Ex-United striker Sheringham urges van Gaal to use Rooney in better system
Former Manchester United forward Teddy Sheringham has questioned Louis van Gaal's tactical use of Wayne Rooney, believing a system tweak would help the club see the best of its skipper.
Rooney hasn't been prolific in front of goal for some time - just two goals in 17 Premier League outings going back to April - and Sheringham, who scored in United's famous 1999 Champions League win and collected three league titles in a four year spell, thinks he's less effective in the lone striker role preferred by his Dutch boss.
"Rooney will score goals if he is given the right kind of set-up to work in. He has proved that time and again down the years," the Stevenage manager told Kevin Palmer from ESPN FC.
The player in line to replace Rooney as the solitary striker would be £36-million teenager Anthony Martial, with some fans calling for that change, but it seems the 51-time England international would prefer to see the duo together up front.
"All I would say is playing up front on your own is very tough. Not many players can pull that off successfully. I certainly wouldn't have fancied trying to play that role and always had a partner alongside me.
"Van Gaal is trying something different at Man. United and it is not quite suiting Wayne Rooney at the moment. You have a top quality player there, so you would like to think there is a way of finding a system that will suit him. It is up to the manager to work that out."
Despite questioning of van Gaal's tactics, and repeated groans about the supposed boring football played under the former Barcelona gaffer, Sheringham called on the club's supporters to get behind him.
"They are fourth in the league, two points behind the leaders," he said. "That doesn't sound like a bad position to be in if you are not firing on all cylinders.
"They could be playing great football in the Premier League and still be fourth, so people need to keep some perspective and see how it all pans out later in the season. They have good players at United, so I'm sure they will do well."