standards high.
Rooney was a teenager when he joined United in the summer of 2004 but was immediately able to look up to the likes of Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane as serial winners, copying their mentality and the examples they set.
As that generation aged and was gradually phased out, Rooney found himself part of a new leadership group alongside the likes of Darren Fletcher, Wes Brown, John O'Shea and Michael Carrick, the quartet he considers his best friends in football, as well as Rio Ferdinand.
In the former captain's eyes, United haven't had that since he and the others left. Even in a squad with experienced winners like Casemiro and Raphael Varane, Rooney has questioned the absence of enough vocal leaders that he considers necessary to consistently get the best out of talented players, like Marcus Rashford, who have been too hit and miss in recent years.
"You had yourself, Giggsy, Scholesy, Roy at the time for a short period," Rooney told Neville in a quickfire questions video on The Overlap.
"You were Man Utd, it was your club, and then there was that little group behind you – in Rio, myself, Wes [Brown] and whatever. We knew we were the next ones and had to take that one from you.
"I think that's probably why the club is struggling now, because there was no one underneath us really to go and set the examples."
It was a point on which he elaborated in a separate more in-depth interview for the channel.
"I would say you need five players in a dressing room that can lead a team," the 38-year-old said.
"One thing I would say with Manchester United now is, look at the team and you're still asking questions about who the leader is. I know Bruno [Fernandes] is captain, but who are the leaders there?
"I said this a few weeks ago, when Marcus Rashford was getting stick for his body language, I think he has always been like that. I don't think he has ever been a big talker on the pitch. When he is going through a tough moment, or you want him to work a little bit harder, that is where the senior players have got to demand that from him. That's the one thing I'd say that I don't see.
"Every time Manchester United concede a goal their heads go down too quickly and you almost think there is no way they're getting back into the game."
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This article was originally published on 90min.com as Wayne Rooney names biggest problem with Man Utd squad.
