ROONEY COULD BE DROPPED BY LOUIS VAN GAAL

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Louis van Gaal defended Wayne Rooney’s form in the build-up to Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Leicester City.

Supporters have become increasingly frustrated with the captain’s lack of contribution, in terms of both his general play and his lack of goals.

The manager had previously claimed that his captain would play no matter what, but Van Gaal insisted that Rooney was playing on merit alone.

‘Wayne is doing a lot and has a very great contribution in the team,’ he said. ‘As a manager, I am very satisfied with him.’

As expected, Rooney started against Leicester and put in another disappointing performance. He had two shots in the game and both were off target. He created no chances for his teammates and he completed just 17 passes, with only three of those in the final third of the pitch.

Rooney was taken off with 20 minutes left to play, giving the supporters unhappy with his form some hope.

However, when pictures showed Rooney on the bench, the real reason behind the substitution was revealed: Robert Huth had caught Rooney in the chest with his studs, and the player showed Marouane Fellaini and Ryan Giggs his cuts in front of the cameras.

After the game, Van Gaal shed some light on the substitution, claiming it was the injury to Rooney, and not his performance, that convinced him the captain needed to be taken off.

‘I don’t think he is injured for next match,’ he added. ‘I wanted to change already one of the strikers, then he was limping, that’s why I chose him. I could have chosen Anthony Martial, both of them were not running in behind.

‘I wanted to change one of the strikers, but then Rooney was injured.’

While it may serve as some comfort to hear that Van Gaal noticed Rooney was worthy of being substituted regardless of his injury, it’s still a worry that Martial would have likely been the player to leave the field of play.

For the sake of the player and the team, Rooney could do with a few games where he starts on the bench, to see what the rest of the team can do without him, and whether that makes them any more dangerous in front of goal.