Wayne Rooney has criticised Luke Shaw’s shambolic defending after Manchester United suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Hull City in their opening Premier League game.
Michael Carrick’s United conceded twice before half-time away from home and never really looked like taking control of the game to get back into the game. Rooney felt one of Hull’s goals highlighted a basic defensive mistake from Shaw.
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Rooney calls out Shaw’s defending
Speaking on BBC’s Match of the Day, Rooney was particularly critical of Shaw’s positioning for Hull’s opener.
“This is schoolboy defending from Luke Shaw,” Rooney said.
The former United captain explained that the rest of the defensive line had been set correctly, but Shaw’s positioning left him several yards behind his team-mates.
“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.”
It was the sort of mistake that made life far easier for Hull, who had clearly worked on how they wanted to attack United.
Rooney believes the home side had a clear plan and executed it well.
“Hull had a gameplan, they were getting balls into the penalty box, picking up second balls and Man United found it very difficult.”
That wasn’t an isolated problem either.
Rooney sees bigger issues for United
Rooney had watched United’s final pre-season fixture against AC Milan and noticed similarities between that game and what Hull did on Saturday.
“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.”
He suggested Hull may have taken something from that match and used it to their advantage.
“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.”
For Rooney, though, the bigger concern was the way Manchester United approached the game.
Hull didn’t need to dominate possession to make United uncomfortable. They sat in a mid-block and waited for opportunities to win the ball and break forward.
“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.”
That is a serious warning for Carrick.
United finished third last season after Carrick’s arrival and secured Champions League football. Rooney believes they now need to develop into a side that opponents genuinely fear facing.
“To build on that you have to become a team who teams are scared of playing against.”
The defeat at Hull was clearly nowhere near that level.
