Rooney defends Erik ten Hag, wants Manchester United players to take responsibility for dismal show

Manchester United's season-long woes continued with a 3-0 loss to Newcastle United, knocking them out of the Round of 16 in the English Football League Cup. Erik ten Hag appears to be struggling to save the dooming club. There has been a spree of injuries and underperformances at Manchester United recently.

3 things you need to know

• Manchester United are 8th on the Premier League table 
• Newcastle United knocked out Man United from the EFL Cup
• Manchester United failed to defend their EFL Cup

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Wayne Rooney defends the struggling Dutch manager

There is more pressure on Erik ten Hag to produce results this season at Old Trafford after Wayne Rooney voiced his displeasure with the "underperforming" players. The Dutch manager is under intense scrutiny after a disappointing start to the season for Manchester United. The Red Devils have lost five of their first 10 Premier League games, putting them in eighth place in the rankings. Furthermore, they've been knocked out of the EFL Cup and presently sit third in their Champions League group, lagging behind Bayern Munich and Galatasaray. Manchester United's all-time leading scorer Wayne Rooney expressed empathy for Ten Hag when questioned about it, but made it clear that he wanted better results from his club. Talking to the reporters, as quoted by GOAL.COM, he said:

"That’s the job. That’s part of the job and we all know that when we take jobs, whatever job that is,"

"I know coming here [Birmingham], there’s a lot of pressure and I’m sure Ten Hag knows that at Manchester United. I think it’s not going as well as they would liked or would have hoped but I think the players need to take some responsibility as well. I know some of the players in there and they’re not performing to the levels I know they can."

"Ultimately, it starts and ends with the manager and that’s part of being a manager. He will get the critics, of course, after the last few weeks but I think the players can do a lot more than what they’re doing for him."

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Will Erik ten Hag get sacked?

When considering the bigger picture, there is growing conjecture that Erik ten Hag's employment at Manchester United may be at risk if the team's performance doesn't improve. It will reportedly cost a substantial sum of money—roughly £15 million ($18 million)—to fire Ten Hag and his coaching team. Interestingly, Ten Hag receives a salary of almost £9 million ($10 million) every year. Although he had some noteworthy accomplishments in his first season, such as making it to the FA Cup final, taking home the Carabao Cup, and finishing in the top four, the club has found it difficult to build on those achievements this year.