Louis van Gaal accused Swansea of putting ten behind the ball and wasting time in Manchester United’s win over Alan Curtis’ side at Old Trafford.
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Anthony Martial scored his eighth goal of the season when he converted Ashley Young’s cross, but Swansea looked to have stolen a point after Gylfi Sigurdsson looped a header over David de Gea.
‘I think for Rooney to answer his critics or show he is still the man to play centre forward for Manchester United he maybe needs a run of 10 games – scoring maybe seven or eight goals’.
“It is wonderful and that on the age of 30 years”, said Van Gaal, who was unaware of the feat until Rooney, above and below, informed him after the final whistle.
‘I would assume he is looking after himself, ‘ said Souness. We did that today and then, in the second half, they exhausted because we really did press them. He wants to play, but I can imagine that he can’t always play.
The Red Devils have been lambasted in the press and by their own fans for a host of abject offensive displays this term, with goals hard to come by for the historic club.
Martial set up Rooney’s fine victor after opening the scoring with an emphatic header, and Smalling has hailed the attacking qualities of the young France worldwide.
United are on a winless streak of eight games on the trot and Gaal is in added pressure.
Swansea were quite content to sit back and soak up the pressure, with the hope of catching them on the counter with the pace of Andre Ayew and Wayne Routledge. Youngster Anthony Martial has been promising but he has just scored four goals in the EPL.
The Dutch manager accepted that United’s lack of a cutting edge is what has held them back this campaign, but he dismissed the notion that he has placed Rooney and Martial under too much pressure by refusing to bring in back-up.
Van Gaal was given the assurances by Ed Woodard and the Glazer family last month amid reports Jose Mourinho was being lined up to take over.
“But for me it’s more important that he scores now and he scored today”.
“We are still near the top of the league and the gap is less”. The players want to press. “I hope that it is the fantastic starting point for the team, but also him”.
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For example, the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Sadio Mane would most likely be two names on our watch-list given they are Premier League proven.
