Manchester United is likely to face bitter rivals Liverpool on Saturday without their captain Wayne Rooney. Reports from the Manchester Evening News reveal that Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has suffered a hamstring injury after returning from international duties with the English national team.
Manchester United’s manager Louis Van Gaal is now facing a huge dilemma ahead of the big clash against Liverpool. With Wayne Rooney out, Van Gaal is likely to start with Marouane Fellani upfront despite signing Anthony Martial.
At his press conference ahead of the big tie against Liverpool, Louis Van Gaal told journalists that captain Wayne Rooney, along with Michael Carrick, expressed their concerns about the atmosphere in the Manchester United dressing room.
As the BBC reported, Van Gaal stated, “That was alarming because they are the captains so I went to the dressing room”.
“Believe me, it is like that. I am not a dictator – I am a communicator. They told me to help me. I communicate not only with my captains, they try to warn me. I then go to my dressing room and discuss with my players and we discussed a lot of aspects – but not what some have written. Some players are coming to me to apologise about what has been said in the papers.”
The Manchester United manager also spoke about the recent arrival of Anthony Martial. “The pressure at Manchester United is much higher than at another club, so we mustn’t give him too much pressure,” Van Gaal added.
“There is a market price and we cannot have any influence on that price. I said he is the best of his age and we need a striker for the future. I imagine the fans think, ‘£50m, he has to score.’ No. He is 19 and he has to adapt.”
Wayne Rooney recently became the top goalscorer for the English national team surpassing Bobby Charlton’s total of 49 goals. Born on the blue half of Merseyside, Wayne Rooney has played a significant part in the recent Manchester United/Liverpool rivalry.
A scouser knocks Liverpool of there perch. Haha. An evertoniian aswell. Yes. People. U can’t imagine how happy I am tonight. Believe
— Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) May 14, 2011
However, Wayne Rooney has only scored five goals in 22 games against Liverpool during his time at Manchester United, a poorer ratio than against any of his other regular opponents according to the Daily Mirror .
Is Wayne Rooney’s injury a huge blow to Manchester United?
[Photo by Michael Regan / Getty Images]
