Wayne Rooney hopes Michael Carrick can turn Manchester United's fortunes around but says the squad is 'a bit weak' following the transfer window

Wayne Rooney believes recruitment figures have let down Michael Carrick and played a role in Manchester United's difficult start to the season. However, the iconic former Red Devils striker is confident that his former teammate can turn things around.

They sit in the bottom half of the table at the first international break of the season after one win in their opening five Premier League matches. They are winless in their last four and Matheus Cunha's deflected effort spared increased scrutiny as United picked up a point at Fulham on Sunday.

Pressure has begun to mount on the United head coach, despite only being handed the reins on a permanent basis in the summer. Rooney has expressed his desire to see Carrick spark an improvement after the break.

He told talkSPORT: "He [Carrick] knows what's in for there and listen, you always want more as a manager, I'm sure he would have wanted more from the transfer window, but he's left with what he's left with.

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"I think the Premier League has got better, there's better teams in there. But if you don't win at Man United, or at any club, at the minute it's very tough, so I hope he turns it around."

United strengthened their squad during the summer transfer window, channelling the bulk of their expenditure into midfield reinforcements. Andrey Santos joined for £48million, potentially rising to £50m, from Premier League rivals Chelsea, while Youri Tielemans came in after his £35m release clause was activated.

Despite this, many felt that other areas of the United squad were left short, particularly in attack and defence. Rooney believes the recruitment team failed to adequately support the manager.

He said: "There's always going to be pressure, Michael knows that. If you're not winning football games at Man United, then that pressure is there if you don't win one game.

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"So, it hasn't been the ideal start to the season... there are certain things which I felt the club had to do before the window shut, in bringing players in... the squad is a bit weak.

"He's got to find a way to get more and the best out of these players to get up the table after this international break... I think the break has come at the right time.

"He's shown that he can get results out of this group of players. They have to get their head down and work and hopefully get some better results."

Following the draw in West London, Carrick came out defiantly to rubbish reports of pressure mounting on his position in charge, after winning 12 of his 17 games last season. "I think that'll be a lot longer than one or two games of results," he said.

"In terms of future and ownership and how long I've got in the job, I'm not thinking 'how long have I got?' It's ridiculous to think that way in a position that I'm in.

"That's just not on the radar. It's two or three games that we haven't had certain results, and two or three games too many because I really hate losing. But that doesn't mean that the world caves in."