Wayne Rooney injured?

[Sideshow Bob]

 

[RichH2016]

Serious injury? Nothing from the club so far other than to say he's not travelled. I'd just assumed this was LVG wanting to utilise the youth players more... And give Rooney a rest to keep him fit for the league games.

 

[Sideshow Bob]

Out for more than a month is the rumour. Van Gaal's press conference later may shed light on Rooney's absence.

 

[RichH2016]

Wow ouch!!! That really could hurt us.

But as a result maybe we'll see Martial play thru the middle? Or a young striker given the chance to impress? Maybe Memphis will get a chance either up front or a more consistent run on the left that may help him settle.

 

[Sideshow Bob]

Van Gaal:

It's difficult to say but he was injured in the game versus Sunderland and has a knee problem. We have to wait and see how long that takes. I cannot say.

Van Gaal appeared to suggest Rooney suffered his injury during the defeat at Sunderland on Saturday, but it remains unclear. "That's also typical Wayne. He's a guy who wants to go until the end and if he is feeling pain, he doesn't want to go away, and certainly when you are drawing a match because he wants to win. That's a fantastic attitude but also it's bad for his body. You do not know when it happened, so that's the difficulty.

We have in Martial another striker, he has played several matches in this role and wants to play in it. I knew in advance that Rooney would play a lot of matches, then I have called Will Keane back and he has done very well in the second team. Sometimes you have to show it at the higher level and maybe he'll get the chance to show it - you never know.

 

[RichH2016]

Interesting that Martial actually wants to play up front. I know things have improved recently with results but during that awful spell we all screamed for Martial to play up top. For Rooney to be dropped and then we hoped we'd see the team blossom. Maybe we will get that chance now?!

 

[Sideshow Bob]

Van Gaal: "He's doing great. He trained today at a lower level with the ball and will probably play an Under-21s match before he comes back."

 

[RichH2016]

Hmm... Mixed feelings about this one.

Just before he picked up his injury he found a bit of form... He was playing well and was scoring goals. But before that he was awful and a hindrance to the team.

I look at how the team has done since his injury and can't help but feel we've been a bit better off? As good a player as he has been he lacks pace, isn't technically good enough and never seems to play in the position he's lined up to play. But I'm sure as soon as he's fit LVG will bring him back in and drop Rashford.