Louis van Gaal has praised Wayne Rooney’s ‘attitude’ upon appointing him Manchester United captain, but has also warned him to manage how he handles himself both on and off the pitch.
The Dutchman revealed he’d spoken to Rooney about wearing the armband after Tuesday’s friendly against Valencia when he felt the striker was trying too hard to be a leader.
The United boss said: ‘I’ve made him captain because of his attitude on the pitch and the training ground.
‘Not so much outside the pitch, but I’ve told him that is important to me and he’s accepted his responsibility.
‘I’ve liked very much how he has trained and performed so far and how he has behaved to his fellow players.
‘After Tuesday’s game I joked with him don’t try too hard – let it fly.
‘In USA he scored a lot of goals and made an amount of assists. That is the Wayne I want to see.’
Speaking ahead of Manchester United’s first game of the season against Swansea on Saturday, Van Gaal also confirmed that Robin van Persie had ‘no chance’ of playing, and that the squad could cope without the recently injured Luke Shaw, who has been ruled out for four weeks.
‘We played in the USA with Reece James & Ashley Young in that position. I’m not worried,’ he said.
Source: Daily Mail