Louis van Gaal knew the question was coming, and when it did, he had prepared a simple reply. "He had a shot on target, so I am happy," Manchester United's manager said of Wayne Rooney. Here was statistical proof that his striker and captain had contributed to United's 3-1 defeat of Club Brugge in Tuesday's Champions League playoff first leg.
There was some truth to the idea that Rooney had improved on two listless performances so far in the Premier League against Tottenham and Aston Villa. On neither occasion had he managed a shot on target, not the kind of return expected from a lone striker, especially not from a player who's short of the scoring records for club and country by just 19 and a single goal, respectively.
Yet when United were hunting down their third goal after Memphis Depay had struck twice, a security blanket to take to Belgium next Wednesday, it was Marouane Fellaini, who had replaced Rooney, who eventually delivered an old-style centre-forward's header in the dying seconds.
A lone striker in a 4-3-3 formation needs either the strength of someone like, say, new Liverpool signing Christian Benteke, or the high-cruising speed of Manchester City's Sergio Aguero, though a combination of both would work best. At the moment, Rooney looks to have neither. On Tuesday, as against Tottenham and Villa, there was hesitancy in possession and a reluctance in physical clashes.
A reverse flick to Depay from a Luke Shaw cross that set up United's two-goal hero for a third, a chance the Dutchman missed, was the type of off-the-cuff play that Rooney once regularly delivered. These days, though, he's chasing down channels and often playing with his back to goal, so opportunities for such decorative play are significantly constrained.
That is almost certainly the result of Van Gaal's prescribed philosophy. The information that does escape from the training ground suggests everything United players do on the field must now rigorously follow due process. Ad-libbing on the pitch is not remotely encouraged. Last season, it was suggested by training-ground insiders that only Angel Di Maria, before injury and loss of form sidelined him, was allowed to run with the ball and try to beat opponents. This term, it looks as if Depay is the player granted that privilege.
Even Adnan Januzaj, a player whose willowy running can ghost him past defenders, must play with the handbrake on. After Januzaj's match-winner on Friday at Villa, Van Gaal chose to criticise the young Belgian for repeatedly conceding ball possession. "When you score a goal then you are the hero, but I think we are in the pitch to make calls, as a team," the Dutchman reiterated in his Tuesday postmatch news conference.
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