MANCHESTER UNITED legend Wayne Rooney slammed Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo’s starting line-up in the FA Cup.
Forest defeated Brighton 4-3 on penalties after a goalless draw at the Amex Stadium to punch their ticket to the semi-finals at Wembley and challenge for their first piece of silverware in 35 years.
However, Nuno opted to bench key players, such as Callum Hudson-Odoi, Anthony Elanga and Ibrahim Sangare, while giving starts to the likes of Danilo and Nicolas Dominguez.
Rooney was left “shocked” with the Portuguese tactician’s decision with Forest considered a favourite to lift the FA Cup with all of the Big Six out, bar Manchester City.
The pundit, who underwent some hapless stints as manager of Derby, DC United, Birmingham and Plymouth, understood Nottingham’s bid for Champions League qualification.
However, Man Utd’s record goalscorer, who won the FA Cup in 2016, was adamant key players need to maintain momentum.
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Rooney told the BBC: “I’m shocked. I think the FA Cup is such a prestigious tournament and to rest players in the quarter-final when you’ve got a great opportunity to get to the semi-finals…
“They’re trying to get into Champions League football which is fine, it’s great.
“But as a player, you want to play, you want to get momentum, you want to keep trying to win games.
“To leave players out… If I was a fan, I’d be fuming. You want to win silverware and this is a great opportunity.
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“To leave players out when they’re not guaranteed to win the game on Tuesday is beyond belief for me.”
Nuno, who lost top scorer Chris Wood to a hip injury during the international break, addressed his choices before kick-off.
The ex-Tottenham boss explained cup competitions are always a great opportunity to use players who don’t get enough minutes in the Premier League.
Nuno said: “Look, the cup is always a good chance for players that work so hard and don’t have minutes in the Premier League, so we keep this idea.
“Taiwo [Awoniyi] has been working good and Danilo has been working good. Players deserve their moments.”
Nuno won’t be looking back at the quarter-final with any significant regret as his choices paid off and he sent Forest to the semi-finals for the first time in 34 years.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
