Louis
van Gaal has confirmed that Wayne Rooney will miss Manchester United's
Europa League first-leg clash against FC Midtjylland with a knee
problem, but refused to confirm reports his captain faces two months on
the sidelines. The Dutch manager lamented the news which leaves him with
13 absentees for the trip to Denmark, including Matteo
Darmian, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Marouane Fellaini, Bastian
Schweinsteiger, Phil Jones, Guillermo Varela and long-term absentees
Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo.
Rooney, who has scored seven in his last nine appearances for United, played the full 90 minutes during the 2-1 defeat to Sunderland at the weekend. However, fears began circulating when United issued a statement saying the striker will miss the Midtjylland trip, adding: "The manager is expected to confirm why his captain has not made the trip during his pre-match press conference."
Reports suggested that Rooney will be out of action for two months with a knee ligament injury. Van Gaal has now confirmed that his captain has injured his knee, but refused to confirm his projected absence period.
"We have 13 players injured and Wayne is one of them," the boss confirmed to MUTV, "You can never say [how long he could be out for]. He has a knee problem so we have to wait and see. He scores a lot of goals so he is very important for us. We know that but we have to cope with that."
Asked later in the press conference to set a deadline for his recovery, Van Gaal added: "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."Certainly in 2016, he has scored and that's why we had a good run of matches until Sunderland. But we have to cope with that. Everybody can be injured and also the captain can be injured."
Rooney, who has scored seven in his last nine appearances for United, played the full 90 minutes during the 2-1 defeat to Sunderland at the weekend. However, fears began circulating when United issued a statement saying the striker will miss the Midtjylland trip, adding: "The manager is expected to confirm why his captain has not made the trip during his pre-match press conference."
Reports suggested that Rooney will be out of action for two months with a knee ligament injury. Van Gaal has now confirmed that his captain has injured his knee, but refused to confirm his projected absence period.
"We have 13 players injured and Wayne is one of them," the boss confirmed to MUTV, "You can never say [how long he could be out for]. He has a knee problem so we have to wait and see. He scores a lot of goals so he is very important for us. We know that but we have to cope with that."
Asked later in the press conference to set a deadline for his recovery, Van Gaal added: "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."Certainly in 2016, he has scored and that's why we had a good run of matches until Sunderland. But we have to cope with that. Everybody can be injured and also the captain can be injured."
0 comments:
Post a Comment