Louis van Gaal has welcomed Wayne Rooney’s decision to admit he had a poor game against Aston Villa, with the Manchester United manager saying the comments were an acknowledgement from his captain that he knew he was “very bad”.
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Having been handed the responsibility of leading the United line, the England global hasn’t found it easy so far but is adamant that his goal-scoring form will return sooner rather than later.
“No, because we were three times the best team”, he told Sky Sports when asked if United needed to splash the cash.
Rooney was United’s 14-goal top scorer last season, despite spending much of the campaign in midfield, but with Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao at new clubs, he has been installed as the main centre-forward by manager Louis van Gaal. “We have played a couple of games together and I am starting to understand how he wants to play“. “It was a great night for us, obviously, getting the victory and hopefully we’ll kick on from there”, he said. You have to move on.
“I think all the media has written for one year that I have to put him in the striker’s position”, added the Dutchman.
Depay has got his goal tally for the season off the mark, with an impressive performance against Club Bruges earlier this week.
The 21-year-old recently made the switch from PSV Eindhoven to Old Trafford, and starred with two goals and an assist in their Champions League play-off qualifier against Club Brugge on Tuesday.
“The Champions League is what you want to play in”, said Rooney, who was part of the United team that lifted the trophy in 2008.
Depay admitted, post-match, that he was desperate to score his first goal for United.
“You can hear the buzz in the stadium when Memphis gets on the ball and starts his run”.
Depay’s first was a clever run and drilled finish, whilst his second was curled from outside the area, his ninth goal from outside the box since the beginning of last season.
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“Now he’s off the mark, hopefully it can bring him many more goals”, Shaw said.
