Wayne Rooney tells Michael Carrick to drop two Man Utd stars against Ipswich | Football

Wayne Rooney has called on Michael Carrick to take both Luke Shaw and Andrey Santos out of Manchester United’s starting XI following the side’s opening-day defeat to Hull City.

Hull produced the major upset of the weekend as Semi Ajayi and debutant Nobel Mendy scored two unanswered goals to ensure Sergej Jakirovic’s side got off to a perfect start on their return to the Premier League.

There had been a renewed sense of optimism amongst United’s fanbase heading into the new campaign, but Carrick’s men managed a total of just five shots on target despite finishing the contest with 71 per cent of the possession.

The Red Devils return to top-flight action at home to another of the Premier League’s new boys in Ipswich on Sunday and Carrick may well be feeling the pressure at this embryonic stage of the season.

The United manager will not be able to call upon £70million summer arrival Carlos Baleba, who was officially unveiled on Tuesday evening but is currently recovering from ankle ligament damage.

It remains to be seen if Carrick will keep faith with his new-look midfield combination of Youri Tielemans and Santos following the pair’s largely underwhelming performances at MKM Stadium.

‘I think players need to take responsibility on the pitch because when you play against a Hull City or Ipswich, the next game, you can set up however you want to set up and a lot of the time it’s decisions,’ club legend Rooney said while dissecting United’s display on The Overlap.

‘You can stop and start training sessions and say, If the ball goes here we have to come across or make sure your winger is in with you”, or whatever that is.

‘But it’s decisions from players on the pitch which make the difference.’

Patrick Dorgu was taken off for Marcus Rashford at the halfway stage as United sought to find a way back into the game against Hull.

But Rooney believes Luke Shaw should be the man sacrificed versus Ipswich, with Dorgu switching from the wing to left-back.

‘I’d change Luke Shaw and I’d play Dorgu at left-back, be a bit more aggressive,’ Rooney – United’s all-time record goalscorer – explained.

‘I don’t think we can rely on him [Shaw] to play all the games so when you’re playing against a newly promoted team at home, I’d play Dorgu at left-back.

‘I would have kept Dorgu on and put him at left-back in the Hull game.

‘I’d play [Matheus] Cunha off the left and I’d play Rashford up top.

Asked if he would make any alterations to United’s midfield, Rooney replied: ‘Mainoo probably, yeah. I’d bring Mainoo in for Santos.’

Rooney wouldn’t be shocked to see Noussair Mazraoui lose his place in the side for Diogo Dalot, who was only given a ten-minute run-out in the closing stages against Hull.

‘Do you know what? It’s a toss-up between the right-backs,’ he continued.

‘It could be any of them so it wouldn’t surprise me if Dalot comes in because Mazraoui didn’t get to the ball, the same as Shaw, didn’t stop crosses.

‘So yeah, any of them and that’s probably it.’

A visibly disappointed Carrick refused to overreact with his comments after the setback at Hull, but admitted there was major room for improvement in the showing.

‘I’m talking to you quite calmly, but I’m not exactly calm inside and enjoying the day, so there’s a big difference,’ the ex-United and England midfielder told reporters.

‘I played for United for a long time. You don’t get to play here for a long time without just going day by day, the results, the ups and downs, but you just carry on as normal.

‘It’s 100 per cent not that, and trust me, it’s not that. It just doesn’t mean that we all have to shout and scream and come out and create some chaos just because of it. Inside we’re hurting and we need to get better. But the calmness doesn’t mean there’s no emotion in it, for sure.’

Carrick, who was appointed on a full-time basis earlier this summer, added: ‘The result’s the result. We got beat, we’re hurt and it’s not a nice feeling. It doesn’t mean it’s going to change the whole direction of how we’re going as a team or as a football club.

‘It’s one game and results can happen in football, we all understand that. It’s not nice when they do, but it does happen.’

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