Louis van Gaal has a decision to make: who to appoint captain of Manchester United. The way Wayne Rooney is going, he has it sewn up.
Rooney scored five goals in five games on United’s tour of the USA, as they defeated Liverpool 3-1 in the International Champions Cup final to cap a fine first fortnight under Van Gaal.
The three-times European champions kick off their Premier League campaign against Swansea on August 16 by which time their new Dutch coach will ideally want a skipper.
“I’m always looking for opportunities to give players the captain’s brace [armband],” said Van Gaal, also a fan of countryman Robin van Persie’s leadership skills.
“I think you have to choose when it is possible in English style. But it has to be possible.”
Quite what Van Gaal means by that is anyone’s guess, though his admiration for Rooney was spelled out in plain, simple English following the Liverpool comeback win.
“He was always a man who is a winner,” said the 62-year-old European Cup winning manager.
“He deserved (to be player of the tournament) because he scored a lot of goals and gave a lot of assists.
“The goal was very important for him. It was a wonderful goal when you see the attack and what he did to push the ball under the legs of the opponent but also in the corner of the goal.”
There has never been any doubt of Rooney’s supreme abilities as a footballer, though when the setup is not quite right for him or he is played out of position, the 28-year-old’s talents can be wasted.
Under Van Gaal so far he has buzzed around the field, a far cry from England’s meek Brazil exit in June where, despite a first World Cup goal, Rooney was poor by his high standards.
Get the striker, who has 216 goals in 442 apearances for United, playing at his peak again and Van Gaal will be laughing.
“This will give us momentum,” said the Dutchman of his introduction to life at United.
“Of course, it’s better to win than to lose in pre-season but the most important game is against Swansea City. That’s the one we have to win.
“It’s always better to win. First we beat Roma, then we beat Inter Milan with penalties but we were much better, then we beat Madrid and then we had a test against a Premier League team.”
Main image courtesy of Bwin via YouTube, with thanks.
