AS PART OF Sky Sports’ Premier League season review, Gary Neville sat down with his former Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney for a fascinating chat about the campaign just finished and what lies ahead.
The United captain, as would be expected, insisted Louis van Gaal’s side are primed to challenge for the title next season despite finishing well off the pace this time around.
Rooney believes United ‘aren’t far off’ and says if they become more clinical in the final third, they will give Chelsea a run for their money next time around.
However, one of the most interesting parts of the interview came when Neville asked Rooney about United’s penalty taking system. Having missed a spot-kick at Anfield, the striker revealed he was then relegated to fifth in the pecking order.
“He [van Gaal] has a structure where if you miss one you’re at the back of the queue,” Rooney said.
“In pre-season he asked me if I would take penalties, so I obviously said I want to take the penalties.
“I got two penalties on the tour in the US, one against LA Galaxy and one against Roma, and I’ve never felt that pressure in a pre-season game, to be honest.”
Robin van Persie then took over from Rooney but also fell down the queue after seeing his penalty against West Brom saved.
“In the game Robin missed his, it was Robin first, Juan Mata second, Ander Herrera, Ashley Young. At the Swansea game, first game of the season, I had missed against Valencia so we had Chicharito number one, Phil Jones number two.
“So it got to half-time, Hernandez went off and Phil Jones came up to me and said ‘If we get a pen, I can’t take it.’
“So the manager, in fairness, says if you’re gonna practice it make sure you have the bottle take it in a game, so a few defenders have dropped out of practicing.
“Because Robin missed, Robin will be at five now.”
You can watch the wide-ranging interview in full below:
I would’ve thought that extra pressure is more likely to make a player miss.
Ya agree, strange system like a peno taker needs to have the confidence of the team/manager and the knowledge that if he does miss one he’s still the man for the job. Choping and changing certainty didn’t help this season.