Wayne Rooney added yet another Manchester derby to his collection

Wayne Rooney added yet another Manchester derby to his collection after featuring in the weekend’s 0-0 draw against Manchester City at Old Trafford.

The striker recently turned 30 and speculation has mounted that he will be appearing in his last few Manchester derbies. Manager Louis van Gaal, though, claimed that the Rooney has the quality and intelligence to continue playing in at least 10 more such derbies. At 30 years of age, the striker is fast entering into the time when a forward is questioned the most. This is due to a combination of declining strength and speed, but Van Gaal says that Rooney is much more than physical attributes.

Over the length of his career, the former Everton striker has played in a number of positions across the pitch. He has scored a decent amount of goals, but many reckon that it would have been much more had he been playing in a constant position. Even under Van Gaal, Rooney has been constantly swished around. This season, the Dutchman has favoured playing Rooney in a withdrawn left-wing role. It has seen him score only two league goals so far. The presence of Anthony Martial has eased the burden of scoring goals. The Frenchman is widely expected to take over the position from Rooney on a permanent basis.

“Wayne is my captain and I like him because he can read a game. When you can do that you find more space to play your football and you don’t need to rely on speed quite so much. Strikers need speed because the amount of space you get to work in is so small, but Wayne can play midfield as well and bring his experience to bear.Generally speaking when you just play as a striker your freshness as a player is not so easy to maintain. You also get a lot of kicks in that position,” said Van Gaal.