United were held to a goalless draw by arch-rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday in the 170th Manchester derby, a result which steered Manuel Pellegrini’s side back to the top of the English Premier League (EPL).
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“The more games you play, the more confident you get and I think Chris has been terrific this season and hopefully we can cement a partnership together”.
The 30-year-old has vowed to donate all the profits from the match to the NSPCC, Alder Hey Childrens’ Hospital, Claire House Hospice, and the Manchester United Foundation through the newly-formed Wayne Rooney foundation.
“They [City] have the right to play compact and they have done it. They have a fantastic team on the counter and we had to defend against that as well in a very professional way”.
When the journalist who asked the question responded that the reason for his enquiry was Rooney’s status as a “top player”, the Dutchman remained unimpressed.
“He wanted to play with a lot of creativity, a lot of freedom and, at times, risk, but now under Louis van Gaal it’s much more calculated. He is an extraordinary player with extraordinary capabilities”, Xavi said.
Rooney could be given the night off on Wednesday as United host Middlesbrough in the fourth round of the Capital One Cup, with Van Gaal preparing to make changes to his starting line-up.
Van Gaal also reacted with annoyance to criticism of his captain Wayne Rooney, who came under fire on Twitter once again after his latest lifeless display. It doesn’t matter if you are the best player in the world, if he wants to drop you from the team, then he will drop you from the team. “But if you do, it will ultimately improve you”.
“I think the manager wanted us to press more”, he said. “I can not complain. But you want to win and we did not”.
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City goalkeeper Joe Hart, quoted on the club’s official website, said: “Nico has come in and adapted very quickly which is something we expected, but respect to him because it’s not an easy league to come into”.
