Louis van Gaal has given his strongest indication yet that Wayne Rooney will be his Manchester United captain.
Rooney gave an impressive second half performance to spur United to a 3-1 International Champions Cup final victory against rivals Liverpool in Miami. Van Gaal has so far been patient on naming his captain, with Jonny Evans, Robin van Persie and Darren Fletcher all in the running. However, the Dutchman hinted he would prefer an English candidate for the role.
I am always looking for opportunities to give players the captain's armband. Today Rooney played 90 minutes for the first time," Van Gaal said.
"Fletcher had already done it two times, then he was the captain, and Tom Ceverley, because he also had 90 minutes. I think you have choose, when it is possible, for the English style. That is when it is possible."
Rooney sparked United's second half charge by calmly tucking away Javier Hernandez's cross in the 55th minute. It was his fifth goal of the tour and the England international was later named player of the tournament, which his manager felt was fully deserved.
"He is a man who is always a winner. You saw in the World Cup, when the award went to Messi, it is not always like that," Van Gaal said.
"It was deserved for him [Rooney] because he scored a lot of goals and made a lot of assists. The judges are always looking for that. He is a man who is always a winner. You saw in the World Cup, when the award went to Messi, it is not always like that.
"It was deserved for him [Rooney] because he scored a lot of goals and made a lot of assists. The judges are always looking for that.
"It was a wonderful goal from Rooney. When you see the technique and what he did to push the ball under the legs of the opponent and into the bottom corner. It was a great cross from Javier Hernandez and a very good attack.
"We have also defended very well and without a defence we cannot score. Any of my defenders could have been my most valuable player of the tournament."

United's 3-1 win over Liverpool brought to an end their pre-season trip to the United States, with Steven Gerrard’s first-half penalty giving Brendan Rodgers' side the lead only for Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard to respond after the break.

But new United manager Van Gaal was not getting carried away, following their unbeaten five-match tour, saying: "Today was not so good.

"Against Madrid it was fantastic when we dominated the game against the Champions League winners – then I was very pleased.

"Today we have struggled, it was too much playing two in two days and all the travelling. But we have pleased our fans."

Van Gaal said before the game he will make his decision on who to keep at Old Trafford – and who can leave – when they return home to Manchester.

As for giving clues, the Dutchman was remaining tight-lipped: "I won't tell them through the media. I’ll speak to the players and will say it honestly. I won’t come with the axe – it’s not like that."

With regards to United's trip across the Atlantic, Rooney added: "We've worked hard in training to adapt to the way the manager wants us to play and had some good results.

"He came in, looked at the players he had, and chose a system that suited the team."

As for the final of the International Champions Cup, he added: "Today in the first half Liverpool were the better team. We were poor and didn't move the ball quick enough.

"We knew we had to put that right. The second half we came out and played very well and

Liverpool took the lead through Steven Gerrard's first-half penalty, after Phil Jones fouled Raheem Sterling in the box, but second-half goals from Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard gave United new boss Louis van Gaal his first trophy.

"I thought it was a really good game and both teams have had a very good workout out here," the Liverpool boss said.

"I thought we were well worth the lead and had a couple more chances to increase that and it looked like maybe we should have had another penalty.

"We conceded a disappointing equaliser and then very quickly conceded another one so the game started to get stretched a bit, but overall I'm delighted with the whole tournament and what it's done for us. "We have worked very hard and we will leave here with plenty of positives and look forward to the new season.

"The condition of the players that we have at the moment is very good. We've obviously got a few missing but certainly by Southampton we will be ready and we are looking forward to it."

The Liverpool boss was impressed by the performance of England forward Sterling, who he felt was always a serious threat during the game in Miami.

Rodgers added: "I thought he was outstanding and was a real threat. Raheem is tactically aware for such a young player and is so exciting to watch. When he runs at defenders he creates many opportunities.

"At 19 years of age he is a real talent and is getting better all the time."

Wayne Rooney has thanked “tough” Louis van Gaal for helping the Manchester United squad buy into a new football philosophy.

Rooney has impressed during his team’s tour of the United States, which finished with a 3-1 victory over Liverpool in Miami, enabling Van Gaal’s side to win the International Champions Cup.

The England forward, though, has been equally pleased with the effect the Dutchman has had on a squad which Van Gaal described as “broken” following the disastrous reign of David Moyes.

Changes in systems – with Van Gaal favouring a 3-5-2 formation – have gone down well so far.

“It’s been a good few weeks, we’ve got a new manager who wants us to play a different style of football. We’ve had to adapt. We’ve had some good results against top opposition so we can be pleased,” said Rooney.

“I think the system suits the team, not only myself. The manager came in and had a look at the players we’ve got. He’s done what he thinks is best suited for our team.

“He’s a tough manager but he’s been great since he came in. He’s given us all a different way of looking at football, which we haven’t had before. It’s been great for us and hopefully that will continue.

“We wanted to win games, play well. And obviously we’ve done that. We’ve won a trophy as well. It’s always nice to beat Liverpool. We’re happy with the work we’ve done out here, now we go on to Valencia and then the season starts.”

he Partenopei coach is interested in signing the midfielder but admits that a deal hinges on whether new Red Devils manager Louis van Gaal wants to keep the former Everton ace

Rafael Benitez says that Napoli are waiting for Manchester United to make a decision on the future of transfer target Marouane Fellaini.

The Serie A club have been heavily linked with a move for the midfielder, who joined the Red Devils from Everton for €34 million last summer.

New United boss Louis van Gaal has revealed that he will speak personally to those whom he has deemed surplus to requirements and Benitez is now hoping for a "positive change" in Fellaini's situation following the Old Trafford outfit's return from their pre-season tour of the United States.

"Fellaini is a Manchester United player - it does not depend on us but it depends on them," the Napoli boss told the press.

"He is a great player but he is at another team. It appears he is waiting for Van Gaal. We will have to wait.

"Is he the right player? We have players who work very well, while it also depends on who leaves. It is not easy to name names.

"What features in a midfielder am I after? Players who have the mindset to win every game, then we can start to talk about the technical quality. With our same mentality but with a little more quality."

Fellaini made 16 Premier League appearances for United last season but failed to score, as he became a source of frustration among many fans at Old Trafford.

Paul Scholes is one of the most respected British footballers of the last 20 years.

The midfield genius regularly receives massive compliments from fellow greats, from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane to Andrea Pirlo.

Tonight, after the Legends match between Manchester United and Bayern Munich, an exhausted Scholes revealed another superstar fan of his. The interviewer asked him where his jersey, the one with his name on the back, was as Scholes was wearing a replica. He replied: “I’ve given it to (Bastian) Schweinsteiger. He gave me his shirt as well, which was nice; he’s an amazing footballer, he’s won the World Cup, so yeah, I’m very pleased.”