Wayne Rooney Praises Jose Mourinho For Adding Strength To Manchester United's Squad

Wayne Rooney has praised Jose Mourinho for adding greater strength in depth to Manchester United's squad. 

The Red Devils' new boss turned to Marcus Rashford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to influence proceedings at the KC Stadium on Saturday as United searched for a late winner over Hull.

 


As it was, Rashford grabbed the injury-time winner, but Mkhitaryan, a £26million signing from Borussia Dortmund last month, also had a positive impact on the game. England's first-choice defender Chris Smalling came off the bench, while Ander Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin were unused subs, and the likes of Memphis Depay and Phil Jones didn't even make the matchday squad.

A number of players have been pushed down the pecking order over the summer following the arrivals of Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba.

And Rooney, who created Rashford’s 92nd-minute strike with a fantastic run and cross, insists Mourinho deserves credit for the work he has done to strengthen the squad he inherited from predecessor Louis van Gaal, the Manchester Evening News report.

Rooney, 30, said: “I think that’s the big difference this year. We’ve got players who were starting every game last season on the bench and some players haven’t even travelled.

  “We’ve got a big squad and a lot of quality in the squad and whichever players the manager wants to use will have to step in and do a job.”

Victory at Hull meant Mourinho became the first United manager to win his first three league games in charge since Sir Matt Busby achieved the feat in 1946.

 Rooney said that the fast start is ominous for the rest of the Premier League.

Mourinho started with at least four wins in each of his title-winning seasons with Chelsea in 2004/05, 2005/06 and 2014/15.




Next up for United is a derby with Manchester City and Pep Guardiola at Old Trafford on September 10 following the international break.

Rooney added: “You look at the years when Jose won the title at Chelsea, they always started well. I think the way it’s been for us the last two or three seasons, it was important for us as a team.

 “Jose has brought that experience in, that winning mentality again. That’s showing in the players and it’s maybe lacked over the last couple of years.

“It’s early but you want to try to build momentum and especially going into the international break. To go there with three wins is important, and with the next game being Man City.

“It was a big win for us, even though it’s so early in the season. We know whatever happens against City isn’t going to define the season but it’s always nice to go into that break with the three wins.”