Soccer

He had been strongly linked with a move away from the club, with Italy and Spain looking to be the favoured destinations. However, without much preparation from the press, Vidic put pen to paper on a new deal at United.At the same time, it was announced that he would be the club's new captain, replacing Gary Neville and leapfrogging Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, who had all donned the armband ahead of him in the past. Vidic was some way down the rankings, but it appeared as though the captaincy sweetened the deal in keeping him at the club.Vidic was a good captain and leader by example, but by the turn of the year in 2014 he had seen enough of what Manchester United was becoming under the management of David Moyes, and announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the year.

After the last match of the preseason, Van Gaal announced Rooney was the permanent, with Fletcher his vice-captain."For me it's always very important the choice of captain. Wayne has shown a great attitude towards everything he does. I have been very impressed by his professionalism and his attitude to training and to my philosophy. He is a great inspiration to the younger members of the team and I believe he will put his heart and soul into his captaincy role," Van Gaal said at the time.

Rooney can probably thank Van Gaal for the England captaincy too, with England boss Roy Hodgson confirming that the Dutchman's decision helped make up his mind on who should replace the retiring Steven Gerrard.If truth be told, both managers had slim pickings when it came to leaders in the squad, particularly when you consider the wealth of options United and England used to have in this department in years gone by. Rooney was the best of a bad bunch, although he would have still been a decent candidate in a stronger field.The negativity surrounding the appointment from some fans was thanks to his behaviour prior to Van Gaal's arrival at the club. In 2010, he very publicly let it be known that he would not be extending his contract at the club for fear they could no longer match his ambitions.

Former manager Sir Alex Ferguson had confirmed the player had asked for a transfer, a statement Rooney has never denied. The club rejected two offers from Chelsea, leaving the player with no option but to stay. He committed his future to the club when offered a new massive contract and, likely, the captaincy, months later. This deal was announced a fortnight after Vidic revealed he was leaving.You would imagine that Van Gaal wasn't tied to any such agreement concerning the captaincy, and picked Rooney on his own merits, but that still didn't make it popular with everyone.

As United's form has changed dramatically over the past month, there have been several of Rooney's teammates hailing the impact he has had. There is of course the possibility that Manchester United's PR machine is asking them the questions that mean the fans hear the answers the club intends them to hear, although it's unclear what their motivation would be to suddenly need Rooney lauded. The likely truth is that whether those in the anti-Rooney camp want to hear it or not, he's doing a great job as captain.After United's convincing win over Tottenham Hotspur a few weeks ago, the start of what has been a great run for the club, Marouane Fellaini confirmed that Rooney delivered an impassioned speech to the dressing room. Fellaini claimed this "affected" the players and that it was "important" for them to hear what he had to say.