Louis Van Gaal: I can make Rooney even better

Louis Van Gaal has declared that Wayne Rooney will become an even better player under his management.

The Manchester United and England captain has had an exceptional November for club and country and is as close to the top of his game as he’s been for some time.

He picked up his 100th cap, scored twice against Scotland and inspired his team to the win at Arsenal that put them into the top four for the first time this season.

But Van Gaal believes that even at the age of 29, the man who is set to re-write the record books for both United and England will improve still further under his tutelage.

“Yes he can be better because I can make every player better,” says the Dutchman. “I’m sorry, I know that sounds arrogant, but I can.

“Before I came to the club I had heard of his reputation, of course. But from the first day he was not the Wayne Rooney that people talked about.

“And I still have the same impression as I had in the first three weeks we were together in the United States in pre-season, so I’m very pleased.

“There he was in my eyes the example for the others in the training. He always has a certain level.

“He has been my captain for four months now because he is an example. I think he shall always play with me. I have the impression that he lives for football, and that he likes that he is the captain of Manchester United.

“Of course being captain of England also helps him because it gives him more experience. But I have to remind you that I put him first as captain. Roy Hodgson followed my advice!”

Rooney’s form revival has been in stark contrast to that of Robin van Persie, who was expected to be an automatic selection under his former international manager.

Van Persie, who skippered Holland for Van Gaal in Brazil, has struggled all season and the statistic that he had only 13 touches of the ball against Arsenal last week has been used to measure his decline.

But Van Gaal won’t be drawn into comparing the two, or indeed measuring Rooney’s contribution against that of free-scoring strikers like Sergio Aguero or Diego Costa.

“You cannot say that the best striker in the Premier League is Wayne Rooney or Sergio Aguero,” says Van Gaal.

“I don’t think you can compare so easily those strikers, because each striker has his own identity.

“It is also dependent on the moment. Now Wayne is in a great moment, so you can say everything about him. Robin is now not in the best moment of his career, but he’s still a very good striker.”