Louis van Gaal believes Wayne Rooney’s record proves he remains the best English striker, though the Manchester United manager concedes Harry Kane’s goal tally this season makes him the form forward.
Van Gaal also revealed Rooney may return for United’s trip to West Ham in the FA Cup sixth-round replay on Wednesday evening following a knee injury. This is dependent on how he reacts to playing 60 minutes for the under-21s against Middlesbrough at Old Trafford on Monday.
This means Rooney will miss the trip on Sunday to Tottenham Hotspur, who will be spearheaded by Kane, as Van Gaal’s team seek to defeat the Premier League’s second-placed side and maintain their top-four challenge.
Kane has scored 28 goals for Spurs and England while Rooney’s tally for club and country is 17, though the game at White Hart Lane will be the 12th match he has missed because of the injury.
Jamie Vardy has also impressed, with 21 goals for Leicester City and England, and is viewed as another competitor for Rooney’s starting berth in Roy Hodgson’s side. Asked if the 30-year-old remained the best English centre-forward, Van Gaal said: “It always depends on their form because everybody has tendencies in their shape. It is always like that. Wayne is more like that. Normally he is the best striker, but Harry Kane, how many has he scored? That also counts for a striker and also for Wayne. So, it’s also dependable on your team, how they are playing, so you cannot say that so easily. But when you see his record he is the best striker.”
Of the challenge of trying to stop Kane on Sunday, Van Gaal said: “I cannot remember that he scored [against us]. When I say that I am challenging him also, so it’s not so smart of me. But we are never defending against just one player. We defend like a team and we defend the attack of Tottenham.
“We have analysed them. Of course, Kane is very important but [Christian] Eriksen is also very important and Dele Alli is also very important. I can start with [Hugo] Lloris because he makes very quick set-plays and also [Toby] Alderweireld has a very good pass, so it’s the team you have to solve and not only Harry Kane.”
Van Gaal believes it makes no difference to United if Rooney is pushing to prove he should return to England’s starting XI. “I don’t think so because I think that Wayne is a player who is always doing his best,” the 64-year-old said. “He is the easiest player for a manager because he is always doing everything to continue. I don’t think there is a difference if there is a European Championship or not because he is always doing his best.”
Of possibly selecting Rooney for the FA Cup tie against West Ham, Van Gaal said: “That you can never predict, because you have to see if everything is going well. He has only trained two times with us and you cannot predict how his injury evolved. We have to wait and see and I have to see the under‑21 game against Middlesbrough.”
Van Gaal hopes Rooney will give United an extra spark in the final weeks of the campaign. “I hope so. I hope so,” he said. “I am counting on him. I have said that to him already. But you have to be fit in the first place. Secondly, I have to compare him with the players who are playing.”
Van Gaal questioned whether Rooney will need time to return to his best. “I cannot say that because when I saw him training [on Thursday], for example, he scored a goal, he made a fantastic chip over the goalkeeper. It was his first training session and I said to him, ‘I have never seen that this season’.
“So I cannot say that because he can be so good that I shall be forced to give him a position in the team. But it depends on what we see and today was another day. Tomorrow also. Let’s wait that he plays 60 minutes at a lower level and then he can play against West Ham United, you never know.”
