Wayne Rooney Comments on Louis van Gaal Amid Manchester United Sacking Rumours

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has insisted under-fire manager Louis van Gaal has the full backing of the players amid speculation over the Dutchman's future.

Per Jacob Murtagh of the Mirror, Rooney told Sky Sports News HQ the players must take responsibility for the club's predicament but are getting behind Van Gaal in order to turn things around:

"

The last few weeks results haven’t been great. It’s frustrating and it’s our job to deal with it and try and get better results. We are fighting for the manager to try and get results and turn things around.

I think as a group of players we know we can do better. We regularly have meetings with myself and the other senior players in the squad and with the manager as well. We're all working together and come up with the best solution to try and to help us win football matches.

"

Per BBC Sport, he added: "You have a lot of people talking about things they believe are happening when in reality the people writing that stuff don't know anything that's happening."

United are winless in six games and find themselves fifth in the Premier League, nine points behind Leicester City at the top of the division.

Meanwhile, with Jose Mourinho available after Chelsea sacked him and Pep Guardiola exiting Bayern Munich at the end of the season, Van Gaal is under increasing pressure to turn both results and performances around.

Former Manchester City star Trevor Sinclair even tweeted on Tuesday the 64-year-old had been sacked:

"

Old photo but LVG has gone

— Trevor Sinclair (@trevor8sinclair) December 22, 2015"

"

LVG is to be sacked...... Think Ed Woodward is a City fan  #onceablue pic.twitter.com/2zCbdgZEsZ

— Trevor Sinclair (@trevor8sinclair) December 22, 2015"

That pressure culminated in the Dutchman storming out of Wednesday's press conference less than five minutes after it began, per Hamish Mackay of the Mirror.

Rooney has been one of United's biggest underperformers this season, having scored just twice in the Premier League.

Because of that, football writer Jack Lang believes the Englishman's words aren't quite as inspiring as they might have been:

Meanwhile, sports reporter Phil Cadden believes both the players and their manager need to do their talking on the pitch:

Indeed, while the Red Devils supporters might welcome Rooney's words and Van Gaal's defiance, the proof is in the pudding, and a difficult trip to the Britannia Stadium on Boxing Day will undoubtedly be a significant test of United's credibility as a contender for a Champions League place.

Rooney in particular has left a lot to be desired this season and needs to inspire his team on the pitch in order to arrest their poor run of form.