Wayne Rooney admits confidence at Manchester United is low after a nightmare month but says the players are “fighting” for Louis van Gaal in an attempt to turn the season around.
United have not won since they beat Watford on 21 November to go top of the Premier League. A 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg ended United’s Champions League hopes and they sit nine points adrift of the Premier League leaders, Leicester City, in fifth place having failed to win any of their past four games.
United travel to Stoke on Boxing Day before back-to-back home games against Chelsea and Swansea.
“We haven’t won games in the last few weeks so it’s normal confidence will be a bit lower,” Rooney told Sky Sports News HQ. “We need to try to get it back because we’ve got some tough games coming up and need to be at our best to win them.
“It’s not nice when you’re getting criticised every game. It’s tough for the players to deal with. We get hurt because we’re proud people and proud to play for Manchester United. When it’s not going right it’s hard to take and frustrating.”
Van Gaal has found himself under increasing pressure and walked out of his press conference on Wednesday after taking three questions.
Rooney has sympathy for his manager and said United’s players were working hard to ease the pressure on Van Gaal.
“We all have families and sometimes there’s a lot of stuff that gets written which is not nice for your family to see,” the captain said. “It’s OK for me to deal with but there’s people in my family who aren’t used to it and it’s tough for them.
“Obviously you have a lot of people talking about things they believe are happening but in reality a lot of people who are writing that stuff don’t know what’s happening.
“We’re working hard and fighting for the manger to try to get results and turn the season around. It’s important we all stick together.”
