09 March 2024 , 17:08
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Wayne Rooney doesn't believe Manchester United have enough about them to finish in the top four.
The former England striker, United's all-time leading goalscorer, was an analyst for TNT Sports for Saturday's match between United and another of his old clubs, Everton. United won the match 2-0 courtesy of a brace of first-half penalties from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.
United were far from convincing, though, and took the lead against the run of play. Everton largely had the better of the play and laid siege on Andre Onana's goal, racking up 23 attempts in total over the course of the afternoon.
Rooney was quick to point out that the current level of Manchester United's performances simply aren't sustainable. And he painted a fairly damning picture when he was asked to assess their chances of qualifying for next year's Champions League.
Rooney told TNT Sports: "No, it’s not sustainable and I think we’ve seen that throughout the seasons. I don’t think they’ll make the top four because they’ll have to win almost every game from now on and they’ve been so inconsistent that I can’t see them doing that.
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"Even today, they had 20-odd chances against them but there were no clear cut ones for Everton. [But] even then, it’s too many, too many chances for teams to punish them."
United headed into the weekend 11 points behind Aston Villa, who are currently fourth in the Premier League. There is a chance that the team who finish in fifth could also qualify for Europe's premier competition, however, that is not the case as things stand.
Join the debate! What did you make of Man Utd's performance against Everton? Let us know here.
Erik ten Hag was adamant post-match that the statistics prove United deserved to win (TNT Sports)Despite Rooney's fairly scathing assessment of United's performance, Ten Hag was adamant post-match that his team have already proved their ability to withstand attacks is sustainable.
And he pointed to the game's xG stats as further evidence that United were well worth their win. When he was asked if the current approach was sustainable, the Dutchman said: "Oh yeah, we do it already, I would say, for a long time and many more games.
"If you see, their xG is not that high and ours was much higher. But it was their gameplan, obviously, and we have players who feel comfortable to defend low. But you have to be very disciplined and we coped with it very well.
"It was a team performance, but especially our back four with the keeper, Andre [Onana], in the back, and Casemiro in the front, they have done very well."
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