Wayne Rooney has today spoken with The Mirror about Manchester United’s decision to sack Louis van Gaal. The Dutchman oversaw two relatively successful seasons with United, given the limitation of our owners, where we finished fourth and won the the FA Cup. Robin van Persie had been expected to take on the captain’s armband, due to the Dutch connection, but the manager opted to stick with Wayne.

Rooney claims that it was under Van Gaal’s leadership that he decided he wanted to be a manager after what he learnt during those two seasons.

I was devastated when Louis was sacked. For me, it was an absolute joy to work with him. We should have kept him for a third season. We would have been so much stronger. I felt things were improving and players started to understand his vision. In those two years I learned more than under any other manager.

This is why I will be forever grateful to him. Not just for making me captain, but also for all the trust and belief he had in me. We didn’t have the best team in the league anyway, but we could not afford to have 12 players injured. Our best XI was good enough to play in the top four, but once we got injuries we got in trouble ­because we did not have the same quality in the squad as in the years before.

At the time it was good for me because I had decided that I wanted to become a manager. And working with Louis in that way was priceless in my opinion, because I could learn so much from him. I could not have wished for a better example.