Louis van Gaal, who is the manager of Manchester United, says he is planning to manage to make Wayne Rooney as the main striker in the next season.
During most of the previous years Rooney, 29-year-old, has been in the midfield.
Van Gaal talked to the journalists, “I have listened to you. You have more knowledge than I. Now Rooney is there.”
In the hope of this surprise, he further said, “He is in the process. It is not a striker that the media has written, but you have to wait and see.”
Van Gaal was talking before the second session of Manchester United’s United States visit against MLS side San Jose Earthquakes (04:00 BST, Wednesday).
In the 2011-12 campaign, Rooney performed as the main striker. Since then, he hasn’t operated as the central striker. He scored 34 goals, his equivalent most astounding individual pull.
“I hope to score 20 or more goals again,” told Rooney.
“If I’m playing as a striker, then I will be disappointed if I can’t do that again.
“I’ve played different roles over the years for United, but you only have to look when I play for England as a striker I score goals.”
The goalkeeper David De Gea and full-back Antonio Valencia went to the hospital on Monday morning for the check-up on the small injuries that prevented them from Friday’s win over Club America. Van Gaal said that they will not be suitable to compete San Jose.
Nevertheless, De Gea is anticipated to play with rival Barcelona on Saturday.
Van Gaal news conference
On whether he is concerned Rooney is risking injury playing for Everton against Villarreal in Duncan Ferguson’s testimonial on 2 August:
“He can also fall off the stairs.”
“I could not expect more. He is a great captain. Better than I had expected. He is fully accepted by the players. That is also very important. I can choose, but the players decide. The players have to accept the captain.”
“Yes. I could not say that last year. You always have to be positive about your selection as a manager, but the difference now is that we already have four new players and we are training with them on the tour. That is a big difference.
“But the biggest difference is the balance in the team. Last year on the USA tour I have to line up players in different positions than they are used to playing. That is not good. Now I have two players for every position.”
“We have sold a lot of players. More than 17 in my period. I never talked about that, but it is true. It is normal in the football world. You have to improve the selection every year and also keep them fresh. Also, a new player can give a great stimulus.”
“It is a process. Maybe Mr. Ramos (Real Madrid centre-back Sergio Ramos) is in the process. You never know.”
“The first captain is Wayne Rooney. The second captain is Michael Carrick. Last year the third captain was Mr. Mike Smalling. I mean Chris…”
