Rooney says tweaks Man Utd tweaks 'wasn't rocket science' by Carrick

Wayne Rooney says it "wasn't rocket science" as he tells of the tweaks that Michael Carrick made to the Manchester United side in the derby.

United had a convincing victory in Michael Carrick's first game in charge with goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu.

Going into the clash, there were plenty of doubts about how United would get on due to another difficult season which led to the sacking of Ruben Amorim.

But with United returning to a back four, they immediately found their feet and dominated the game.

And Rooney said the changes were what fans and pundits have been calling for.

"I think it’s the best performance I’ve seen from Man Utd in a long, long time and what Michael has done to the team isn’t rocket science, it was a simple tweak in terms of formation," said Rooney.

"Everyone was talking about Ruben Amorim’s formation about how it wasn’t suited to Man Utd and he changed that."

Looking at the performance he highlighted the energy and work rate from the players.

"What United have to do is run and work hard and it was so refreshing to see players do that. I thought Amad and Dorgu on the wings were excellent, the workrate they put in to help the fullbacks out and they got into a compact shape and hit City on the beak," Rooney continued.

"The energy was night and day from what we have been seeing."

And he added: "When we talk about Man Utd’s DNA that was it, work hard, run for your teammates, get back into your shape, make yourself hard to play against, when you have the opportunity to run forward, run forward and sprint. I think it was the first time I've seen players sprint."

Carrick will now challenge his players to match those standards regularly, starting with next week’s trip to Premier League leaders Arsenal.