The coach made the announcement following United’s final
pre-season friendly against Valencia, when Rooney led his side to a 2-1
victory courtesy of Marouane Fellaini’s late goal.
Wayne Rooney who is
also in the running to captain England in the wake of Steven Gerrard’s
international retirement, takes over the role from Nemanja Vidic, who departed
for Inter Milan in the summer.
Midfielder Darren
Fletcher has been named as the club’s vice-captain after Van Gaal handed a
number of different players the armband in pre-season.
Rooney told the club’s
official website: "It is a huge honour for me and for my family to be
named captain of this great club. It is a role I will perform with great
pride.
“Team spirit has
always been very high in our dressing room and I am very grateful to the
manager for the faith he has shown in me.
“I look forward to
leading the team out on Saturday at our first match of the new season."
Van Gaal added:
"For me it's always very important the choice of captain. Wayne has
shown a great attitude towards everything he does. “I have been very impressed
by his professionalism and his attitude to training and to my
philosophy. He is a great inspiration to the younger members of the team
and I believe he will put his heart and soul into his captaincy role.
“Darren is a very
experienced player and a very popular member of the dressing room, I know he
will work well alongside Wayne."
"Darren Fletcher
will become the vice-captain. Darren is a natural leader and will captain
the team when Wayne isn't playing.
And Fletcher said:
"I am delighted to have been named as vice-captain. It's a very proud
moment for me and my family.
“Wayne and I have
always worked well together and we will continue to work closely together in
our new roles. I would like to thank the manager for putting his trust in me."
No comments:
Post a Comment