Both his managers trust him

David Moyes clearly trusted Rooney, but there was too much going on for that to ever really have a positive impact on Rooney’s career.

Under Alex Ferguson, it became clear that Rooney did not have a future at United, much less one as skipper and that had to have affected his mentality and love for the club.

Now installed as United skipper by Van Gaal, he clearly has the trust of the manager and that can go a long way in making a player step up their game and improve their performances a couple of levels.