Manchester United News: Wayne Rooney is a Victim of his own Bravery Says Louis Van Gaal
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney's courage can sometimes be his undoing, says his manager Louis Van Gaal.
Rooney could miss two months of the season with a knee ligament injury, according to a report in The Times on Thursday, which is a problem for United as it chases a UEFA Champions League place.
It is unclear when Rooney suffered the injury, though Van Gaal admitted that his striker played hurt during the 2-1 defeat to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light last Saturday, saying Rooney's courage was both a strength and detriment.
"It's typical Wayne—he's a guy who wants to go until the end and if he is feeling pain, he doesn't want to go away, and certainly when you are drawing a match because he wants to win. That's a fantastic attitude but also it's bad for his body. You do not know when it happened, so that's the difficulty," Van Gaal said.
Rooney, the England captain, has not travelled with the rest of the United squad to face FC Midtjylland of Denmark in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 first leg on Thursday night.
If Rooney is out for two months, he will have only a month to prove his fitness to England manager Roy Hodgson before the squad is named for UEFA Euro 2016 in France.
