Wayne Rooney ’s DC United side were on the end of a 6-0 humbling as the Manchester United icon’s tenure goes from bad to worse.
The former Derby County man was announced as the new head coach of the MLS outfit last month as he became the permanent successor to Hernan Losada. Rooney’s tenure got off to the best possible start as DC defeated Orlando City in his first game in charge.
However, Rooney’s positive impact has not continued with the side’s form having taken another nosedive. They followed their victory up with a 3-0 humbling at the hands of Charlotte before being held 0-0 by New York Red Bulls.
Back-to-back 1-0 defeats to New England Revolution and LAFC have seen them fall out of contention for the post-season playoffs, whilst their season slumped to even lower depths at the weekend with Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union cruising to a dominant victory.
Julian Carranza hit a hat-trick for the visitors, with Mikeal Uhre, Daniel Gazdag and Cory Burke all also finding the net. The heavy defeat leaves DC languishing at the bottom of the standings with just six wins from their 26 games so far this season.
Following the final whistle, Rooney tore into his players for a period in which Philadelphia found the net four times in just 32 minutes.
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Speaking in his pre-match press conference, he said: “I thought we started the game really well, a little bit unfortunate to go in two goals down, a silly penalty we gave away. Second half was not acceptable.
“We lost every second ball. We’ve given the ball away very cheaply, completely unrecognisable from a team which I manage.
“It hurts, we’re disappointed, frustrated, embarrassed by the second-half. I hope it hurts them players because I don’t ever want to see that again.”
Rooney’s DC have eight games remaining of their season and Rooney will certainly hope to see a reaction over the closing couple of months of the campaign. They are next in action next weekend as they travel to take on Atlanta United.
Elsewhere, the former forward’s ex-employers Derby County have endured an indifferent start to life in League One following their relegation last term. They have won two of their opening five games and have been held to 0-0 draws in each of their last two outings by Shrewsbury Town and Fleetwood respectively.
That leaves them eighth in the current standings with the Rams keen to seal a return to the Championship at the first time of asking.
