His skills may be slowly fading, but Wayne Rooney‘s competitive fire burns just as hotly as it always has, as Louis van Gaal attested to following Man United‘s 1-0 win over Aston Villa. The Red Devils manager confessed that Rooney was angry with him after getting subbed off in the middle of the second-half.
Van Gaal said that Rooney complained after his 63’ subbing, but the Dutch boss justified his decision by saying that Rooney’s performance warranted a second-half benching. However, he still complimented his captain for having the desire to play all 90 minutes.
‘He was angry on me because he wanted to play 90 minutes,’ Van Gaal said, per the Metro.
‘But you could see he was losing balls – he hadn’t played for a long time and three days training is not enough.
‘He was very good in the first half but not so much in the second. It is not surprising because the rhythm in the Premier League is very high and he has not built up his capacity.
‘But I am not upset with him, it shows good spirit when you want to play 90 minutes.’
Wayne Rooney got his first start in two months after recovering from a leg injury, and was placed in the 10 position behind teenage forward Marcus Rashford. Rooney played superbly for 63 minutes, stretching the field and seldom letting an Aston Villa player come anywhere near him before being subbed off.
Rooney is on pace for his lowest goal total in a single season with Manchester United, having scored just seven league goals in the 2015-16 season – his lowest league goal total since he was a teenager at Everton.
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