Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has claimed that he and his teammates have gotten off "quite lightly" as most criticism of their performances have been aimed at manager Louis van Gaal.

The Dutchman's long-term future at Old Trafford has been a constant talking point this season due to United's inconsistency on the pitch.

Once again, Van Gaal was blamed following last Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Sunderland, which has dented the club's hopes of claiming a Champions League spot.

Rooney, though, believes that it is up to the players to turn things around.

"It's a very good group of players," The Mirror quotes Rooney as saying. "At times it's been frustrating for us as we've under-performed.

"And 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 got off quite lightly and the manager has taken a lot of it, but we're going on the pitch. We have to create chances and win games and we haven't done that enough this season."

United are currently fifth in the Premier League table, six points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City.