“You have to know that I’m not always convinced by the experience of players,” said new Manchester United boss Louis Van Gaal at his first press conference in the hot-seat at Old Trafford. “As I have said many times in the media, a boy like Clarence #Seedorf was 16-years-old when I gave him his debut in the #Ajax squad at that time. But at 16-years-old he was sometimes more experienced than a player of 30-years-old. So it’s always dependent on the personality.” Van Gaal is a man of principle, one who sticks to his footballing philosophy, and if a player does not fit into his philosophy, there is no place for them in the Dutchman’s squad. He places plenty of emphasis on the personality of a human being as well as their footballing ability, meaning that if you are to be a key part of Van Gaal’s plans, you have to be mature and professional both on the pitch and off it. The former Netherlands boss continued by saying, “You named #Rooney. But for example, Michael #Carrick was injured yesterday or the day before that. That is a blow because he is also an experienced player. It’s very important that we have experienced players but not only in age, not only in football experience but also experience as a human being. Because my philosophy is not only in football but in total and with that there are not so many experienced players.” Although it may have been lost in translation, Van Gaal’s decision to swerve a question about Wayne Rooney, instead replacing him with the now injured Michael Carrick was bound to make listeners question where the England talisman will fit into his plans. It certainly looks like Van Gaal would like to judge all his new players on an even keel, no matter what wage they pick up at the end of each month, meaning that Rooney will have to prove to his new manager that he has both the footballing ability and the personality to remain a key figure in this United side. Rooney was without doubt United’s best player in a miserable league campaign last season. The former Champions never even looked like mounting any sort of title challenge and faded away from the top four before 2014 had even got going. Despite that, Rooney scored 17 goals, with the majority of those strikes being scored from his role just off the main central striker. However, many believe that Rooney is at his best when he is the main man up front. But with Robin Van Persie, #Holland’s first-choice striker in their run to third place at the World Cup under Van Gaal, at Old Trafford too, it seems highly unlikely that he will be given an opportunity to start every game as the main striker. Unless Van Gaal implements a similar 3-4-1-2 system that he used at the World Cup at United next season, you get the feeling Rooney will be playing in a deeper role unless Van Persie picks up an injury. This would mean, he would either remain in a role just behind the striker or be converted to an orthodox central midfielder. Rooney created 56 chances – of which 1o were turned in – for his teammates in the league last season, a figure which suggests that he is creative enough to play in that deeper role. Although Rooney’s only two 20-goal seasons came when he was the main forward at Old Trafford, his output doesn’t suffer too much when he is in the number 10 position. He reached double figures in goals in every season since joining the club in 2004, a very impressive return. However, if Van Gaal does employ the 4-2-3-1 formation he used whilst manager of #Bayern Munich, there are two, very talented candidates to play the number 10 role. Juan #Mata and Shinji #Kagawa most certainly have a chance to prove themselves as viable options, what with Van Gaal making it clear that each player must prove their ability to him in the coming weeks. In particular Mata, United’s record signing, has an extremely strong case to become the player that the Dutchman can build his team around. He and Rooney have an extremely similar record when looking at their attacking output per game from last season. Despite only joining in January, Mata established himself as a regular starter last season and recorded the seventh highest Performance Score (453) in the whole United squad. In just 15 league appearances, he created 33 chances and scored six times. That’s not to mention the fantastic stint he had at #Chelsea, almost winning the PFA Player of the Year award in 2013. In all honesty, Mata is a much more fluent and vibrant number 10 in comparison to Rooney. There isn’t much chance that Van Gaal would be as silly as Roy #Hodgson was in #England’s first game of the World Cup when he deployed Rooney as a left winger in a 4-2-3-1 so if he doesn’t fit in as a striker or a number 10, that only leaves one position. Central midfield. Without doubt, Rooney has an unbelievable passing range and phenomenal technical ability on the ball. Much like Paul #Scholes did. Despite that fact, Rooney is not disciplined or experienced enough to play as a central midfielder in a 4-2-3-1. Perhaps if Van Gaal reverted back to his classic Dutch 4-3-3, you would have thought that Rooney would have enough protection to take up one of the three midfield berths. Yes, Rooney would make a fantastic playmaker and whilst he does work hard, you get the feeling this position would take a lot of time to perfect, something which Van Gaal will not give him. It is also quite obvious that Rooney sees himself as United’s best player, meaning he feels he should be in his preferred position further up the pitch. However, with Van Gaal around, he may not get that opportunity. In my opinion, he will be played wherever the new boss thinks he will benefit the team the most, meaning he will most likely be used in an inter-changeable front three or in that role behind Van Persie in a 4-2-3-1. But there is no simple answer.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 10:18:01 +0000
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