Manchester United news: Players to blame for poor season, not Van Gaal, insists Rooney

Manchester United's points total in the ongoing season of the English Premier League so far of 41 points from 26 matches is not the greatest, with the Red Devils also knocked out of the League Cup and the UEFA Champions League. 

The English giants are trying hard to catch up with the top four clubs in the Premier League points table. But after Manchester United was handed a 2-1 defeat by Sunderland last Saturday, their hopes of making the the top four took a big hit.

Manchester City are six points ahead of the Red Devils, while Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and league leaders Leicester City look out of the 20-time champions' reach.

Wayne Rooney is gutted with club's current form and he felt that only trophies can help them overcome their recent disappointments. The Manchester United captain is well aware of the fact that the club has not brought home any single silverware since 2013, something he is desperate to remedy.

"The important thing now, I feel, is to win trophies again this season. It's been a few years since we won a trophy. This is more or less a new team so for ourselves, as a team, we need to win something. The fans want to see us win something again," Rooney was quoted as saying by Telegraph UK. 

"Obviously the Champions League is massive for this club and it was disappointing to go out of it. We'll keep going in the league, keep trying. But our main aim has to be to make sure we can get in that top four.

"And then the Europa League, it would be great if we can win that. It's not where we wanted to be at the start of the season. But it's where we've found ourselves so why not go and try to win it."

The Red Devils can bring home two trophies this season - FA Cup and the Europa League -- provided they play their best football. The kind of form they are in at the moment, winning trophies does not look likely. 

United have not won the F.A Cup in the last 12 years, while the UEFA Champions League title in 2008 was the last European title they brought home.

Amidst all this, United manager Louis van Gaal is under tremendous pressure with several reports suggesting he will be let go at the end of the season. There are rumours that he may be replaced by Jose Mourinho even before that, if they end up losing to Arsenal on February 28. 

Rooney believes that the manager has taken the bullets on behalf of the players, and it is the players who are to blame for Manchester United's poor run this season. 

"Actually the manager has taken a lot of stick for some performances. It's down to us, we're players and we have to perform. At times this season we haven't done that. In terms of that we've probably been quite lightly and the manager has taken a lot of it," Rooney added.